In this book, Howard Culbertson answered questions that were asked in church services across the United States during a home assignment year. Originally published for the Nazarene Missions International mission book series, this publication from what is now The Foundry carried ISBN number 083-411-1519
In the late 1950s, I was attending junior high school in a small southeastern Oklahoma town
called Holdenville where my dad was pastoring the Church of the Nazarene. H. F. Crews
and his wife visited our church as evangelists and singers for a revival meeting. It was during
one of those evening services that I said "yes" to what I understood to be God's call to cross-cultural missionary service.
Sometime before that, in Dodge City, Kansas, young Barbara Jo Reed sensed the Holy Spirit
talking to her about being a cross-cultural missionary.
In the 1960s, our paths crossed at Southern Nazarene University. We fell in love, discovered we
shared a sense of call and commitment to world missions, and were married in 1968. In difficult
times during these decades together, that clear sense of a divine call has provided staying power
for Barbara and me.
Our hearts glow as we look back over nearly a decade of missionary ministry in Italy. Working
with the maturing Italian Church of the Nazarene immeasurably enriched us. Now, we are
looking forward to putting together a similar scrapbook of memories as we work and live in Haiti
with people who are part of the Church of the Nazarene in that Caribbean island nation.
The challenges facing us as a holiness movement have never been greater. On
the other hand, there are unlimited opportunities for us around the world.
Your prayers, your financial support, and your letters of encouragement are
making possible our small contribution to meeting these challenges and taking advantage of
those opportunities. We are grateful to those of you who are a part of our support network. May
the Lord's richest blessings be on you as together we seek to fulfill His will for us.
-- Howard Culbertson,