Our Journey

Like a lighthouse on a stormy shore the Lord Jesus Christ became the guiding light in the Theisens’ lives.

Jeff and Michelle became acquainted in Washington, D.C. while he was stationed there with the Marine Corps and she was working for the telephone company.  They were married in Suitland, Maryland in 1969.  Following Jeff’s discharge in 1970 they moved to Oregon where Jeff had grown up.

Michelle renewed her employment with the telephone company while Jeff studied electronics at Clackamas Community College.  While in school Jeff started working for a small electronics company and continued on there after graduation.  The Theisens took up residence in Molalla, Oregon in 1973 where their oldest son, Dirk, was born.

Over the next few years, Michelle came to be like a ship set on a disastrous course, as she grew increasingly dissatisfied in her marriage with Jeff.  This unhappiness was so great that she was considering running away from their relationship.  God shined His light and truth into her heart and mind at just the right time.

In a miraculous way God revealed to Michelle that she needed a savior, one who could chart the course of her life in a safe and meaningful passage.  Through a randomly placed phone call from a total stranger, Michelle heard God’s truth.

On November 19, 1976, Jesus kept His promise (Rev. 3:20) and became Michelle’s Savior and Lord, setting her on a new course.  Through the study of God’s word, the Bible, and the discipleship of godly women, Michelle saw her attitude and feelings for Jeff gradually develop into respect and love.

Within ten months, through the prayers and witness of Molalla Conservative Baptist Church, Jeff also experienced new birth in Jesus Christ.  He quickly developed a great thirst for the Word and was discipled through home Bible studies.  He was encouraged to become the leader of a young couples’ Bible study.  In the midst of a study of the book of Hebrews, God made known to Jeff a new course for the Theisen family.  Following a call to full time service Jeff enrolled at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon in 1980.

The Lord sealed their course for intercultural ministry by opening the door for Jeff to do an eight weeks mission trip to southern Sudan.  He returned home with a deep call to pursue a course of mission work.  Jeff graduated from Western Seminary in June of 1984 and the Theisens were appointed as career missionaries with CBFMS (now CBInternational) to Sudan.

By late summer 1985, the Theisen family (Jeff, Michelle, Dirk, Garth, and Dylan) landed in Nairobi, Kenya.   Because of the Civil War in Sudan, the family lived in Kenya for 22 of the 24 months in East Africa.  During that time Jeff traveled back and forth between Sudan and Kenya.  As the Civil War grew, the hopes of planting a church among the Lotuko people in Southern Sudan diminished.  Finally, after two years in East Africa, the door to Southern Sudan seemed closed for the Theisens.

The Lord changed the Theisens’ direction and set their course to Senegal, West Africa.  With their three sons in boarding school at Dakar Academy, Jeff and Michelle began ministry among the Serere in the Diourbel region of Senegal.  Jeff was involved in leadership development, mentoring and teaching eight lay pastors of the growing Serere Churches scattered in villages outside the town of Diourbel.

In 1995, after struggling with health problems, Jeff and Michelle felt the need to resign from CBInternational.  But, even in the ensuing years, Jesus Christ continued to guide their lives and led them back to good health.