{"id":161425,"date":"2026-09-18T10:04:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/?p=161425"},"modified":"2026-10-02T06:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T06:42:19","slug":"mission-work-later-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/2026\/09\/18\/mission-work-later-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Mission work later in life: Linda and Darrel&#8217;s story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">&#8216;\u201cAren\u2019t you a bit old to be considering heading off to Africa for mission work?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">People might not say it out loud, but you can be sure that more than a few have thought it!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, we\u2019re a fair bit older than most people at the start of cross-cultural mission work, but it\u2019s certainly not a new idea for us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The start of our journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Way back when I (Linda)&nbsp;was a teenager over forty years ago, I heard Helen Roseveare speak about the missionary life at a Katoomba Youth Convention and decided that that was what I wanted to do. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">So I headed off to Bible College to get some training, then met Darrel, we got married, and we discussed overseas mission work together. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Knocking on mission doors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">We knocked on a few doors over the years but God had other ideas and so we\u2019ve stayed and served here in Australia, first in Sydney, and for the last 21 years in Tamworth. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, when we went to Kenya to visit our daughter Lauren and her family, we also investigated whether we might be of help if we went in a more permanent capacity. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">It became apparent that we could be, so we started the process of applying to go with AIM. This time, God is opening the doors &#8211; we\u2019re looking forward to seeing what things He\u2019s got planned for us!\u2019 &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"670\" src=\"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_09-1024x670.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-161426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_09-980x641.jpg 980w, https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_09-480x314.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) 1024px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Mission work later in life: preparing to serve in Kenya<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Linda and Darrel are preparing to go to Nairobi, Kenya for long-term service with AIM.  They\u2019ll serve in a member care role, helping missionaries go the distance. Linda shares: &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">\u2018Recently, we have been in contact with some of the missionaries we will be ministering to. They told us of many instances where Member Care would have been invaluable for them. We are now convinced in our hearts that this is certainly what God has been leading us to.\u2019&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Darrel and Linda\u2019s story is a reminder that God\u2019s timing might look different to ours. We think it\u2019s worth staying open to His leading no matter what stage you\u2019re at.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2880\" height=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_17-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-161572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_17-scaled.jpg 2880w, https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_17-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_17-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2026\/09\/AIM-Web4_17-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 2880px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Your gift helps AIM send, support and equip gospel workers to serve among Africa&#8217;s peoples.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-background-color has-background has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/give\/\">Give today<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/aimint.org\/ap\/stories\">More stories from the mission field<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Linda and Darrel first considered overseas mission more than 40 years ago. Now, later in life, God is opening the door for them to serve with AIM in Kenya. Read to discover how their mission plans have developed with time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":159987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-impact-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mission work later in life: Linda and Darrel&#039;s story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Linda and Darrel thought overseas mission might never happen. 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