DONALD and JANICE SCHESKE,
CRY OF INDIA MISSIONARIES,
Affiliated with the Assemblies of God World Missions
A new and exciting opportunity for missionary ministry opened for the Scheskes' when in December, 2011, when Don and Janice were invited to transfer to the India field to become the Operations Managers for Cry of India, a India based and directed child sponsorship ministry. Their responsibilities will include managing the sponsors and children in our office database. From time to time they will be visiting India to assist the National leaders with the mandate to rescue exploited children and provided them with the basics for life and eternity. 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 1.2 billion people. Check out www.cryofindia.org.
Don and Janice Scheske, Assemblies of God World Missionaries, returned back to America, in August 2006, after completing five successful five year term in the Eastern Caribbean and Belize, Central America. In 2007, Don and Janice transferred to the cutting edge Assemblies of God World Missions Internet ministry, Network211, where Don was the Director of 121Connections, an online discipleship and followup ministry.
The Scheskes, have three grown married children and nine grandchildren. Darryn and Loree and family are in Indianapolis, IN, where Darryn is pastor of Heartland Church. Kimberley and Greg Roane and family live in Chaska, MN. They have recently renewed their missionary status and have been assigned to Cry Of India. Erika and Jon and family are located in Indiana, where they both are very active at Heartland Church. Jon's company, JNE Productions, refurbishes existing church interiors with lighting and sound and helps new church plants with audio, media, lighting and stage design.
Don, who was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, 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 tall, 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 hands on Don's head and prayed. In those moments 'Donnie' (as he was called then) saw a vision of a far-away place with black people waiting to hear the gospel, he says. This vision propelled him through his growing up years and on to Bible College to prepare for the ministry. Approximately twenty years later, Don and his wife were serving as missionaries in The Commonwealth of Dominica, an island in the Eastern Caribbean. Early in their first year Don 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 welcome greeting. As he looked out at approximately 5,000 mostly black people, it suddenly, 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 address the crowd. 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 Dominican associates had to officially open the crusade service that night.
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.
Janice, who says she felt called to be a missionary as a teenager, was born in Ontario, Canada. In 1946. 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 as a Nurse.
The Scheskes, married in 1968 then spent four and a half years in pastoral work in Canada before serving in the Eastern Caribbean Islands of Dominica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Haiti from 1973 to 1986. From '87 to '91, they served in pastoral ministry in British Columbia, Canada and from 91 to 93 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, Central America 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. Now a vibrant multi ethnic congregation is growing rapidly. It is truly "A Step Of Faith." 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 mentored can take over leadership roles.
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 and Janice Scheske
