Several years ago Paul Pearson and his wife Faythe were sitting on the front porch of their water-front condominium watching nearby walkers and joggers. A gentle breeze floated in off of Puget Sound, carrying the refreshing smell of the salt water. Sea gulls swooped, squawked and soared. In the distance they could see the mast of their sail boat rocking gently in the morning freshness, not far from their favorite steak and seafood restaurant.   They both were holding cups of warm coffee and thinking to themselves, "Well, I guess this is it!"

Or was it? Paul had just retired from his long-time job as an engineer with Boeing. Faythe had retired from thirty five years as an early childhood director and teaching on the college level. They were both in their late sixties. Time to sit back and relax, right? This couldn’t be right! They both still had so much energy, so much passion for life! They were feeling as though life was just getting started. And all they were doing was sitting on their porch watching walkers and joggers!

This can’t be it...let’s see if there is someplace overseas that could use a couple of oldies but goodies!" Six months later Paul and Faythe were settling in to their new home away from home in Southeast Asia. They had walked away from their comfortable, relaxing retirement. They said goodbye to their church friends and to their children and precious grandchildren.

When Paul and Faythe first contacted Mustard Seed International (MSI) about going to live and serve the children of Southeast Asia, We wanted to make sure they could handle it. We wrote them a letter explaining that this part of the world did not have all the comforts of home. Paul wrote back, "Well, let’s see...where I grew up on a farm, I had to go outside to use the toilet. I had to get water out of a well. We had no electricity. I think we can handle Southeast Asia." And have they ever!

Rarely have we come across a pair of missionaries who blessed so many people, so deeply, in such a short period of time. Paul and Faythe have plunged themselves into their ministries with a zeal to serve. Their home is always filled with young people. On weekends, college students can be found hanging-out with "Mom and Dad." In five short years, they have established a Mustard Seed early childhood development program and trained fifteen teachers to be excellent early childhood educators. This terrific program is now training teachers across their new home country to use our Christian curriculum and methods in the pre-school and elementary classrooms.

Paul and Faythe frequently travel to difficult and remote places to serve the poor and to deliver school supplies. They have provided training and teaching aids to many of Mustard Seed’s educational mission sites. They ride motor boats up equatorial rivers into the jungle. They survey new ministry projects. They have blessed the lives of hundreds of native people and their children. They have made a remarkable impact in this needy country. They are a constant encouragement to our Mustard Seed team and everyone around them. What a great way to spend anyone’s retirement years.

In Paul and Faythe’s honor, we tell their story as a means of encouragement to our Mustard Seed friends who are either in or approaching their retirement years. God wants to continue to use you to bless the nations. Mustard Seed has many ways you can serve the Kingdom and bring honor and glory to God’s Name in the process. Please contact Mustard Seed to explore the possibilities of your becoming a volunteer, either in the States or overseas.

Please also remember to pray for the Mustard Seed ministry in Southeast Asia and around the world and for the well being of our Mustard Seed volunteers who are serving the Lord in far away and often forgotten places!

"God is looking for men and women through whom to do the impossible." A. W. Tozer