Justin Sauder
I was very blessed to grow up in a strong Christian home with godly parents.
One of the things I remember is that we always had family devotions every night.
I remember the night my Dad told us the story of how God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.
That night I knew that I was a sinner and without God's forgiveness I would spend eternity in hell.
That night May 9, 1989, I placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ as my Savior.
The Lord really started to speak to me the fall of my senior year in high school concerning missions.
Before that I was a good kid who looked forward to a nice comfortable life in the states never wanting to get out of my "comfort" zone and surrender all my life to Christ.
The Christian school I went to, attended a mission conference and for the first time I surrendered my life to do whatever God would ask of me.
God continued to work on me and I began to feel an inner desire for missions, not something that I just made up, but what I could tell was a desire that God was placing in me.
After graduation in 2002 I felt that God was leading me to attend Crown College in Powell, TN. At the mission conference of my freshman year the Lord confirmed in my heart that he wanted me to preach and serve Him in missions.
That night I had peace about God's plan for my life.
My junior year at Crown College I met a wonderful girl who would become my wife.
We dated and felt the Lord bringing our hearts together and on December 10, 2005 Danielle and I were married.
I was able to receive a Bachelor's Degree of Biblical Studies in Missions in the spring of 2006,
and a Masters of Ministry in 2007.
Beginning in my senior year in high school, the Lord started placing a desire in my heart for the people of Zambia.
During college that desire became stronger and stronger, and I would often find myself reading, talking to people,
and looking at pictures of that area. I knew that the Lord may be directing us to those people, so in summer of 2007 my wife and I took a five week survey trip to Zambia to confirm if that was the Lord's will for us.
For the following three years my wife and I have prayed and have no doubts that, that is where he wants us to serve in the future.
Since the time of our survey trip the Lord has blessed us with two wonderful boys, Elijah was born on August 25, 2008,
and Jacob on November 4, 2010. We have been serving at New Testament Baptist Church in Maynardville, TN since the fall of 2007.
While there we have been blessed to be involved in various ministries, including Sunday School teacher, Youth Leader, Soul-winning/visitation.
During the ten months when our church was without a pastor the Lord allowed me to fill the pulpit on many occasions until he brought us our new Pastor Mike Samples in November of 2010.
Looking back over my life I see God has lead me every step of the way, and has been preparing me for what he has in store in the future.
Danielle Sauder
I have been very blessed to grow up in a loving Christian home and a Bible believing church were my dad was the pastor.
In the spring of 1989, the Lord began to deal with my heart and show me I was a sinner. On Sunday, April 30th of that year, I was sitting on the front row pew with my brother,
listening to my dad preach. At the end of his sermon he gave an invitation and my brother went forward to get saved. Immediately I was afraid and I knew that if I died I would be the only person in my family to go to hell.
I found my mom and told her I wanted to get saved. She knelt down with me and explained how to become a Christian. I prayed and asked the Lord to forgive me of my sins and I believed on Him as my Savior.
When I was 21, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ. I committed my life to His will and wanted to be His servant where ever He might lead. At 22, The Lord led me to Crown College to finish my degree in Elementary Education.
In the first week of classes, I met Justin and by November we were working in the Missions Conference together. We were married the next December and we started making plans to visit Zambia. The Lord burdened my heart for the people of Zambia before we ever arrived there.
During our trip, the Lord gave me something that makes this whole process possible: peace. I believe this to be God's will for me and my family. It's been a couple years since our trip and my heart and thoughts have remained with the Zambians.
After our trip the Lord led us to join New Testament Baptist Church and to serve Him there while we were waiting for Him to lead us. I finished my degree in Elementary Education at Crown in the spring of 2008 and the Lord blessed us with our first son on August 25, 2008.
He has now giving us two amazing little boys. Elijah Lee who is two and full of energy, and our precious newborn Jacob Jeremiah who was born November 4, 2010. My previous Christian Service and experience include: Bus ministry, Nursing Home Ministry, House-to-House visitation, and International Ministry.
Also I am a choir member and Nursery worker. The Lord has allowed me to teach several different children's classes and have been guest speaker at several Ladies meetings. I am so excited about the desire God has placed in my heart for the Zambians and I want to go wherever God is leading us.
"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:3-5