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John Wade Allen
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| General Information |
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Birthday: |
December 29, 1972 |
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Salvation: |
November 11, 1979 |
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Anniversary: |
December 17, 1993 |
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Elected as Missionary: |
April 25, 2002 |
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Arrival in the Philippines: |
September 10, 2002 |
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| Childhood |
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I was born on December 29,
1972, in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to John and Linda Allen of Springdale,
Arkansas. I am the youngest of three children. Both of my
sisters are actively involved in ministry and each is married to a Baptist
minister. My family attended Springdale Missionary Baptist Church of
Springdale, Arkansas. I accepted Christ as my Savior in November of
1979. I attribute much of my spiritual growth to the Sunday night
Youth Bible Study at Springdale Missionary Baptist, which was taught
primarily by my mother, Linda Allen. I attended public schools in
Springdale, and graduated from Springdale High School in 1991, in the top
5% of the class. |
| Call to Ministry |
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The summer before my junior
year in high school, I was busy with football practice as had been my
custom for several years. I loved football. I was built to be
an offensive tackle; and I was a starter for the Springdale Bulldogs, who
won the AAAA State Championship in Arkansas that year. Everything
seemed to be going great, but this year, something was different. I
couldn't explain why, but I felt that I needed to quit the team. My
coach didn't understand, and my father definitely didn't either, but I
decided to quit anyway. In retrospect, it is perfectly clear to me
why I had to quit-- because God did an incredible work in my heart that
next year. Less than one year after quitting football, I accepted
God's call on my life to dedicate my life to the ministry of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. In a nutshell, I had to give up the one thing in my
life which took a higher priority than Jesus Christ-- I had to give up
football! |
| Education and Ministry
Experience |
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In order to prepare myself for
the ministry to which I had been called, I chose to attend Central Baptist
College in Conway, Arkansas, in order to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in
Bible & Religious Education. While attending CBC, God provided an
opportunity to be involved in ministry both as a church staff member and
as a layman. Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in England,
Arkansas, extended an invitation to me to work with them as their Minister
of Youth and Music. Being my first experience in "the ministry", I
am very grateful to this congregation and her pastor, Bro. Fred Vogel, for
their love and patience with me as I was growing and learning about church
ministry. After resigning from Landmark, I joined Antioch Baptist
Church, in Conway, Arkansas. At Antioch, I was able to become
involved in many different aspects of the children's ministry. This
was also an opportunity for growth and maturity. On December 17,
1993, Joanna Reddin and I were married in that church. By 1995,
I was able to complete my degree and gradate from Central Baptist College.
The week following graduation, I was approached by my
pastor, Bro. Henry Horton, about working with the children's ministry at
Antioch on a part-time basis. I was delighted by this invitation.
God's blessings continued as He gave me the opportunity to teach at Conway
Christian School that fall. I continued serving at both Conway
Christian School and Antioch Baptist Church for the next three years.
By the fall of 1997, I felt the leadership of the Holy Spirit to continue
my education, so I enrolled in extension classes at Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas. Having a desire to
continue my education on a full-time basis, I decided to move to Texas to
attend the BMA Theological Seminary in Jacksonville, Texas.
We, including our one year old daughter Carly Blair,
moved to Palestine, Texas, in the fall of 1998 to work with Sheridan
Terrace Baptist Church. The church allowed me to be a full-time
student at the seminary, so I was able to complete my studies within three
years. In May of 2001, I graduated from the BMA Theological Seminary
with my Masters of Divinity degree. Just two months earlier, our
second child was born. His name is Caleb Elijah. Not believing
that we had completed the work that God called us to do at Sheridan
Terrace, we decided to continue our work there. The following year,
the Holy Spirit impressed upon us that it was finally time to return
to the Philippines to serve Him there. (See Our Story on the
previous page) |
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Joanna Lynn (Reddin) Allen
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| General Information |
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Birthday: |
October 25, 1971 |
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Salvation: |
June 9, 1981 |
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Anniversary: |
December 17, 1993 |
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Children: |
Carly Blair
Allen - born June 12, 1997 |
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Caleb Elijah Allen - born March 1, 2001 |
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For more information about Carly and Caleb,
click here!
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