| Biographical Information for Steve and Julie Nunemaker |
Steve and Julie Nunemaker have Twenty-five years (six terms) of resident missionary service in Niger, West Africa and are currently serving with EBM’s Mobile Modular Ministry in West Africa and Haiti (since 2000). The Mobile Modular Ministry is a specialized, leadership development branch of Evangelical Baptist Missions (EBM) that has as its purpose to train and equip international church leaders, where they are, to reach their world for Christ. As stated by Tri-M Director Dr. David Haag, “Our calling is to enable national leaders to fulfill their calling.” Tri-M follows the 2 Timothy 2:2 paradigm—that of teaching “faithful men” who are able to teach others. The method used is to recruit and send teaching teams made up of 1 or 2 pastors or professors (usually from the U.S.) led by a Tri-M missionary, into limited access countries or countries where adequate Biblical and Theological training is not available. Tri-M’s pastoral training is accomplished through intensive one to two-week modules using an established curriculum that has been individualized for each country, according to its specific needs. Modules are planned and coordinated in consultation with faithful nationals on location, and are usually held at least twice a year each country. A Tri-M module for Africa, for example, may include several venues (covering several countries). After 25 years of resident missionary service in Niger, West Africa, where we came to believe sincerely that strong leadership development patterned after 2 Timothy 2:2 is the single greatest need in missions today, not only in Niger but in all of Africa, and having seen first hand the God-given fruit of such training through Niger’s Bible Institute (IBBS), we accepted God’s leading (in 2000) to become involved in full-time leadership development through Tri-M. Globally, Tri-M is engaged in training international church leaders in 18 countries on 4 continents. In Africa, Tri-M has established or has initiated training programs in 8 different countries. Personal Testimonies: Steve: I was born and raised on the mission field and began to understand the Gospel at a very young age. At six years of age, I made a profession of faith. However, it was not until I left my parents to attend boarding school in the U.S., at age 14, that I really obtained the assurance of my salvation. Separated from my parents, I was confronted with spiritual realities on a personal level for the first time, and thus came face to face with my own sinfulness, the reality of Christ’s death on the cross for me, and the need to commit my life entirely to Christ. Following graduation from high school, I attended Practical Bible (PBTS), a three-year Bible institute at that time, while waiting to see what God had in mind for my life. Although I had been raised on the mission field, I had no real desire at that point to be a missionary; however, I wanted to be open to whatever God desired for my life. During my senior year at Practical, I took missions as a major—more out of a desire to concentrate my studies in an area that was familiar to me than because of any conviction that God was calling me into missions. However, through the ministry of my Missions professor, my thoughts began to turn back to the field where I had grown up and I began to realize that God had uniquely prepared my life for service there. While at Practical, God also gave me my life’s companion, Julie, who had felt a burden for missions since her childhood. Our journey together as a couple led us to seek the Lord’s will concerning possible missionary service in Niger, West Africa, and in 1973, we applied and were accepted with Evangelical Baptist Missions. Julie: I was raised in a Christian family, and I accepted the Lord as my Savior at the age of 6. When I was about 8 years old, the Lord burdened my heart for missions through the ministry of a single missionary lady, and throughout my childhood and high school years, that burden continued to grow. After high school, I attended Practical Bible Training School to prepare for His service, and it was there that I met Steve. I thought that he was planning a career in missions, because I knew he had been raised on the mission field, but I soon found out that he didn’t have any plans to return. Nevertheless, we both felt that God had led us together in a very definite way, and in 1970 we were married. I still maintained a burden for missions and continued to pray to that end, and the Lord answered that prayer during Steve’s senior year at Practical, when we both felt that God may be calling us to the mission field. Steve graduated in 1972, and by that time God had given us a son, Steve II. We moved to Hagerstown, Maryland, because of Steve’s secular job. It was there that God gave us our daughter, Shelley, in 1973. We also had the privilege of working with the youth group of Evangel Baptist Church, and during that time God led us to apply to EBM for missionary service in Niger, West Africa. We attended candidate school in the summer of 1973, only a week after Shelley was born, and were accepted under EBM. |