Dave and Donna .ca

Dave was raised in a loving Christian home in Campbell River, BC. Dave writes, "Part of my upbringing was our active participation in our local Fellowship Church. Duane Harder, my pastor, led me to the Lord at the conclusion of a crusader boy's meeting. Shortly after that, I was baptized. After high school graduation and a year at UBC, I enrolled a... t Northwest Baptist College to prepare for future ministry. The first day on campus I met Donna, and although both of us had determined not to form any romantic relationships that year, we found each other's company incredibly attractive!" Dave and Donna were married two years later and began to dream about the exciting things that God was preparing for them. They share, "We received good coaching as we served in various churches in our college years. Harold Duckworth was their senior pastor in their first church in Kamloops, BC. While Dave served as Harold's associate, Donna began nursing at the regional hospital. It had been pastor Duckworth's vision to see a second daughter church planted in Kamloops. A year after arriving, and under the umbrella of BC Fellowship Church Planting, the Marttunens began that new daughter work. With six adults and 17 children (from a bus ministry in the area), a church plant was begun in the basement of their first home. They stayed with Westsyde Baptist Church for the next 10 years and watched it grow. Their three children, Jonathan, Sarah and Ruth were all born in Kamloops. In 1989 the Marttunens relocated to Parksville to lead the Fellowship Baptist Church there. It was in January 1990, five months after their arrival, that their son, at nine years of age, died tragically after being struck by a car. As Dave and Donna worked through this incredible loss and recognized the uncertainty of life and the parallel urgency of pursuing their dreams, the Lord opened a door to short-term missions for them. They write, "The Indus Christian Fellowship in Pakistan asked that we start a voluntary six-year term of pastoral care to their field. ...Read More