Full-Time Supported Missionaries

The missionaries we support on the field came through our church. Southeast Asia and Boston seem to be the geographical focus of our  missions support. The Shan people of Southeast Asia were adopted by the church in 1999 as the people group we would devote a majority of our resources. The Shan are primarily in Burma, northern Thailand, Laos and western China. Here are our missionaries:

Jeff Bass

Jeffrey Bass became executive director of Emmanuel Gospel Center in 1999 after serving as assistant director since 1991. He oversees all aspects of the Center’s work, including strategic direction, leadership development, programs, and fundraising. A 1981 graduate of Princeton University (BSE in Civil Engineering), he served as a consultant with Arthur D. Little, Inc., managing numerous projects and studies for businesses, non-profits, and government. In 1987, he became the administrator of Ruggles Baptist Church and learned first-hand how an urban congregation works. He is an active member of River of Life Church in Jamaica Plain. Jeff and his wife, Ellen, have lived in Mission Hill since 1986. Their two children, David and Peter, are grown and living on their own – David in England and Peter in Boston.

Chip and Kathy Sanders

Chip received a degree in chemistry from Northeastern University, in Boston in 1983. Kathy received a degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education from Millersville University, Millersville, PA in 1980. She served as a short term missionary in Japan for 15 months and then attended Columbia International University in Columbia, SC for a year where she received a Certificate in Bible in 1983. They married in July 1983 and lived in Boston for 16 years.

From 1983 to 1998 Chip worked as an analytical chemist at WR Grace and Company in Cambridge, MA. He started as a lab technician and worked up to being the manager of the analytical laboratory for this former Fortune 500 Company. During these years Chip provided leadership at Ruggles, as an elder and as chair of the missions committee. He and Kathy, along with eight others, were also a part of a church plant from Ruggles on Mission Hill for six years. Their home was open to missionaries and others, including un-wed pregnant women.

Chip and Kathy joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in August 1997. After putting together a team of supporters, they took a year of training at SIL International headquarters in Dallas TX from 1998-99. (Wycliffe is the chief resourcing partner of SIL; SIL is the chief implementing partner of Wycliffe.) They were seconded to SIL and assigned to work in Southeast Asia in 1999. They moved to the Philippines in August 1999, went through three months of field training and then settled in the city of Davao for eight years. There Chip had a variety of roles, including Branch Academic Resources Coordinator, Language Programs Manager, Regional Director and eventually Branch Academic Director. He traveled extensively in Southeast Asia in his responsibilities. Kathy served as the Davao Guesthouse Manager, the Hospitality Coordinator and assisted in creating literacy materials.

In November 2007 Chip was appointed to be the Vice President of Academic Affairs for SIL International. He began that role in February 2008. The title has since changed and he is now the International Director of Language Program Services for SIL International. In April 2008 he took on an additional role of becoming a member of the SIL Executive Director’s team. Chip travels extensively around the world for these two global leadership roles.

Kathy is currently the Associate Hospitality Coordinator at the International Linguistics Center (ILC) which hosts the SIL International headquarters in Dallas, TX. Her ministry is to help provide hospitality for the many people who come to the ILC either for meetings, on furlough, as students, as volunteer workers, or on assignment.
They have two grown daughters, Julia and Lydia. Julia received a BA in English and Lydia a BA in Sociology.
Chip and Kathy can be reached via Chip-Kathy_Sanders@sil.org.
 

Fran MacNeill

Fran was born and lived in Massachusetts until she attended Houghton College (NY) and Presbyterian Hospital (NYC), graduating in 1951 with a BS in Nursing. After 1 1/2 years at Columbia Bible College in SC, she joined Wycliffe Bible Translators, and spent the next 32 years in Bolivia. Most of her work there was among the Aymara people who live high in the Andes Mountains around La Paz, Bolivia and Lake Titicaca. It was her privilege to work mostly within Aymara-speaking churches in literacy and, along with Aymara believers, to prepare Sunday School materials, hymnbooks and other Christian literature. She was always glad that the medical work could continue, but in second place to giving God’s Word to the people.

After leaving Bolivia, she spent 3 years in Guatemala doing similar work, then joined the staff at the NE Wycliffe Home office in Lancaster, PA, working fulltime at first and then part-time until complete retirement in 2006. Now she am thankful to still be able to serve the Lord in teaching Bible studies, helping with music and in other ways as He makes it possible.

Neel and Chalor Roberts

Neel joined Ruggles Baptist Church back in 1984 when he was a student at Gordon Conwell Seminary. He was commissioned by Ruggles and went to Thailand with OMF in 1987. In 1993 he married Chalor. Chalor is Thai and is a graduate of Phayao Bible Institute. Chalor works with Shan Migrant Children in Mae Sai and Chiang Rai in North Thailand. (See http://lightforshan.blogspot.com/ for details.)

