J A A R S: JAARS Volunteers Speak

JAARS Volunteers Speak

Here are a few stories of JAARS Volunteers.

David and Shirley Aldridge

Shirley Aldridge kept a list of places she wanted to visit and JAARS was on it. During a 1996 summer vacation trip, she and husband David decided to check out the place to see what they would find. They expected not much more than an airport where pilots trained. To get there, they took a series of country roads and wondered, “What could possibly be way out here?” Arriving at a beautiful 600-acre campus with much more than an airport totally surprised them. “It was wonderful,” Shirley says. “We stayed over night and took a tour the next morning. The JAARS bug bit us, for sure!” Read More

Larry and Terry Blackwell

“Are you calling us, Lord?” That’s what Larry and Terry Blackwell prayed in 1994 after listening to keynote speaker Henry Blackaby, co-author of Experiencing God: How to Live the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God. His challenge to get involved in missions work evoked an excited and positive response from the Blackwells. But finding a way around obstacles to their involvement seemed daunting. Read More

Sue Bormuth

Sue Bormuth had read Wycliffe publications over the years, but never suspected she would one day get involved in supporting Bible translation. In the spring of 1995, she and her husband moved to North Carolina to be near their adult son. Only a few months later, her husband suddenly fell ill and passed away. Alone in a new place, her children grown, Sue wondered, “Now what will I do with my life?” Read More

John and Judi Clarke

John and Judi Clarke toured the JAARS center and caught what they call “JAARS fever.” John noted the Construction and Maintenance Department and said, “Hey, that’s what I’ve been doing all my life. I could do that.”" Judi, with experience as a rental agent saw the Housing Department and said, “That’s where I can use my skills to support Bible translation.” Read More

Thom Elkinton

Thom Elkinton leaned forward on the edge of his seat, blue eyes riveted to the closed circuit TV broadcasting from the Houston Space Center. The screen showed an astronaut repairing a damaged satellite. He was able to operate independently of the shuttle thanks to the newly developed Manned Maneuvering Unit. Thom and his colleagues were responsible for designing and fabricating the unit and were only too aware of the perils if anything should malfunction. Only when the astronaut stepped safely back into the shuttle did the tension break and the celebration begin. Everything had gone perfectly. Read More

Lloyd and Linda Harder

Truck driver Lloyd Harder scratched his head and tried for one last time to solve the logistics problem presented by his latest assignment. One missionary family. A house full of furniture. Plus two vehicles. Lloyd’s job was to relocate all of the above from Toledo, Ohio to Van Nuys, California. Read More

Mabel Hutchison

Petite Mabel Hutchison wasn’t so sure she wanted to come to JAARS. In the early 1970s her daughter Barbara, then a Wycliffe member, had said, “Mom, once you retire, you might like to volunteer at JAARS.” Twenty years later, Mabel set out for a morning prayer meeting at her church. She ended up being the only one who came, so she found herself alone with God. As she was praying, He brought her daughter’s suggestion back to her “as if Barbara were standing right there talking to me again.” Read More

Debra Kieft

Most people are passionate about something. For Debra Kieft, an attractive mother in her forties, it’s art. Working on a master’s degree in art administration from the University of North Carolina, Debra searched for a summer internship to meet course requirements. She had heard of JAARS and its Museum of the Alphabet at Church of Charlotte where she attends. Making a call to Arthur Lightbody, an assistant to JAARS’ president, she learned of the possibility of involvement with the museum. Read More

Gladis Lund

Gladis Lund recognized God’s leading when she moved into a furnished apartment near JAARS. Hanging on the wall was her “life verse”: Be still, and know that I am God. It is both understandable and ironic that Gladis desires to focus on this verse. An energetic, outgoing woman, her life is anything but still. Read More

Jerry and Jan Reid

They call them RVs (Recreational Vehicles). But we could call Jerry and Jan Reid’s RV an RVV—a Retired Volunteers’ Vehicle. After Jerry took early retirement five years ago, he and Jan joined RVICS (Roving Volunteers in Christ’s Service—and used a significantly smaller RV—a Travel Trailer. For the next three years, every three to four weeks they packed-up that 32-foot-long and 8-foot-wide Travel Trailer and drove to different sites to volunteer: Toccoa Falls College in Georgia, Children’s Ranch in Orlando, a city rescue mission in South Carolina, retreat and conference centers…. Read More

Mike and Jan Rogers

A sign in Latin on Mike Rogers’ office door says: Servus Servorum Dei “Servant of the Servants of God.” That sums up how he and wife Jan see their assignments at JAARS. As a corporate manager with an airline company, Mike experienced how able assistants saved him time and effort. Now in his retirement years, Mike is happy to take a back seat and lend a hand to JAARS computer department supervisors, course developers and instructors. Mike oversees classroom reservations and set-up, computer movements, purchasing office supplies, emailing—just whatever needs to be done. “None of it is glamorous, but overall, it frees up others to do their jobs, and that’s what I like,” Mike says. Read More

David Sampson

College graduation is usually a time when family come to see the graduate receive a diploma. For David Sampson it was different. David graduated with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science, then returned home. “My parents are Wycliffe translators. I went to Africa to help them and other missionaries in the area in technical areas for a year and then came to the JAARS Center. I’m here helping while seeking God’s mind on what He wants me to do long term,” David says. Read More

Sarah Sherrouse

Sarah is her name. But she’s neither plain nor tall. Sarah Sherrouse, who stands only 5 feet 6 inches tall in her garden shoes, is nevertheless every bit as brave as the star of Sarah, Plain and Tall. She takes on wasps’’ nests, poison ivy, and three-feet-long copperheads single-handed. Well, not exactly single-handed. Read More

Daniel Von Fange

Daniel Von Fange could be described as a self-taught computer whiz-kid. For the last several months, he has volunteered his skills to JAARS three days a week. First assigned to Information Technology, he built a web application for IT personnel. That took three months and involved learning a new programming language. Of that experience Daniel says, “Fun!” Read More