News Release

J. Gary & Lori Ellison

Assemblies of God Missionaries

J. Gary and Lori Ellison have served overseas since 1982 with the Assemblies of God World Missions, training pastors in the French-speaking countries of Ivory Coast, Togo and Belgium. From 1998 to 2007, they served in French Polynesia as general field missionaries and started Ezra Bible School. They have been in the country of Vanuatu training pastors at the Joy Bible Institute since August 2007.

Joy Bible Institute (JBI) was founded by Lori’s missionary parents in 1979. Upon their arrival in 2007, the Ellisons found that many of the buildings needed to be renovated. From 2007 to 2009, they oversaw the renovation of the men’s restroom and the laundry area, and transformed the upper level of the old missions house into a girls’ dorm and the bottom front level into a library. The day before leaving for itineration in the States, they finished the new kitchen. Future projects will include a new classroom building and a new cafeteria.

JBI remains the primary pastoral training center for the Assemblies of God of Vanuatu. Several other denominations also send students to JBI. Gary currently serves as JBI Academic Dean and teaches Bible and theology classes. Upon their return to Vanuatu in 2010, he will also serve as the school principal. Gary has an M.Div, an M.A. and has done doctoral studies. He enjoys preaching in the local churches and teaching pastoral seminars. He has several websites in French with pastoral helps and articles: www.coeurdeberger.org and www.coeurdeberger.wordpress.com.

Lori teaches Biblical Archaeology and practical ministry courses. She has an M.A. and has dug at Ashkelon, Israel. She publishes a variety of Christian materials in several languages, including a Christian family magazine in French which is distributed in the South Pacific region.

Gary and Lori feel that the Lord has placed them in Vanuatu in a key position and at a very key time in the history of the Assemblies of God. JBI was founded by Lori’s parents 30 years ago and since that time, many pastors have been trained and 118 churches have been planted. But the church faces many challenges:

• There needs to be a return to a strong emphasis on the Word of God, on expository preaching with practical application.
• There is a need for more ongoing training for pastors to help them grow in ministry.
• There are many areas where there is no evangelical much less a Pentecostal witness.

The mission of Joy Bible Institute is to train the next generation of pastors for Vanuatu and beyond. To meet this great challenge, there are great needs:

• They are raising $150,000 for an urgently needed new classroom building. 100 churches giving $1,500 would meet this need. Offerings for this project may be sent to:

Project 5619, Account 236425
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 Boonville Avenue
Springfield, MO 65802

• They also need about $1,000 in additional monthly support to meet school budget expenses and the increased cost of ministry in Vanuatu.

The Ellisons request your prayers for God’s blessing on the work in Vanuatu. You may follow their ministry at www.visionforvanuatu.wordpress.com.