Neel supervises Christian workers in the Upper Mekong Region. Many of these workers are engaged in a variety of development and educational programs designed to help people who have very limited opportunities to improve their lives. In all of these activities the ultimate objective is that the many ethnic groups throughout the region will come to know Jesus Christ in a personal and life transforming way.

Email address: theprester@gmail.com

Blog for Chalor’s ministry with Shan Migrant Children: http://lightforshan.blogspot.com/

  Linda Smith

Linda currently serves as the Program Manager of Joni and Friends Greater Boston, the local office of the international ministry of Joni and Friends. Their mission is to communicate the gospel and equip Christ-honoring churches in New England to evangelize and disciple people affected by disability. The ministry longs for the day when people with disabilities are participating and serving within local congregations as valued members of the Body of Christ.

Currently, the Greater Boston Office focuses on two programs of Joni and Friends: Family Retreat for families affected by disability, and Through the Roof, training churches to welcome and include people with disabilities and their families. They also host “Moms Morning Out” support groups for moms who have children of any age with disabilities of any kind. A one-year Bible curriculum, Beyond Limits, especially designed for teens and adults with cognitive disabilities, is available through their office.
Read more about the Boston are ministry at http://boston.joniandfriends.org/index.php and the national organization at www.joniandfriends.org. You may contact Linda directly at lsmith@joniandfriends.org.

Karen Smith

She has lived and worked in Thailand since August, 1999, serving at the ministry of the New Life Center Foundation (a legal Thai NGO).

This ministry provides services to ethnic minority women throughout Thailand and its neighboring countries. Fifty percent of the girls who reside at the Center are highly vulnerable to human trafficking and labor exploitation, due to their functional illiteracy and lack of family or legal status. The remaining 50% of girls residing at the Center have already been victims of human trafficking and different forms of labor abuse. Over the past five years, the Center has increased its services for teenage girls who are victims of on-going sexual abuse in their school, family, or village areas.

The New Life Center Foundation promotes education, vocational training that results in viable employment, and life skills training that equips residents with what they need to know to survive in a rapidly changing world. Clinical care is provided to all girls who have suffered any form of severe abuse and exploitation. This care includes 1:1 counseling, art therapy, music therapy, and building creative thinking skills through baking and handicrafts activities.
Warmly evangelical, New Life Center Foundation staff leads Bible studies and weekly worship services. Discipleship training and baptism ceremonies are held for those girls who decide to become followers of Jesus Christ.

Supporting Organization: American Baptist International Ministries www.internationalministries.org 
Ministry: New Life Center Foundation www.newlifecenterfoundation.org
Address: P.O. Box 29, Chiang Mai, 50000 Thailand
Email: newlife@pobox.com; nlcfoundation@gmail.com

Nanan Coughlin 

Nanan & Chris established Cultural Connections of Boston in September of 2001. It is an outreach ministry to graduate international students and scholars for Boston’s Fenway area campuses (i.e. Boston University, Harvard School of Public Health, etc.) We offer a weekly Cultural Connections class. The first half of the class we teach on American culture, history, slang and idioms. The second half of CC class, Nanan teaches Bible study. We also offer monthly excursions around New England, a friendship partners program, hospitality ministry, friendship evangelism, and individual counseling. Recently, we opened an International House in Medford near Tufts University.

 http://www.culturalconnection-boston.blogspot.com/ 

Nanan came to the States as an international student from Indonesia.  She was an ardent Buddhist believer and was introduced to Christ during her undergraduate study at Louisiana State University (B.S. in Electrical Engineering, 1983) in Baton Rouge, LA.  She later received Jesus as her Lord and Savior in 1984 in California. Nanan was discipled by a Chi Alpha Campus Ministry pastor during her graduate study at George Mason University (M.S. in Electrical Computer Engineering, 1987) in Fairfax, VA. She was baptized in the Shanandoah River in West Virginia on May 11, 1985.

 Nanan moved to Boston to work as an engineer in 1988. She later followed the call to ministry and went to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A. in Theological Studies. 1989-92).  She has served as a full time missionary and minister to international graduate students and scholars in Boston since 1992. Nanan is a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God.

 Chris graduated from Boston University (1981) and served with various missions organizations overseas for over a decade before joining Nanan in 2001. Chris earned his Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from UMass-Boston in 2008. Chris teaches ELL (English Language Learners) at Chelsea High School. His students are all immigrants and refugees from Latin America, various African countries, and Iraq.

Nanan can be reached at joehanan@gmail.com.

 Mission organization: Globe International (formerly Globe Missionary Evangelism). P.O. Box 3040. Pensacola, FL 32516-3040. Phone: 850-453-3453
www.gme.org