Jeff and Verna Willhoite have served with World Missions Ministries for 17 years. We thank the Lord for their commitment to the Great Commission and the impact they have made throughout Indochina. We pray His blessings over them as they begin a new chapter of their ministry, as pastors of the Family Worship Center in Pulaski, Virginia. Please see remarks from Bishop Gardner and the Willhoites below.
September 21, 2017
Dear Ministry Partner & Faithful Prayer and Financial Supporter of Rev. Jeff and Verna Willhoite:
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
First, let me start by thanking you for your prayer and financial support of the Willhoites’ call to serve as IPHC Career Missionaries to Asia since January 2000.
I regrettably must notify you that Rev. Jeff and Verna Willhoite have accepted the invitation to serve as senior pastors of Family Worship Center in Pulaski, Virginia. Due to the urgency of their needing to assume this pastorate, their resignation from World Missions Ministries [WMM] will become effective immediately. As a faithful ministry partner of theirs, we wanted to apprise you of this transition as soon as we formally became aware of it. Your Conference Missions Director will gladly make a recommendation regarding directing your support to missionaries from your conference who are actively serving on the field in a full-time ministry capacity if you desire their assistance. Or, there are several missionary couples that are close to being released to the field. Let Rev. Steve Cofer know if you would like to transition your support to any of these missionaries.
Jeff and Verna’s service and ministry legacy as IPHC Career Missionaries has been exemplary. Jeff has established himself as a leader of leaders in his role as Regional Director of Indochina. Verna has been a consummate helpmate and capable ministry partner. Their imprint on the ministry fabric of this region, especially Thailand, is indelible.
On behalf of the Willhoites and World Missions Ministries, we thank you for your faithful partnership. Please keep Jeff and Verna in your prayers as they begin this new season of life and ministry as pastors of Family Worship Center. Also, we covet your prayer support for the on-going ministry in Thailand and Indochina.
On a personal note, I thank you for standing with us in the critical work of sending missionaries to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.
We are people of promise, and we do bring hope through the love of Christ Jesus.
“To Jesus Christ be all glory now and forever!”
Respectfully yours,
J. Talmadge Gardner
Executive Director, World Missions Ministries Division
Corporate Secretary, IPHC
September 21, 2017
Dear Friends in Christ,
Greetings in the precious name of Christ Jesus! What a wonderful Savior we have and what an amazing grace He has blessed our lives with. Today we are writing to share with you some bittersweet news, news that will affect many people in varying ways. Verna and I have prayed and waited upon the Lord to know His good, acceptable, and perfect will for our lives. After 27 years on the mission field in Asia, we believe the Lord has ended that chapter of our life and service. Our hearts are forever His, and we will continue to serve the Lord in the states. Amazingly, He has opened a wonderful door for us to serve as pastors of the Family Worship Center IPH Church in Pulaski, Virginia. On Sunday, September 17, this congregation voted for us to be their new pastors!
We are excited and eager to see how the Lord leads us to serve this congregation. We are humbled by their acceptance of us, and we lean upon the Lord for His guidance and help as we walk with these people to see their church members’ lives flourish as they are rooted and grounded in the love of the Lord and His Word. We are challenged daily to reach out and make a difference in the lives of the people around us who are lost and dying without Christ.
Above all, this letter is to express our love and gratitude to all of you, our faithful partners, who have stood with us for the past 17 years, and some of you even longer! Oh, how precious your prayers, your love, and your faithfulness in giving have been, to keep us on the mission field. We can never express how much we thank the Lord for you all. Your encouragement has kept us there in the dry times and in the bountiful times. We are forever grateful.
We do ask for your continued prayers as we make this transition. The Indochina Mission Training Center continues to move forward in the capable and faithful hands of Pastor Chi Chang. He and his wife, Mimi, and their four children are committed to carrying out the vision of the Training Center and the Hands of Hope Women and Children’s Center in Maesai, Thailand. Even now our Appalachian Conference Missions Director, Larry Meadors, is discussing and considering how they can work with Pastor Chang to move forward in that area. Our prayer is that many of you will realize the strategic setting of this center and will continue to support Pastor Chang as he works to complete the building and use the facility to the glory of our Lord and Savior. The field remains white for harvest. Won’t you continue to do what you can in helping see this work through until the Lord returns?
We love you and would like to talk with you if you have any questions or comments. You can reach us at: Jeff (540) 831-8434 Verna (540) 831-8447 or at the church (540) 980-7287.
In Christ, with grateful hearts,
Jeff & Verna Willhoite
