Our Founder and Board of Directors
Rev. Sharla Yoder,
Founder & Board President
Ministry Director
My journey began as a 9-year-old child at our church children’s camp, located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. The pastor, who served as the camp director, showed a very dynamic film about some devoted missionaries who were martyred in Ecuador. You may be familiar with Jim Elliot, along with 4 other men who were commissioned by God to reach out with the Gospel to the Quechua Indians, who were a violent, tribe of people. Gradually, they had made friends with them. But soon, the five men in the missionary group were martyred, leaving their wives and children widowed and fatherless! However, the tribe’s leader later received Jesus, through Jim’s widow, Elizabeth’s, forgiving ministry!
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Jim Elliot had made a profound statement that deeply impacted my heart and mind:
HE IS NO FOOL WHO GIVES WHAT HE CANNOT KEEP TO GAIN WHAT HE CANNOT LOSE.​​
After the dramatic film, the pastor gave an invitation for salvation, and I was one of the first of several children to come to the front to receive Jesus as my Savior. I knew then, that God had put a call on my heart to serve Him as a missionary, but I never felt called to a third world country. I soon began listening to several Christian radio programs while I got ready for school. On some Saturdays, as I ironed clothes for my mother, I listened to Chaplain Ray. He was later known as “The Father of Prison Ministry.” I was very compelled to listen to the testimonies of born again inmates, as well as poems and songs they had written and shared on his program. They deeply touched my heart! Many years later, God brought this back to my mind. (Read More)