Wayne & Libby Bloomquist: How the Lord Called Us Both into Ministry
Assemblies of God World Mission

Libby:  I grew up as a missionary kid in the Philippines and from an early age sensed the Lord’s call on my life to serve Him. I accepted Christ at a young age, being the firstborn daughter of a Bible professor. I attended Taylor University where my walk with the Lord deepened and my desire to serve the Lord overseas in the neediest areas of the world grew. It wasn’t until I was 37 and in my 6th year as a Clinical Research Coordinator at Indiana University that the Lord opened the door for me to go to Uganda, East Africa, as a Project Manager for HIV Programs with Samaritan’s Purse. It was during my second year in Uganda that the Lord called me to Cambodia. One afternoon while I was reading a prayer story and looking at a photo of three Cambodian children, the Lord impressed on my heart that He wanted me to go to Cambodia. Later that evening I asked the Lord, "What do You want me to do in Cambodia?" I felt the LORD say, "Make disciples." This surprised me as I loved public health, had recently finished a masters in Public Health, and enjoyed and felt well equipped for the work I was doing in Uganda.

Wayne: I was raised in the Episcopal Church and went "looking for God" when I was 19 years old. I was attending an intensive training for youth sports in northern Michigan where I met a seminary student who led me to the Lord. I graduated from Indiana University, married, and started building an insurance agency in Indianapolis. I served the Lord in the church as an elder, Sunday school teacher, missions committee chair, and volunteer Camp Director at Brook Cherith Camp for Pioneer Clubs during the summer boys’ week camp. I became a widower after my wife died from cancer. I had served on Libby’s parents’ mission board for 20 years and had also worked with her grandfather in the insurance business, but had never known Libby. Libby’s father sent a prayer request out concerning her safety in Uganda. I said, "Oh…Libby Wood….she is single, I think I will send her an email." We began emailing and two years later she returned to Indianapolis and we were married in 2007. I sensed the Lord calling me into overseas ministry and began the process of selling my insurance business. We began to pray the LORD would open the door for us to go to Cambodia.

About a year and a half after we were married a position for a couple opened up with Samaritan’s Purse in northern Cambodia. We applied, were accepted, and moved to Poipet, Cambodia in October, 2009. While working in Poipet managing clean water, sanitation, school building and women’s education projects, the LORD began to open our eyes to the great need for disciple makers among the young people who were becoming Christians in the northern provinces of Cambodia. In February, 2011, the LORD spoke to Wayne while he was attending seminary classes at Fuller Seminary. The Lord told him "go and preach the gospel." When Wayne returned to Cambodia he began to preach in local churches with an interpreter. Although we were disciplining our staff of 30 young Cambodians for those 2 years, we sensed God calling us home and into a transition towards a new calling on our lives: full-time ministry as missionaries.  

While we were living in Cambodia, we developed a relationship with the Assemblies of God's Country Moderator Ken Huff and a missionary couple living in Siem Reap province, the Lys. They both told us of the need for missionaries to disciple new believers and lay leaders in the northern provinces of Cambodia. As part of our assignment for the first 2 year term, Wayne will minister under the senior pastor at the Christian Fellowship of Siem Reap, an international church. He will work on an Easter program, preaching, men’s ministry, and restructuring the lay leadership. This church has about 200 attenders, half of which are Cambodian. We will both be involved in language study. During the two years we were in Poipet, Libby learned conversational Khmer; however, she looks forward to full-time language study at the university level during our first year.

Most of the Bible Schools have sprung up in and around Phnom Penh, the capital city, in the southern area of Cambodia. The senior missionaries, the Lys, have a vision for establishing a Bible Institute in Siem Reap for local pastors and pastors-in-training. This vision has come from the persistent requests of the local national pastors for discipleship training in their region. Often, when pastors leave the rural areas of northern Cambodia to go to Phnom Penh for Bible training, they do not return for various reasons. We look forward to working with the Lys and the national Cambodians to help make this vision of a Bible training facility a reality.

If you would like to partner with us, the Assemblies of God World Mission (AGWM) has a website or regular mail contact where you can make a one-time donation or a monthly commitment. All gifts are tax deductible.

Donations may be mailed to:

Assemblies of God World Mission
1445 N. Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802

Please make checks payable to AGWM with Account #295508 on the memo line.

Donate online at: https://giving.ag.org/Give/Details/600001-295508?MinistryName=bloomquist

Thank you for your prayers,

This posting is a little outside our normal gardening for seniors, no politics or religion kind of posting. But I've known Libby since she was born and Wayne for many, many years. Both are filled with the Lord and are striving to do His will. I've never gone to the mission field, nor am I a very good representative for my faith. But I know God works in folks' lives, respect Wayne and Libby's call, and am compelled to share their dream with my readers. Update: Wayne and Libby have returned to Indianapolis from their overseas mission efforts. Libby now lives close to her mother and father, and Wayne, closer to his adult children from a previous marriage. (Note: While Wayne is my nephew, he's almost my age.) Their Christian outreach continues.

From Libby's Uncle Steve, the at Senior Gardening