Retired Missionaries
Retired Missionaries
Rhaylene Abbey
BIRTHDAY November 11
Rhaylene majored in Math Education at The King’s College in New York State. Upon receiving her degree, she taught in upstate New York for one year, then pursued her original calling and attended Missionary Internship. For sixteen years she served with Slavic Gospel Association in Alaska. Then she transferred to InterAct Ministries, working at the Arctic Bible Institute and correspondence school for the next five years before returning to Kodiak, Alaska. Rhaylene retired in 2017 but still assisted with outreach through visitation, Bible studies, Sunday school, fellowship and involvement with her local senior center in Kodiak. Rhaylene currently lives in a care facility where she shares her faith and plays hymns for the residents.
Retired Missionaries
Freda Arnold
BIRTHDAY January 5
Freda met Russ Arnold in high school. As a junior there, Russ felt the call of the Lord to serve in Alaska. He and Freda were married in 1951, after which he finished Bible school and a missionary medical course in Canada. In 1956 they joined InterAct (then Arctic Missions) and traveled with their three children to Alaska to the small village of Kokrines, where they ministered among the Athabaskan people. The following year they moved to the village of Ruby, where they ministered for ten years. They then moved to the village of Nenana and remained there for six years. From 1973, Russ taught in and directed the Arctic Bible Institute in Palmer and saw several graduates serve their Lord in their respective villages. After ten years at the school, he moved into administrative duties in Alaska and then in Calgary (Canada) and back to Palmer, Alaska, in 1996. The Arnolds officially retired in 2009 but continued to correct Bible lessons from prisoners and enjoy phone calls and visits from the people from the villages and former students. Russ went home to be with the Lord in October 2021. Freda’s heart is still with the people and fellow missionaries they served.
Retired Missionaries
Gary & Valerie Brumbelow
BIRTHDAYS
Gary: July 10
Valerie: August 15
ANNIVERSARY: June 8
Gary and Valerie grew up in Texas and Nebraska, respectively. Valerie graduated from Moody Bible Institute and Gary from Grace University. He also completed a master’s degree from Wheaton College. They have two married sons and twelve grandchildren. The Brumbelows joined InterAct in 1978 and served on the Canada field until moving to the U.S. office, where Gary served as executive director from 1995 to 2010. Gary retired at the end of 2021 and is pastoring a church part-time in Troutdale, Oregon.
Retired Missionaries
Charlie & Judy Cook
BIRTHDAYS
Charlie: December 8
Judie: September 24
ANNIVERSARY: March 21
Charlie and Judy met in Orlando, Florida, where their families lived. After six years of marriage (and two daughters), Judy met Jesus and Charlie rededicated his life. They became active in their local church, where Charlie had the opportunity to attend Luther Rice Seminary. After pastoring a Mexican migrant church for three years, the family decided to join InterAct Ministries in 1973. Charlie and Judy served as church planters in British Columbia: eleven years in Anahim Lake, eight years in Chetwynd, and then in Dawson Creek. In the fall of 1999, they moved to southern British Columbia. They have two adult daughters and have retired to Washington state.
Retired Missionaries
Doris Hagedorn
BIRTHDAY January 12
Doris was raised in Washington and graduated from Multnomah School of the Bible in 1959. She has served with InterAct since 1960 in village ministries in South Naknek, Tanana, Kokhanok, Pedro Bay and Nondalton. Doris moved to Wasilla in 1988 to continue urban and village outreach ministry. Though retired, she remains active in several ministry spheres from her home in Alaska. She continues to write and publish books about her life as a missionary.
Retired Missionaries
Jim & Becky Hamilton
BIRTHDAYS
JIM: NOVEMBER 14
BECKY: APRIL 14
ANNIVERSARY: AUGUST 14
Jim and Becky met at Taylor University in Indiana. Soon after graduation, they entered into missions with North American Indigenous Ministries (NAIM) in British Columbia in various roles such as camping ministry, church planting, personnel and recruitment, along with the summer missions program. In 2000 they moved to Alberta to work at Gladstone Mountain Gathering Grounds. During that time, they worked side-by-side with InterAct staff. When Gladstone closed down, they made the transition to join InterAct. The Hamiltons served in recruitment and directed the EnGage! internship program in Canada. They now supervise and work with the Urban Fire youth leadership ministry in Calgary and are interim team leaders for Midway Bible Camp in Manitoba. The Hamiltons retired in 2024.
