We never dreamed that God was preparing us all along for such a ministry as Faith Ministries.
I was saved as a young “Missionary Kid” in Liberia, West Africa. Keith was 20 when he came to Christ through reading a gospel tract. God totally transformed him from a life of sin. He began reading his Bible and attending church. He soon enrolled in an evening Bible institute and then went to Bible college. He became involved in local church ministry and even started a Bible institute in his church where he taught through books of the Bible.
Encouraged by his pastor, Keith attended seminary and graduated with an MA in pastoral studies. I graduated that same year with a degree in elementary education. We met in Bible college at an assigned supper table. My dad always teased us that it was love at first bite!
A Journey of Open and Closed Doors
From the time I was a little girl, I felt the Lord wanted me to be a missionary. I loved Africa and thought I would serve the Lord there someday. When I met Keith, he also had a burden for missions and spent several summers in Scotland on mission teams. We thought God was possibly leading us to Scotland. I must admit that I was willing to go anywhere—except the USA. However, through a missions chapel service, I surrendered to remain even in the United States if that was God’s plan.
Soon after we were married, God opened an opportunity for us to provide furlough replacement for a missionary couple on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. My parents, Rolen and Arlene Cornelius, were missionaries serving there with the Caribbean Radio Lighthouse. During those six months Keith pastored two small churches, and we both worked in the radio station. Keith began a radio broadcast, The Bible Speaks, and he also started a Bible institute in one of the local churches.
Afterward, we made plans to return to Antigua, but the Lord had another path in mind. Our second daughter was born with spina bifida, so we had to remain in the USA to care for her. Keith continued making radio broadcasts while he worked full-time to support our family. He still had a strong desire to train others for the ministry. During this time we also cared for my godly grandmother, who was in a nursing home. This enabled my parents to remain on the mission field.
When the Lord took my father to heaven, our family went to Carriacou, Grenada, to assist the Harbor Light radio ministry short-term. This was the second radio station that dad had started. During this time Keith wrote his first gospel tract, In His Presence, about my dad’s homegoing.
Later, our family of six (four daughters) returned for a full-term assignment. Keith continued his radio broadcast, and I began typing his radio series into booklets which we offered to interested listeners. Keith was fulfilling his desire to train others through radio.
Lord, we want to do more for you!
Because of Keith’s health, we could not continue in Carriacou. We wondered what God had for us. A website had been established to make Keith’s radio broadcasts available for listening. His radio booklets and tracts were also accessible. But we wanted to do more! We prayed, “Lord, broaden our tent pegs!” Little did we know what the Lord had in store! Not long after, Keith was asked to prayerfully consider directing Faith Ministries.
Faith Ministries was founded by Gerald Johnson in 1995, when he returned to the USA after serving in Japan and South Korea for 45 years. Through advertising his tracts and two Bible courses in a Christian publication distributed worldwide, people became aware of the materials offered at Faith Institute of Biblical Studies. When Gerald Johnson’s health failed, Mark Batory, then the executive director of GFA, promised him that GFA would do all they could to keep Faith Ministries operating. In 2007, the Lord took Dr. Johnson home to heaven. What would be done with Faith Ministries? The Johnson family continued the ministry, but it became apparent that they could no longer keep up with its demands. In 2011, Mark Batory approached Keith again about taking on Faith Ministries. Our hearts leaped at the possibility! How we had prayed that God would enlarge our own ministry in some way, and now God was answering our prayers!
New ministry begins
The Johnsons explained the ministry to us, and the supplies were moved to our home so we could begin to develop them further. When we began with Faith Ministries, the student enrollment had dwindled to about 50 students. Presently, there are over 3,000 students from around the world and in the US prisons who have begun to study the courses. Although not all follow through, we rejoice that around 400 students have since completed at least 6 courses, and 200 have completed all 9 Bible courses.
The students study via regular post with hard-copy materials or via email. Computer programmers are currently working to prepare an online platform for us that will make all our Bible courses available for study and as well as testing for instant evaluation. We pray that this program can be launched soon.
In addition to the Bible study courses, Faith Ministries offers 31 gospel tracts (3 in Spanish, and some in Braille), 73 special topic tracts, 2 bookmarks, and 9 Bible courses. Applications for our free Bible courses and all our gospel tracts are available through our website. We offer 50 free tracts per mailing but request donations for larger orders.
Co-laborers
The Lord has graciously provided seasoned saints to aid us with Faith Ministries. Most Mondays 10 helpers come to our home to process new students, fulfill tract orders, grade tests, help with data entry, print personalized notes and certificates, file, and more. Some work from home corresponding with the students who take our courses by email, folding tracts, and making up various packets.
Every week we receive a handful of letters and emails expressing gratitude for how God is using Faith Ministries in lives. Souls are being saved, and believers are built up in the faith. Recently, a prisoner said he had just been saved a few weeks ago. So far, he has completed three booklets/tests. Many pastors in the USA and around the world are better equipped to teach the Word of God because of taking our courses. Several Bible colleges in foreign countries use our material as courses of study. Faith Ministries currently serves people in 68 countries.
We could not have planned our lives to prepare us to serve the Lord in this way from our own home. Praise God for His marvelous work in preparing us for such a ministry. To God be the glory, great things He has done!