REDEMPTIONWORKS INTERNATIONAL

Ron was raised in the Congo by missionary parents and speaks four languages. He graduated from Indiana University, where he was involved with The Navigators and later served with the organization in Uganda and Kenya before returning to Indiana University, where he met Doris.
 
Doris grew up on a farm in Minnesota, attended Winona State University, and later relocated to Chicago for training with The Navigators. They subsequently sent her to Indiana University to mentor women.
 
Ron and Doris got married in 1976, both working full-time while discipling international students through their church. In 1978, a survey trip to Ghana and Congo confirmed their missionary calling, but complicated pregnancies delayed their move to Congo until 1982. Ron served as the Appropriate Technology Director and financial manager at CEDECO in Bas Congo, while Doris raised three children, hosted students and staff, and learned about Congolese culture.
 
In 1986, Ron became the Director of the Protestant Guest House in Kinshasa. Their children attended a British Baptist school where Doris taught. While renovating the guest house, they mentored university students, taught church discipleship, and launched the Congo Navigator ministry. They were evacuated due to civil unrest in 1991.
 
The instability in Congo led them to join the Navigator team in Ivory Coast. Ron commuted to Kinshasa to manage the guesthouse and connect with university students and community leaders. Doris taught at the International School of Abidjan with their three children attended. In 1998, Ron and Doris returned to the U.S. for two years. Ron traveled to the Congo to support the Navigator ministry there, while Doris earned her master’s degree in educational leadership and managed the home.
   
After serving with the Navigators for 25 years, Ron and Doris joined the International Foundation to help launch Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast groups and disciple businessmen. He hosted French-speaking African leaders at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Ron taught seminars on “Spiritual Warfare” and traveled to Liberia after its civil war to help organize a conference on reconciliation. Doris taught at the International School of Abidjan, conducted educational seminars, and co-facilitated two schools for Liberian refugees in Abidjan. Their home served as a center for Bible studies, youth activities, and hospitality. They were evacuated from the Ivory Coast in 2003 due to civil unrest.
 
A highlight of Ron’s time in Ghana was helping to launch the Youth Corps there and in other West African countries. He trained mentors to disciple street children and teach them essential life skills. Doris mentored women and assisted in establishing various micro-enterprises in Accra. Ron and Doris spent the next four years traveling between Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Benin to coordinate and support the development of Youth Corps ministries in those regions countries.
 
In 2008, Ron and Doris returned to Kinshasa to support the National Prayer Breakfast groups and mentor businessmen. Doris served as the Principal of an International School, guided women, and extended hospitality to many.
 
In 2013, Ron and Doris launched RedemptionWorks International and relocated to Mbandaka. Ron collaborated with a Congolese Christian non-profit organization to oversee a government-sponsored road rehabilitation project that included 375 miles of dirt roads through the jungle in the province, where he was fluent in the local languages. This two-year initiative provided employment and income for over 3,000 villagers and created numerous opportunities to teach and demonstrate God’s faithfulness. Many evenings were spent showing the “Jesus” film in the local language.

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The English Training Center in Mbandaka was established in 2016. Doris trained teachers and developed a Bible-based curriculum for teaching English to adults. Ron taught Farming God’s Way to village farmers in Mbandaka, at the Mbandaka Technical Institute for Rural Development, and in two towns along the Congo River. Doris continues to provide teacher training and English instruction to the increasing number of individuals eager to learn English.