Retired Missionaries
Dave Henry
BIRTHDAY January 26
Dave and his wife Kay began their ministry in Alaska by translating portions of the New Testament under Wycliffe with the Koyukon Indians. In 1986 they joined InterAct (then Arctic Missions), working as church planters with this people group. They worked with the Koyukon churches in remote areas of Alaska along the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers and with the urban Native church in Fairbanks. In 1993 they joined the Russia team and moved to Siberia. After serving many years in Russia, they returned to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2010, where Dave serves on the elder board of the Fairbanks Native Bible Church. Kay went home to be with the Lord in October 2021. Dave continues to be connected with the ministry in Siberia and shares the gospel with all he can
Retired Missionaries
Dave Hill
BIRTHDAY July 11
David grew up in Apalachin, New York. He attended Carson-Newman College in Tennessee and received his B.S. in Physical Education, Health and Recreation. He received his Bible education while attending Practical Bible Training School in Johnson City, New York, 1979-81. He served as assistant pastor at Glendale Baptist Church from 1980-81 in Endicott, New York. Dave and his late wife Sally began serving with InterAct (then Arctic Missions) as church planters in 1986 in Port Lions and Chignik, Alaska. After a long battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Sally went to be with the Lord in March 2017. Dave regularly travels to Alaska to minister to his dear friends as his health permits
Retired Missionaries
Glenna Houston
BIRTHDAY July 28
Glenna met her husband Ed in southern Oregon when he returned from service with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. They were married in 1968. In 1970, when their oldest daughter Carmen was just six weeks old, they moved to Montana, where Glenna attended, and Ed graduated from Montana Institute of the Bible. They joined InterAct Ministries (then Arctic Missions) in 1977 and began a church-planting ministry among the Chilcotin Indians of British Columbia. After four years, they moved to Williams Lake, where they helped establish the Williams Lake Native Bible Church. They relocated to Alberta in 1986 to minister as InterAct’s Canadian mobilizers. In 2001 the Houstons joined co-workers in Kamloops, BC, in their church plant among Shuswap First Nations people. In 2003 Ed and Glenna took the reins of Native Bible Centre (NBC), a distance-learning Bible school. In 2011, they moved to Wardner, BC, to continue directing NBC and the production of “TRIBE” (Training Resources for Indigenous Bible Education) materials. In 2019, Ed went home to be with the Lord, and two years later, Glenna moved to Olds, AB, to be near family. She retired in 2024.
Retired Missionaries
Jennetta Hughes
BIRTHDAY March 13
Jennetta grew up in Palmer, Alaska. She married her childhood friend Ken, and after four years of marriage, they moved to Three Hills, Alberta, where Ken attended Prairie Bible Institute. After graduation, he received his airplane mechanic and flying licenses from Clover Park Technical in Tacoma, Washington. They returned to Alaska in 1966 and served in the village of Grayling for four years. They then moved to Big Lake, where Ken worked as a mission carpenter, Bible teacher, pilot, and mechanic, and Jennetta taught Bible classes and provided hospitality. In 2006 they retired. They have six grown children. In 2016 Ken passed away, but Jennetta continues to minister through women’s Bible studies in her home, participating in outreach to other widows and meeting with a home group of young families from her church.
Retired Missionaries
Dan & Barb Kees
BIRTHDAYS
Dan: September 9
Barb: December 31
ANNIVERSARY: June 4
Dan and Barb first met at Washington Bible College in Lanham, MD, and married in 1965. They ministered in several areas of Alaska and the Yukon as a missionary pastor and church planters with Central Alaska Mission and SEND International. In 1988 they moved to Lethbridge, Alberta, to serve with InterAct. They worked among the Blackfoot nation and other First Nations tribes as church planters. Their passion in ministry was to disciple, encourage and train the young First Nations leaders to serve God. The Kees have three adult children and ten grandchildren, who are all serving the Lord with their families. Dan and Barb are currently retired but continue in their desire to share the gospel in Lethbridge and the surrounding reserves as health permits.
Retired Missionaries
Dale & Debbie Kenyon
BIRTHDAYS
DALE: NOVEMBER 27
DEBBIE: NOVEMBER 9
ANNIVERSARY: APRIL 12
Dale and Debbie were childhood sweethearts. After being married four years and having two children, they gave their lives to Christ. They felt God leading them into full-time service two years later, so they packed up and headed for Alaska. After one year there, they moved back to Michigan so Dale could attend Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music in their Missionary Aviation program. In 1981 they joined InterAct (then Arctic Missions) and moved to Bonnyville, Alberta, to begin a four-year church-planting ministry with the First Nations community. The next five years saw them working with an emerging First Nations church in Calgary. In 1990 they were engaged in East Indian ministry in Calgary, and in 1997 they moved to India to work alongside an indigenous missionary organization. From 2000-2003 Dale served as InterAct’s mobilization director. The Kenyons were on loan to SIM, assigned to serve in Bolivia, South America, until their return to Canada in 2019. They are currently mentoring and encouraging First Nation people in Bonnyville and Calgary, also Latinos in Bolivia. They have two married children and four granddaughters. Dale and Debbie retired in 2024.
