Mission Profile: Marty and Debbie Shilling

Ministry Focus

Dorm parents for missionary kids (MK's) at Black Forest Academy (BFA).
Matthew 28:19-20, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Current Contact Information

Address:
389 Bell Branch Lane
Jacksonville, FL 32259

Phone:
Marty's cell: 336-509-8393
Debbie's cell: 336-543-7186

Email:
Marty: shillingmm@gmail.com
Debbie: shillingdp@gmail.com

Personal Journey

Call to Christ

Debbie and Marty both started their personal relationships with Jesus Christ when they were about seven years old. Marty received Christ when a Sunday School teacher shared John 3:16 with him. Marty wanted to experience the love that God offers through His Son. Debbie received Christ after coming home from Sunday School and asking her dad to come into her bedroom and pray with her. She wanted to make personal that which she had had learned so much about in Sunday School about Jesus. They have taken an active role in the churches in which they have attended with an emphasis on the junior and senior high. Debbie is a talented musician and singer, along with being very detailed and thorough in business. Marty is able to plan and organize with a background in computers. Marty and Debbie have found that God is able to use them both in sharing Jesus Christ personally to others and in building up the youth as they grow in Christ. They have two sons, Eric and Donnie, who have both accepted Christ as their personal Savior.

Call to Missions Service

Our preconceived notions of what missionaries are like shattered as we got to meet real live missionaries (and their children!). We met the Bowers, Jenkins, and Robinsons all within a relatively short period of each other. We found out that they were ‘normal’ people, a lot like us. They had the same struggles that we had, same concerns about life, and the same family values. We went on our first short term missions trip together. While in Spain in ’92 we both became convinced that this was what God had in mind for us. Five years later we moved to Europe with our two sons, Eric and Donnie.

Current Call

Dorm Parents at Black Forest Academy: Marty and Debbie have been members of CFC since 1986 and serve with TeachBeyond, formally known as Janz Team.  Both have been full time missionaries since they left their business careers in 1994. Marty and Debbie have enjoyed working with teenagers and young adults since before they were married in 1977.  Debbie’s passion for teens is so strong that some have said it truly is a gift from God. Marty's background in project management has been valuable in the planning and logistical management of evangelistic outreaches in over 25 countries around the world.  Debbie and Marty are joining their giftedness and passions to be dorm parents at BFA. 

Financial Needs

• We are currently under-supported by $200 per month
• An immediate one-time need of $8,000 to head to Black Forest Academy
• Deficit with former organization (Proclaim International) of $11,500

Gifts can be given through:
TeachBeyond
P.O. Box 6248
Bloomingdale, IL 60108-6248

Or online donations:  http://www.teachbeyond.org/donate/

Quotes from Missionary Kids (MK's) at Black Forest Academy:

“I spoke 4 languages by the time I entered 5th grade.”

“I heard artillery shells landing in the courtyard of my house.”

“MK’s are a race without color, without culture, the only thing we hold in common is we hold nothing in common.”

“Before BFA my whole world was the 4 walls of my home.  I was home schooled there. My church met there. My siblings, who were my only friends, lived there with me. And everything outside of those 4 walls was unsafe and unwelcoming since we lived in a Muslim country. And then I came to BFA where I found safety, friends and a world open to me.”

“A lot of times we’ve had no family other than our parents and siblings.  We’ve seen our grandparents and aunts and uncles so little that they feel like strangers to us.”

“BFA has been home to me, my heart home, where love and understanding are greater than differences.”

“I’ve been loved here, not just by my peers, but by my teachers too.  That is something I NEVER would have experienced in regular Austrian schools.”

“I’ve never had a friend for more than a year at a time until I came to BFA. People are constantly leaving in the life of a missionary kid.”