Around the World
A 55-Year Love Story: Ron and Linda Wilson
By Linda Wilson
I met Ron Wilson 55 years ago, and the following day he told me we were getting married because that is what God told him to do. Three months later we were married, and so began our adventure.
Two years after that we had our first son, and in each succeeding year we added another child until we had four – three sons and a daughter. We shared a love for each other, for our family, and for God. Those three things were the backbone of our relationship. We did everything with our whole heart and soul.
Ron began his career in the insurance business and I raised our children; however, we knew God had placed a call on our lives. It was never a vision or a voice from on high; we just knew we had something to do.
We have always been active in our church and community, assisting with self-sustaining projects and working with the Hmong people after the Vietnam War. We started with one Hmong family, and like a magnet, we inherited 300. We started a farm project, school classes, and a congregation that Ron pastored while still working. After the Bosnian War we worked with the resettlement of Bosnian refugees and still have many dear friends because of this work. Later we worked with the Des Moines Dream Center to minister to people living in the inner city of Des Moines, Iowa.
In 1992 Ron, who was a board member of Sports World Ministries, and I were assigned to accompany Mike Cobb, a professional athlete, to a speaking engagement at First Church of the Open Bible in Des Moines, Iowa, a church we had not before visited. The service was one of the most wonderful I have ever attended. Ken Groen, the church’s pastor at the time, gave Mike ten minutes to share. He told him, “If God leads, speak as long as you are led.”
At the end of that service, Mike led an altar call that resulted in 12 people coming forward to accept Christ, a testimony to the power of God. As Ron and I left First Church that day, we looked at one another and said, “We belong here.” We had no idea of the journey we had just begun.
In 1997 Ron’s boss gave him the book From Success to Significance by Lloyd Reeb. Ron, who was 53 at the time, enjoyed success as vice president of a billion dollar insurance company. Our four children had graduated from college and begun their independent lives. Ron made the decision that it was time to do more for God, so he retired with a small pension to do whatever God wanted him to do.
Ron’s last official duty for his company was to go to Washington, D.C., to the National Prayer Breakfast. While there a friend introduced him to Dois Rosser, a builder and Christian entrepreneur who was building churches in third world countries. Dois invited Ron to travel to India and Africa with him two weeks later.
That same year Paul Canfield, the Executive Director of Open Bible Global Missions at that time, had traveled to India for a Pentecostal conference and connected Ron with John Paul, the pastor of Open Bible Church of God in India. Paul Canfield had made an exciting discovery a few months prior: there were more than 60 Open Bible churches in India that Open Bible Churches in the States had known nothing about. He learned that Open Bible Church of God in India had been established in the 1930s by Open Bible missionaries Willis and Grace Clay. The Clays had formed just one small village church and a Bible school before they had to leave because of the war. John Paul’s father, P.K. Paul, had continued to lead the fledgling church. Unbelievably, by 1997 that one small church had grown into a flourishing work that included more than 60 village churches. After Paul Canfield shared this amazing story at First Church one Sunday, Ron offered to introduce Paul to Dois Rosser.
Six months after their trip to India, Ron received a call from Dois, who said, “Ron, God did not intersect our lives without a reason. I can tell you are a man of integrity and that you love the Lord. I will give money to Open Bible to build churches if you will oversee the work.”
Thus we began our work. I got a job to help bring in additional income, and Ron went to work raising funds and serving the Lord in India, Africa, Cuba, and other countries throughout the years. Ron took groups of people two or three times a year on vision trips to give them the vision of what we can do for others as our fulfillment of the Great Commission. I was able to travel with him to the churches, and I accompanied him to India once a year. Ron and I both knew this was the answer to the calling we had hungered for all those years. This was what God had prepared us for. After a time Dois moved on, but Open Bible people had opened their doors and hearts to our work, and we continued to share the vision God had given us.
I could share the many miracles and healings we have seen through the years, but what I really want to share is the experience that brought us to the fulfillment of the call we felt on our lives. Many feel this type of call but are not sure how to respond.
One of our grandsons lamented the fact that his grandpa, who passed away January 1, 2020, isn’t still here to tell him what he is supposed to do with his life. I believe Ron would have told our grandson and anyone else who feels they have a call on their life to pray, read the Bible, and let God lead. If you treat people with kindness and love, you will know in your heart if you are in God’s will. Live in such a way that when the doors of opportunity are open you are prepared and ready to walk through them. Never second guess what purpose the task may have for you. God knows and you will understand in time.
This has certainly been our experience. Human nature drives us to want to know what we should do right now. Unfortunately, we don’t know what God has planned for our lives. I can see how God prepared us in His own way for His own purpose. As I continue our work in India, I imagine that Ron is still watching over me, our children, and our work. I pray that I will go forward and fulfill our calling in a manner pleasing to the Lord.
About the Author
Linda Wilson serves as an Open Bible missionary ambassador, traveling frequently to India. She and her late husband, Ron, helped to build 122 Open Bible churches throughout several countries, dig 98 wells, and raise support for 21 orphanages.
“We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation
to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done”
(Psalms 78:4 NKJV).
On March 1, 1967, Melvyn and Barbara Kelderman moved to Trinidad and Tobago. That step of obedience began a family legacy that decades later led us—their son and daughter-in-law—to return as full-time missionaries serving with the School of Global Leadership (SGL). Looking back, we see God’s faithfulness from one generation to the next.
Before being appointed as missionaries in 2024, we both taught secondary school while serving at Open Bible Church in Omaha, Nebraska. During those years, God gave us countless opportunities to grow in ministry and deepen our calling. Having served in cross-cultural ministry in several countries, we were grateful when He opened the door to join Global Missions full time. Today we serve with the School of Global Leadership, helping believers discover their role in God’s global mission and equipping those who are moving from called to sent.
