The Rose Family
Bill
I accepted Christ as my personal savior at the age of 5. One afternoon, as I was playing in the backyard, God began working on my heart. It was then that I had a strong desire to be with Jesus. Not fully comprehending how Christ could live in me, I began climbing a tree in the yard, thinking that in some way I could reach Jesus. At the top of the tree, I began calling out for Jesus. My mother heard me yelling and frantically tried
to help me down. When I was safely on the ground, my mother asked me what I was doing. I replied, “I was trying to reach Jesus.” My mother took me inside and showed me from the scriptures how Jesus could live in me. I bowed my head and invited the Lord into my life. Later, Satan tried to convince me that I was too young, however, I placed my trust in the promises of the Scriptures knowing that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I was baptized at age 11 in Clear Lake, Michigan under the authority of Temple Baptist Church of Three Rivers, Michigan.
As a teen, I surrendered my life to the Lord for Him to use however He saw fit. After graduating from Arlington Baptist College and working as a youth pastor for 12 years, I felt the Lord calling me to the mission field and was soon on deputation to be a missionary to Spain.
Our Ministry
We married in June of 1992 and soon after began our ministry together. Bill worked as a youth pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Ft. Worth Texas while we both continued studies at Arlington Baptist College. Once Bill graduated we moved to Michigan where Bill began working as the youth pastor at the church his father started - Temple Baptist Church. It is in Michigan where we began expanding our family with the birth of our oldest daughter, Brianna. Kelsey, Jordan, Joshua, Josiah and JohnPaul followed to complete our family of eight!
After 10 years in Michigan, God made it clear that He was calling us to missions in a Spanish-speaking country. After much prayer, God led us to go to the country of Spain under the World Baptist Fellowship Mission Agency. After 2 1/2 years of deputation and some language training, we departed for Spain in July 2005.
We arrived in Almería, Spain to help a veteran missionary with an already established work and to continue our language and culture studies. During this time, we helped both a Spanish and an African work in Spain, organizing Vacation Bible Schools, hosting events and activities in our home, strengthening the music ministry of these congregations and eventually teaching and discipling new believers.
In 2010 we moved to Cártama, Spain (where we are currently located) to begin a work where no evangelical church had ever been established. We are excited to be a part of what God is doing in the country of Spain!
Dena
From the time I was 8 years old, I was in church every time the doors were open. I walked the aisle and was baptized when I was 12 years old, but I did not understand what I was doing, and there was no heart change at that time. I was simply joining a social club. Later, after my parents were saved, it became apparent that I was not saved. I went through a brief time of depression, and although I still appeared “good” on the outside, I had a rebellious heart. At the age of 16, while on a youth retreat, God got ahold of my heart and I’ve never been the same since! I was baptized two months later at First Baptist Church in Moss Bluff, Louisiana. I surrendered to full-time Christian service at the age of seventeen, and to the mission field during my freshman year at Arlington Baptist College. Everyday is an adventure as I travel with God down the path He has chosen for me.
