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Dan and Becky met in St. Louis, MO, in 1983, right after Dan had traveled to Spain as a seminary student. Their meeting brought together two lives that God had been preparing, well, from eternity, but more recently, since 20 some years before. Dan grew up in Ft. Collins, Colorado, with the Rocky Mountains, camping, swimming, biking, John Denver, and a mixed spiritual experience of church and rebellion. He grew up attending church, VBS, etc., but did not hear a clear presentation of the Gospel early on. After hearing of God’s love for him in many different ways, through church, friends, camp, etc., he trusted in the Lord for eternal life as a free gift while in high school. This was after an intense time of rebellion including drugs. Life immediately changed, both in behavior, as well as in geography and culture. His family moved to Mississippi, giving him his first real experience with “culture shock.” Through the local church, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Reformed University Ministries, Dan grew in his faith, and began to minister. While at University of Southern Mississippi, he was involved with international students, and also traveled to Spain to study. He also attended a missions conference called Urbana and was greatly challenged by the needs in the world. Sensing a call to missions, Dan went on to Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis to study the Bible and theology. Becky was brought up in west St. Louis. She attended church with her family, but during her confirmation service, when told by the pastor to “just say yes” when asked if Christ was her Lord and Savior, she answered in tears because she realized she didn’t know what that meant. Meanwhile, her mother was attending Bible Study Fellowship, and became acquainted with ladies she respected, some of whom attended Covenant Presbyterian Church. Becky’s mom took her children there, and Becky met Christ and his free gift through the gentle witness of a VBS teacher. She attended a Christian high school and went on to Wheaton College. From early on in her Christian life she knew she wanted to be a minister or missionary’s wife, since she admired those whom she met in her church. The Lord brought them together through friends while Dan was at Covenant and Becky was studying an MA in Art Ed., at U. of Missouri. Dan was first called to youth ministry in Las Cruces, NM, and while there, he went back for Becky and brought her out to the “wild west”. Never forgetting the desire for missions, they went with IMPACT to Cusco, Peru, in 1988, to work with youth and young couples for two years. God confirmed them in ministry to Spanish-speaking people, and Dan was called to join Border Evangelism and Mercy Ministry in El Paso, TX/Juarez, Mex., in 1990. The Young’s started Gracia y Paz mission in 1997 in Mexico. They began a summer English camp for Mexican children, with help from PCA church teams. From 2001 to 2004, Dan taught at the San Pablo Seminary that BEAMM started in Juarez and ministered at Oasis PCA Mission, a Spanish-speaking congregation in El Paso in the Presbytery of the Southwest. Dan is now working in teaching and training in San Pablo Seminary in Juarez, in church plants that the team has started, and in the Presbytery of the Southwest, as well as that of South Texas. We pray for a movement of church planting to grow on both sides of the border. As a Border Training Coordinator, Dan will help train and mentor pastors and leaders of that movement border wide in the U.S. and Mexico, and Becky will support in discipleship and counseling as she is needed and able to help. She is teaching Aesthetics and English at Covenant Christian Academy, a classical school where Rachel and Lisa attend high school. Ben is married to Sofia and both are attending New Mexico State in Las Cruces, NM, and Will is attending Covenant College. In May, 2006, Dan finished an MA in Border History at U.T. El Paso. Their children are Benjamin (12/21; Anniv.6/22/87), Will (10/29), Rachel (4/16), and Lisa (2/14).
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