Northridge Church

The Blackwells

Cape Town, South Africa is home to one of our home grown missionaries. Marc and Nancy Blackwell are currently serving in Cape Town and are involved in both church planting and in Church Ministries Institute which is a Bible college that awards a BTH degree. Nancy grew up attending North Baptist Church and spent 2-½ years in The Gambia, West Africa, as a young adult. Marc’s growing up years were spent on the mission field in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Some other things to know include:

• The Blackwells have been in South Africa since 1996.
• Marc and Nancy are currently involved in the development of a camp ministry.
• Every salvation decision brings great joy to their hearts as does seeing young believers take steps of maturity in their decisions at home and at work.
• The stunning vistas of mountains and sea in Cape Town are the best part of living where they live.
• Nancy enjoys her weekly meetings with the ladies group as they study God’s Word and look for ways to serve and help in the lives of others around them.
• Marc utilizes twice monthly Saturday training sessions to teach the men of their body how to serve and lead in the church.

Mary Lou Brownell

Before Bangladesh was home to Mary Lou Brownell for 27 years, she got her start at North Baptist Church. Sister to our own Walt Brownell, Mary Lou went to the field in 1955 which was back when the country was known as East Pakistan. The name change to Bangladesh took place in 1971. Mary Lou had active ministries as a nurse, teaching “MK’s” (missionary kids) on the field, and later, she continued to work stateside at the ABWE home office prior to her retirement in 1992. Here are some glimpses into her days as a missionary:

The Clarks

Two more of our homegrown North Baptist missionaries are Cal and Carol Clark. Brazil has been home to the Clarks since 1987 when they first went to Sao Paulo. A year later they moved to Campinas and set up housekeeping. Throughout the following years they began a church planting ministry that grew one believer/one family at a time. As new Covenant Church began to grow, Cal and Carol began the task of developing leaders among their congregation, and ultimately, the church graduated, no longer needing a missionary church planter. In 2004, the Clarks moved to Porto Alegre and began to work with a team there. Their ministry has expanded into other areas.

Joyce deRosset

Two listening intently with their hearts’ ears, Joyce and Ed deRosset heard and followed the Matthew 28:18 admonition to “go and make disciples of all nations.” They packed their bags and moved to Peru, where they began a lifetime work of building churches in such places as Poroto and Tripillo. As a testament to their faithfulness to the task the Lord gave them, the churches continue to thrive and minister to those who attend and serve there.

Good News Jail & Prison Ministry

Chaplain Paul Burress

Paul Burress grew up in a Christian home in Rochester, NY. He attended Baptist Bible College, Springfield, MO. The summer after his sophomore year in college, Paul was hired as a youth pastor at Bellview Baptist Church. He served there for six years. While ministering at the church, he ran multi-state youth camps and began speaking at churches and conferences nationwide. He also co-authored the book, "Greenhorns." Paul returned to Rochester, NY in 2000 where he has run young adults, martial arts, military, law enforcement and Karate for Christ ministries. Paul continues to speak for churches, evangelistic meetings, camps and retreats on a regular basis.

Paul became a full-time Chaplain with Good News Jail & Prison Ministry in Monroe and Wayne Counties, NY on September 1, 2002. Paul lives in Rochester, NY, with his wife, Jill. They have a daughter, Zorah Mae, and a son, Xander Paul.

Chaplain Tommy Davis

Chaplain Tommy Davis was arrested in 1989 at the age of 16 after arriving in Rochester from North Carolina a year earlier. He was led to faith in Christ by a jail chaplain. Tommy grew in his faith while incarcerated. Chaplain Davis was released and was granted by the State of New York a certificate of relief recognizing his rehabilitation.

Chaplain Davis went on to earn his B.A. degree in Theology from Apex School of Theology in Durham, North Carolina and a Master's Degree in Ministry from Temple Baptist Seminary on the campus of Tennessee Temple University. He was granted an honorary Doctorate in Chaplaincy Studies from Chaplain Bible Institute in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Prior to joining Good News Jail & Prison Ministry as a full time chaplain in May 2010, Chaplain Davis served for five years as a crisis chaplain and team supervisor operating in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshal’s Service, at homicide scenes. He has served as a New York division chief chaplain overseeing clergy throughout the state of New York with Chaplain Fellowship Ministries International since 2006. He also served as an assistant pastor in Rochester, New York, a sanitation supervisor for a local beef company, and volunteered in the Monroe County Jail.

Tommy and his wife, Raymona, were married in August of 2001. They currently live in Rochester with their three children and attend First Bible Baptist Church in Greece, NY.

Chaplain Ron Morse

Ron Morse was raised in Central New York and moved with his family to Rochester in 1970. In 1971, Ron joined the Army and served for nearly twenty years active and Reserve. Ron is a graduate of Louisiana Baptist University, in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1995, Ron was ordained into the ministry at Victory Baptist Church in Rochester, and planted a church in the inner city.

Ron has pastored Victory in the City Baptist Church since 1995. He, along with another local pastor, opened an after care ministry called the His Way House in 2003. The His Way House is a transitional ministry for recently released inmates from local county jails, and New York State Prisons. He has administrated the house since 2003. He was instrumental in the formation and opening of a crisis pregnancy center in Rochester called Embracing Options, which opened in 2006. Ron has served with Good News as a volunteer for over ten years, has been an active member of the President’s Council, and has served as the Chairman for two years before coming on as a Chaplain.

Ron has authored a book for Christian counselors on how to understand and minister to addictive behavior, called “More Than Sin.” The book is an expanded version of the CLEAN Addiction Recovery Ministry that he wrote to counsel inmates suffering from addiction. The CLEAN ministry is currently running in 23 churches and 16 jails in New York, and is also in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, and Texas. Ron lives in the Rochester area with his daughters.

The Klumpps

The Landolls

If you picture in your mind Michael and Liselotte Landoll drinking a cup of great German coffee as they take a break from their busy schedule, you will see them experiencing part of what they love about ministering in Germany.

As a team, Michael and Li work together in the church planting ministry. They and their coworkers encourage and coach each other throughout the process. Significant parts of the ministry encompass pastoring, preaching and teaching, evangelizing, and counseling; and of course the administrative work that always is a part of any church ministry.

The Landolls have been on the field since 1985 and have always served in Germany. Seeing the establishment and growth of the church in Kusel has been the source of their greatest joy. The best part of living in Germany is that they are living and ministering in their own cultural context. And yes, the coffee is one of the best parts, too.

Presently they are in the process of beginning the construction of a multi-purpose building in Kusel that will facilitate outreach programs of the church in Kusel, as well as being a training center for church planters in the region. While they are continuing with their regular mission efforts, they are excitedly moving ahead with the expansion and the workers are impatiently awaiting the actual construction process.

Michael and Li ask for your continued prayer and support as they take on the new challenge and expand on the potential to reach out to the unsaved, as well as minister to the brothers and sisters in Christ in the greater Kusel area of Germany.

The Schaechingers

In 1997, Ralf and Lena Schaechinger became missionaries in Germany. Their field responsibilities include preaching and teaching, discipleship, counseling, and running an outreach youth ministry. Germany is Ralf and Lena’s first full-time field and they have several things that they enjoy about it.