DONALD and JANICE SCHESKE, A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

CRY OF INDIA MISSIONARIES, Affiliated with the Indiana District of the Assemblies of God.

Don and Janice Scheske, Assemblies of God Missionaries, returned back to America, in August 2006, after completing their fifth successful four year term in the Caribbean and Belize, Central America. In January 2007, Don and Janice transferred to the cutting edge Assemblies of God World Missions Internet ministry, Network211.

In December, 2011, Don and Janice were invited to transfer to the India field of ministry to become the Operations Managers for Cry of India.   They will be managing the sponsorships of children and the communications that needs to flow back to the sponsors.  What a challenge! Jesus Christ's commission to go into "ALL" the world has never been more achievable and it includes India with more than 1 billion people.

Don, who was born in the mid-west, says he felt a calling to missionary work as a young boy. "My parents were prairie farmers," he relates, adding that he was born second-to-last in a family of six. Even before he was born, his mother, 38 years old and his father 42, dedicated him to the Lord. They desired that at least one of their children would enter full time Christian ministry.

Don was seven or eight, he recalls, when missionary Jock Wallace, a large, broad shouldered man, visited his small country church. He "wept" as he described his burden for the Japanese people. At the end of the service Wallace laid his hand on Don's head and prayed. In those moments 'Donnie' (as he was called then) saw a vision of a faraway place with black people waiting to hear the gospel, he says. This vision propelled him through his growing up years and into Bible College to prepare for the ministry. Approximately twenty years later to the day, Don and his wife were serving as missionaries in Dominica, an island in the Eastern Caribbean, when he decided to conduct a series of outdoor evangelistic crusade meetings. He filled large metal fuel drums with sand to provide a foundation for a platform. He obtained stadium-style lights and a sound system, and prepared a large banner printed with the words "Christ Is The Answer" to hang above the platform. He says that on the night of the first meeting, he walked onto the platform to open the crusade service with a special greeting. As he looked out at approximately 5,000 mostly black people, suddenly, it struck him, "I've seen this scene before!" The vision he had experienced as a young lad was before him in reality and he felt overwhelmed with emotion. So moved was he by this experience that he could not begin the service. God had mightily confirmed the 'call' that he was in the right place at the right time doing the right thing that God had ordained for his life. One of Don's associates had to officially open the crusade service that night.

Janice, who says she felt called to be a missionary as a teenager, was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1945. Her missionary parents, who spent 43 years in total in Africa, took her to Kenya, when she was one. She attended boarding school at Rift Valley Academy from age seven through high school. Janice continued her education in Canada and graduated in 1967 with a Registered Nurses Degree.

The Scheskes have three grown and married children, all in ministry. Darryn & Loree and family are church planting in Indianapolis, IN. Kimberley and Greg Roane and family are home on furlough from India where they just completed their second four year term of missions ministry. Erika and Jon and family are located in Indianapolis, where they both are very active with Darryn in church planting ministry. All together Don and Janice have eight grand children.

Don graduated from Northwest Bible College, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1966. Since then he was granted a Bachelors in Theology degree from Faith Seminary, Tacoma, WA and is currently working on a Masters program with The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, MO. The Scheskes, who have three children (all in full time ministry) and eight grandchildren, married in 1968 and spent three years in pastoral work before serving from 1973 to 1986 in the Eastern Caribbean Islands of Dominica, St Lucia, St. Kitts and Haiti. From '87 to '91, they pastored in British Columbia, Canada and from 91 to 94, Don did extensive ministry in Eastern Europe, Russia and Siberia. In 94 they transferred to the Assemblies of God, USA, and were appointed to Belize in 95.

In January 1997, the Scheskes landed in Belize City, Belize, the former Belize capital and main port which has a population of about 70,000. The city was devastated in 1961 by a hurricane, and in 1966 a British grant financed the building of a new capital, Belmopan, located about 50 miles inland. Don says, "One of our major challenges was to go back to Belize in January, 2002, to plant a new vibrant English language church in Belmopan." A nucleus of people was meeting in a home forming the basis for this new church. This has now been accomplished and a vibrant multi ethnic congregation is growing rapidly and was transferred to the General Council of the Assemblies of God of Belize, in June 2006, to continue with its development and leadership. This is the what missionary ministry is all about, "working ourselves out of a job," Don says, so that the National people who've been trained can take over leadership roles.

Don & Jan Scheske are five term veterans of missionary ministry in the Latin America & Caribbean Region, serving in the Caribbean basin countries of the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kits, Haiti and the last 2 terms in Belize, Central America. In mid 2006 they returned from Belize and accepted a ministry position with Network211 (twenty-one/one), a new cutting edge evangelism ministry that uses “21st century technology to communicate the 1st century gospel.” 

In December 2011, Don and Janice were asked by the Director of Cry Of India, an Assemblies of God Missions child sponsorship ministry to be the Operations Manager.   They will also be traveling to India hosting team of people who will assist with the up-grading teachers and providing health care to the children of Cry Of India schools.

Anyone wishing to contact them regarding volunteering to go to India for ministry can do so via e-mail at don.scheske@gmail.com or call our cell phone # 417-496-1827    Thank you for your interest and support and more importantly, your prayers!

Don & Janice Scheske