School of Global Leadership
Since its beginning in 2010, SGL has helped revitalize the vision for missions within the Open Bible Standard Churches of Trinidad and Tobago. Their work in Trinidad and beyond has helped SGL to become a partner with the Global Missions department in helping connect, expand, and reach into other countries around the world with the Gospel.
One of SGL’s greatest joys is hosting teams from Open Bible Churches in the United States. These short-term ministry experiences allow participants to encounter Trinidad’s diverse religious landscape, including Muslim, Hindu, and African-derived faith communities, while discovering how God may be calling them to serve. SGL also equips future missionaries through online courses and hands-on training. Whether you’re exploring God’s call, preparing for long-term service, or simply wanting to learn more about His work among the nations, we’d love to help you take your next step.
Looking to the Future
While Trinidad remains our training base, we believe God is expanding this vision. Our hope is to establish SGL training hubs in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa so that future leaders can be equipped within their own languages and cultures. As we continue partnering with Global Missions, we believe God will open doors to train and equip missionaries from everywhere to everywhere.
We are deeply grateful for the churches and individuals who pray for us and faithfully support this ministry (Philippians 1: 3). Together we are helping prepare the next generation of workers who will carry the gospel to the nations. Just as others invested in us, we now have the privilege of investing in those God is calling today – and we believe He will continue telling His story from generation to generation.
About the Authors
Brent and Sara Kelderman are pastors and missionaries with Open Bible Churches USA. After serving as teachers at a public high school in Nebraska and as associate pastors in their local church, God expanded their calling into full-time missions. Throughout their marriage, God has woven a passion for the nations into their hearts. They currently serve within the School of Global Leadership (SGL) in Trinidad and Tobago. Their ministry includes hosting missions teams, leading missions training, and partnering with local churches. They are grateful for all God has done and look forward to all He will continue to do in and through their lives.
In parts of Nigeria today, land is no longer just a livelihood – it’s a battleground. In search of increasingly scarce water and grazing land, semi-nomadic Muslim herdsmen are moving their flocks south into areas already inhabited by Christian farmers. This encroachment has intensified conflict, resulting in thousands of deaths, the displacement of millions, increased kidnappings, and deepening ethnic tensions. This is the environment in which Open Bible’s ministry continues day after day.
Despite these challenges, the Gospel is advancing.
Okon Obot, Open Bible’s Superintendent in Nigeria, shared the following story with me:
Recently we held an evangelistic crusade in one of the affected regions. Despite security concerns, people came looking for hope and peace. Evangelistic crusades remain a powerful and effective way to share the Gospel in village communities where fear and uncertainty are a part of daily life.
The theme of the crusade was “Arise and Shine,” and over 300 people gathered. By the end, sixteen people had given their lives to Jesus and fifteen were immediately baptized and welcomed into the church, each a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
A high point of the crusade was the reconciliation of a family of brothers divided for five years. Under the conviction of the Holy Spirit as the Word of God was shared, they chose forgiveness and were restored to one another. They returned to their homes with joy and peace.
In response to God’s work in their lives, the brothers donated a large piece of property in their village, Mbabuu, for the construction of a church building.
This is where the 2026 Global Harvest Offering, “Build Hope for Africa,” comes in. When we reach our goal of $200,000, Nigeria will be one of the recipients. Open Bible will partner directly with Pastor Okon to build a new church building in a place like the village Mbabuu.
This is more than a construction project – it is the next step of what God is doing. Despite hardship, churches in Nigeria are growing and new buildings are needed to serve expanding congregations and reach their communities.
Your gift to “Build Hope for Africa” can help provide a visible witness of Jesus in a region marked by instability and equip local leaders like pastor Okon to continue evangelizing where the need is great.
In a place where land is fought over, God continues to build His Church!
Snapshots of the vibrant ministry happening in Nigeria:
About the Author
Tammy Swailes is passionate about cross-cultural Christian education, so working with INSTE Bible College to disciple and equip leaders throughout Europe and beyond is a great fit! Tammy has lived in Europe since 1999 – first in Hungary and now Ukraine. Before that, she was in Japan, as well as Spokane, Washington. She now serves as INSTE regional director in Europe, assisting INSTE programs in five languages. Tammy has her undergraduate degrees in both Missions and Christian Education and a MA in Intercultural Studies. Photography, good coffee, multi-cultural experiences, and the family’s Yorkie are some of Tammy’s favorite things.
Have you ever wondered, What in the world are our Open Bible missionaries doing now? We wish we could visit every church or sit down over coffee and share what God is doing where we serve—but that isn’t always possible.
So this month, we’ve gathered brief notes from missionaries around the world. As you’ve read these updates from around the world, we invite you to pray for our missionaries—their families, their ministries, and the communities they serve. Please also share these stories with your church so others can join in prayer.
Use the interactive map below to see the updates:
Trouble seeing the map? Click HERE
About the Author
Tammy Swailes is passionate about cross-cultural Christian education, so working with INSTE Bible College to disciple and equip leaders throughout Europe and beyond is a great fit! Tammy has lived in Europe since 1999 – first in Hungary and now Ukraine. Before that, she was in Japan, as well as Spokane, Washington. She now serves as INSTE regional director in Europe, assisting INSTE programs in five languages. Tammy has her undergraduate degrees in both Missions and Christian Education and a MA in Intercultural Studies. Photography, good coffee, multi-cultural experiences, and the family’s Yorkie are some of Tammy’s favorite things.