Retired Missionaries
Betty Kirsch
BIRTHDAY July 22
Betty grew up in Australia and came to know the Lord in Scotland. She graduated from Prairie Bible Institute in 1961. In 1963 she joined Slavic Gospel Association and then transferred to InterAct (then Arctic Missions) in 1984, serving the Aleut people on the Alaska Peninsula. Betty moved to British Columbia in 1991 to minister among the Sikhs, where she loved tutoring children and getting involved with extended families. She retired in 2007 and moved back to her home in Australia.
Retired MiSSIONARIES
Roy & Phyllis Martin
Roy: September 21st
Phyllis: March 31st
Anniversary: June 27th
Roy and Phyllis met in their high school choir class and were married two years later in 1964. They served through InterAct Canada (then Arctic Missions) in several office support roles and hospitality from 1980 to 1985. Roy then worked in the InterAct U.S. office as development director for ten years and as finance and administration director for another four years. Though currently retired, the Martins meet with people throughout the month, either in groups or individually, and spend about 20-25 hours each leading Bible studies, mentoring, counseling, praying, encouraging and just doing life with people.
Retired Missionaries
Bob & Carol Moffat
BIRTHDAYS
Bob: September 17
Carol: March 11
ANNIVERSARY: December 20
Bob and Carol met in high school and were married in 1952. They have six grown children. Bob served in the army in Alaska, after which he enrolled and graduated from Multnomah School of the Bible. They arrived in Alaska in 1959 to work with Arctic Missions (now InterAct Ministries) and served in three Native villages. Bob was appointed assistant Alaska director in 1971 and Canada director in 1981. They served in this capacity until February 1994.
Bob and Carol have a ministry in member care, which entails giving counsel and pastoral care to missionaries. They also attend and speak at conferences, retreats and help national pastors and leaders. The Moffats have contributed to U.S. office prayer meetings, InterAct historical work, training, and article writing. Their over sixty years with the mission have uniquely qualified them for these tasks
Retired Missionaries
Shirley Morgan
BIRTHDAY April 27
In 2020, she moved to Idaho. She is involved in her local church and has begun an outreach ministry to widows. Her heart is still with the Alaskan Native people and she still keeps in contact with them.
Retired Missionaries
George & Judy Richardson
BIRTHDAYS
George: December 28
Judy: April 30
ANNIVERSARY: November 25
George first joined InterAct (then Arctic Missions) in 1966. He and Judy have served together with the mission since 1968. During their ministry, they spent over thirty-two years church planting in the Interior of Alaska, first in the villages of Cantwell and Ruby and then in Fairbanks. George served as field director of the Alaska field for three years. From 2001 to 2018, they moved into the role of providing member care, helping provide spiritual and emotional support for field missionaries. They are retired but continue to minister among Alaska Natives and are involved in a new church plant pastored by their son. They have four grown sons, all married with their families serving the Lord.
RETIRED MISSIONARIES
Winn & Gracia Stiefel
BIRTHDAY
Win: November 15
Gracia: June 8
Anniversary: June 18
Win and Gracia grew up in Minnesota and taught school in bush Alaska. After Win’s retirement, they volunteered with SEND, a mission organization in Glenallen, Alaska. They moved to Siberia as independent missionaries and served alongside InterAct missionaries. In 2002 they joined InterAct and moved to Sakha, where Win helped with administrative duties, and Gracia ministered to women and children. They returned to Alaska in 2006 to live in the Copper Center area, where Gracia researched culture and worldviews to prepare culturally relevant Bible study materials. They now live in Palmer, Alaska, at the Lazy Mountain Campus and volunteer in hospitality, mentoring, and helping as needed with LEaD. They still maintain friendships in Copper Center.
Retired Missionaries
Jean Van Diest
BIRTHDAYS
Jeanie: August 14
Gale and Jean met while attending Multnomah School of the Bible in Portland, Oregon. After graduation and marriage, they attended the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Norman, Oklahoma. Gale completed the Missionary Medical course at Biola. They arrived in Alaska in 1954 to begin a church-planting ministry in the Athabascan Indian village of Holikachuk. They served twelve years in Holikachuk and Grayling and then moved to the newly-formed Arctic Bible Institute, where Gale taught and was student advisor. Gale was appointed Alaska field director in 1970 and served as general director from 1987 to 1995. They have five grown children and nineteen grandchildren. Gale passed into Glory in 2022.
Retired Missionaries
Kathy Voran
BIRTHDAY April 18
Kathy met her late husband Richard in Topeka, Kansas, where Kathy was studying nursing and Richard was working in the same hospital. After Kathy’s graduation, they were married, attended and graduated from Grace College of the Bible in Omaha, Nebraska. With a desire to go into mission work, they spent a summer in Alaska at Victory Bible Camp and Victory High School. They returned to Alaska in the fall of 1973 with their young son to the Arctic Bible Institute (ABI) near Palmer. Richard served in maintenance, and Kathy was the school nurse for the next fifteen years. After ABI closed, Richard was asked to assume the position of Alaska business manager in 1991 while filling in for maintenance needs periodically. They have three sons and two grandsons. Richard went to be with the Lord in 2014.