Pam's Biography

I am a native-born Floridian, born and raised in the Miami area. I trusted Christ as my Savior when I was just four years old and was raised in a non-denominational Bible church. I attended Florida Bible Christian School for my junior high and senior high school years, graduating in 1983. I then attended Liberty University, a Christian liberal-arts college, graduating in 1987 with a double major in English and Education. I taught at Christian schools in the U.S. for two years before going to the mission field in 1989.

I am presently a missionary with New Tribes Mission, serving on the field of Thailand. I have been in Thailand for nine years with NTM. Currently, my ministry is two-fold. First, I am the principal of a school for missionary children in Chiang Mai, a city in the northern region of Thailand. Our school is small, consisting of about 60 children, all of whom are children of missionaries serving with various mission boards. Second, I am the Educational Consultant for those families who have chosen to homeschool their children. This part of my ministry involves extensive travel, as I visit tribal locations about once each month. While on location, I am able to consult with parents about the schooling of their children, and I am able to encourage both the parents and the children that they are not “alone” in their schooling experience. I also do evaluation and testing of the children while I am in the village, to insure that they are studying on grade level. I especially enjoy this part of my ministry, because it keeps me close to the tribal work, where tribal people are being reached with the Gospel firsthand! Because my primary ministry involves support work in a large city, sometimes it is easy to feel as if I’m not very involved in getting the Gospel to the tribes—so it is a joy to be able to visit the villages so frequently.

There are two situations on the mission field that I find to be very challenging. One is that the country of Thailand is very dark spiritually. The people are largely Buddhist 96% and often worship spirits. In fact, there is spirit worship outside my home daily! This becomes very taxing, and I often feel spiritually drained. The people live in constant fear of evil spirits, and the sickness and accidents that the spirits supposedly bring. Thus, they offer food and money and incense to appease the spirits and hopefully ward off evil. There is very little Christian influence in the country. Only one-tenth of one percent of all Thai people profess to be Christians. I ache and yearn to be in a Christian nation where there is easy access to other believers and to Christian radio and Christian bookstores. Please pray that my time in the Word and private time with the Lord will remain consistent, so that I might be “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”

Another situation which I find to be challenging is that of being unmarried. I find the isolation and loneliness to be, at times, overwhelming. While I wholeheartedly believe that God is enough to meet all my needs, sometimes the Enemy overcomes me in this area, and I begin to feel sorry for myself. It is only when I turn my focus away from self and back to the Lord that I find victory.