Great Commission Calls Ohio IMB Missionaries to Return

Chad and Miriam Pumpelly celebrated their appointment at the Sending Celebration along with SCBO Executive Director Jeremy Westbrook and his wife Jennifer. IMB Photo

By Myriah Snyder, IMB writer

On Valentine’s evening, many Southern Baptists gathered in Phoenix, Arizona, to celebrate the latest group of missionaries heading to the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

In total, 62 missionaries were approved unanimously for appointment earlier that day by IMB’s board of trustees who were also in Phoenix for meetings and to recognize new missionaries. Of the 62, 57 had previously served in some capacity with the IMB: two are missionary kids (also called TCKs or third culture kids) raised overseas; 43 have previous service with the IMB of at least three months; another 12 had been on at least one short-term mission trip connected with the work of IMB missionaries. 

“This is what we want to see,” said Paul Chitwood, IMB president. “They caught the vision of what God is doing among the lost and are obedient to His call to return. Along with the others who are also being celebrated tonight, they are people who believe in the vision of Revelation 7:9. As these former missionaries and TCKs return to service through the IMB, they will have thousands of churches supporting them with prayer and with faithful giving through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon offering. What an incredible legacy God has given Southern Baptists!” 

They caught the vision of what God is doing among the lost and are obedient to His call to return

Among the 62 appointed missionaries were two Ohio Baptist couples. One of those couples,  The Pumpellys, are going back to the field for a second time. 

Chad and Miriam Pumpelly are both missionary kids. They took to the platform during this Sending Celebration to share how God called them back to the nations. This wasn’t the Pumpellys’ first time at an event like this. Chad’s family has a long history of missions with the IMB. 

As a 5-year-old, he saw his IMB missionary parents, Larry and Sharon Pumpelly, serve and share the gospel with the lost in Uganda, day-after-day.  

He also had a front row seat to some radical life change — like the change he saw in Fred’s life. 

Fred was a Ugandan who had formerly lived a life of crime. He was part of a car theft ring as a teenager. But, after hearing the gospel, he gave his life to Christ. He was radically changed – and he used his dubiously acquired mechanical skills for the kingdom. He became a mechanic for the local Baptist mission. 

Being an eyewitness to the difference in Fred’s life was a gamechanger for young Chad, who although only 5 years old was an ever-curious oldest sibling. After asking questions of his parents, he placed his faith in Christ. Little Chad was baptized the same day as Fred. 

In high school in Kenya, he met his future wife, Miriam. Both Chad and Miriam recount some of their sweetest times of spiritual growth studying Scripture together as a teenage couple. But it wasn’t until college that Chad remembers feeling convinced that he was called to missions. 

As a missionary kid, he wanted to be sure that his call to missions wasn’t just his desire to “return to my parents’ trade,” he said. “I always questioned whether I was being called or if I was just going to what was comfortable.” 

During a run in a thunderstorm, God got his attention. Chad spent the run praying through big life decisions, like what he should do with his career and if he should propose out of the blue to his on-again/off-again girlfriend. As he ran, he found himself caught in a “good ole midwestern thunderstorm.”  

As it thundered and lightning struck around him, he recounted, “I was like, ‘okay, God, I surrender. Don’t strike me dead here.”   

A year later, he married Miriam, who also sensed the call of God to missions. Three master’s degrees and two children later, the couple saw the perfect opening to go back to their beloved Africa – teaching at the Baptist Theological Seminary of Malawi. 

Larry and Sharon Pumpelly, who served for 26 years as missionaries, show photos of their children growing up in Africa. Their son, Chad, and his wife, Miriam, are returning to Africa to serve, for the second time, as career missionaries. IMB Photo

Their ministry overseas flourished, as they spent a handful of years in Malawi. Then they transitioned to a place where Miriam used her nursing degree as the medical coordinator in Nairobi, Kenya, and Chad served students there. 

The couples’ ministry was thriving, but it soon became apparent that not all four children were. While Anya, Isaac and Omara were well-adjusted, their son Ethan struggled. His behavior continued to spiral, and he showed troubling signs of anxiety and depression. After consulting with a pediatric psychiatrist in Kenya, it was recommended they take a year of extended leave and enroll him in a school in the States. 

There, doctors discovered he had autism. The family was conflicted. 

“I felt very well-suited for what we were doing. We were thriving on the field and loving the work,” Miriam said. 

I felt very well-suited for what we were doing. We were thriving on the field and loving the work

But they both knew God called them to nurture their children as first priority; the location where they served God could be subject to change. Ethan couldn’t handle life on the field at this point. Confused about God’s plan but trusting Him, the missionary family moved back to the U.S. 

Chad pastored churches in Ohio, and the family saw God bless their ministry. Their kids grew. Ethan showed great improvement, graduated high school, and got his welder’s certificate. As a young adult with the right treatment, his parents were hopeful that he’d be able to live independently with high-functioning autism. 

While taking a group from their church, Guide Church in Hilliard, Ohio, to Missions College in Richmond, Virginia, Chad became overwhelmed with the feeling that he was on the wrong side of the table. The passion for missions burned in him. A candidate consultant asked Chad if he’d consider going overseas again. 

Though the family had their kids to consider, they knew God was calling them back to the nations. That became more apparent when they were approached by a friend on the field with the perfect job description for them – training Africans to reach Africans. The couple knew this was what God had in store. 

The process hasn’t been easy, but the family has seen God open doors for Ethan to live in his own apartment, owned by a local church, next door to his older sister, Anya, and brother-in-law. And though Miriam’s momma’s heart covets prayers for the younger two, Isaac (15) and Omara (13) who join their parents in Nairobi, both Chad and Miriam know God can be trusted to take care of their family as they head back overseas to reach the nations.