Wade and Chelsea Weeldreyer
Wade and Chelsea Weeldreyer
Home church: Church of the Redeemer, Highwood, Illinois
Starting Year with SAMS: 2020
Mission and Vision for Ministry:
After serving a fruitful missionary term in Rwanda, Wade and Chelsea are launching into a new ministry as Co-Directors of Missionary Care and Mission Engagement on the SAMS Home Staff Team. The Co-Directors will empower potential missionaries, candidates, and current missionaries to join with God in His global mission. They will also resource Anglican Churches as they raise up and send these missionaries throughout the world. They will be centered on missionaries, supporting the servants who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed across cultures, but will also seek to encourage churches and all senders go deeper in their mission callings. Wade and Chelsea bring complementary gifts and experiences to this role combined with a clear passion to multiply ministry through fostering missionaries who make disciples of Jesus, who will make more disciples, who will make more!
Calling to Ministry:
Wade and Chelsea were each blessed to study the Bible in college and seminary. They originally met in the Middle East, and they continued to maintain an interest in international contexts. As they settled into a church home during seminary, both felt drawn toward ministry. They became active in their church, with Wade serving through a pastoral internship, Chelsea serving in community engagement, and both partnering together in youth ministry. The combination of Wade’s desire to teach others how to faithfully read Scripture and Chelsea’s long-standing passion for culture and language propelled them to search for a mission agency under whom they could serve. SAMS’ Gospel-driven and relationally-focused approach is a natural fit for the Weeldreyers, who are excited to serve as SAMS missionaries.
Personal Points of Interest:
Wade and Chelsea feel blessed to have studied the Scriptures, and they hope to bless others by teaching and living out these Words of Life. Wade enjoys all aspects of teaching and loves to help others understand the Scriptures more deeply; Chelsea especially enjoys being in other cultures and loves building bridges of understanding, edification, and encouragement between cultures.
Wade and Chelsea share a deep love for the great outdoors, and enjoy hiking together and keeping their eyes open for wildlife. In their more sedentary moments they enjoy watching BBC Earth documentaries. They find great joy in watching their daughter Evelyn grow and develop.
Chelsea enjoys reading, photography, working in the kitchen, studying languages, and learning about culture, geography, and natural science. Among her favorite books are Gilead and The Lemon Tree.
Descended from German-Russian immigrants to the Dakotas, Wade grew up on a hog farm in South Dakota. Like Chelsea, he considers himself a lifelong learner, and he will lose himself in any source of interesting information, whether that be a book, a conversation with a friend, or Wikipedia. He has recently discovered the poems of George Herbert, to his delight. He is trying to learn his birds.
Favorite Bible Verse: John 6:68
