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 2008, Dan taught at the San Pablo Seminary, ministered in congregations on both sides of the border, helped church planters and pastors in Juarez, and participated in the start-up of a LAMP seminary site at University Presbyterian in Las Cruces, NM, in pastoral and training roles.
In November, 2008, Dan was appointed BEAMM Eastern Regional Director. In this new position, Dan is to advance and oversee BEAMM's ministry in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. While working in teaching and training in San Pablo Seminary and church plants in Juarez, the Presbytery of South Texas asked for help with Hispanic ministry on the border in South Texas. Dan traveled several times in 2007 and 2008 to Laredo, McAllen, Reynosa and Brownsville to help with works there, like La Vid PCA mission in Laredo. When the South Texas Presbytery encouraged him in his ministry on their border, it became clear that God was calling him and Becky to move.
We are praying for a movement of church planting to grow on both sides of the border. As Eastern Regional Director, Dan will work with pastors and leaders in that border area in the U.S. and Mexico to promote the BEAMM vision of church planting and mercy ministries, and Becky will support in discipleship and counseling as she is needed and able to help.
Ben is married to Sofia and they are both in graduate school. Will graduated from Covenant College in May, 2010, and has joined the mission agency To Every Tribe, planning to go to Oaxaca, Mexico. Rachel and Lisa continue at Covenant.
Dan and Becky Young
10312 North 12th Street
McAllen, TX 78504
Home Phone: (956) 287-4209
Dan's Cell Phone: (915) 309-1619
E-mail: danyoung@beamm.org
To Support Them Financially,
please send your gifts to:
Mission to the World
Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284
Account #: 18801
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