Damien Austin – I was born in Massachusetts and raised in a devoted Catholic family. From my earliest memory when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up my response was always that I wanted to be a priest. I spent the first eight years of my education in Catholic school. I asked my parents to send me to a seminary in Rhode Island after grammar school, but they couldn’t afford it and I went to the public high school. I took a course in world religions and discovered that I didn’t believe fully in any of them, and that included Catholicism. I stopped going to church, against my parent’s wishes, and became a self-proclaimed atheist. I never searched for the meaning of life after that and accepted my role in life. I became a factory worker after high school and I accepted that as my role in life. At forty-five years of age, I moved to Florida. I got a job in a factory, and after five years on the job, a co-worker, James Rudd, began to ask me questions about my faith, not my religion, but my faith. I told him I really didn’t believe in anything. I had accepted the Big Bang theory of accidental life and inevitable death. He began to teach me about God and Jesus using his Bible as his proof and explanation of all that is. After a few months of questions and answers, I went to church with him. Pastor Carl Wells of Willow Oak Baptist Church preached a message that “there would come a time when God would stop calling on you.” I felt the Holy Spirit move in me, and recognized that God might be giving me a final chance to soften my heart and accept Christ as my Savior. I walked the aisle on Oct. 2, 2005, and was baptized Oct. 9. My fiftieth birthday was October 15, 2005. My testimony is that it is never too late to talk to someone about the Lord. A few months later Dr. Pennell, a missionary to Ukraine, came to speak at the church and I was moved by his ministry. I asked him if I could join him on the field, and he told me that I needed to get a good Christian education first. I quit my job and set all my retirement savings toward learning more about God. I enrolled at Emmaus Baptist College and graduated in 2010. I worked the first summer at 60th Ave Baptist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the following summers at Florida Baptist Youth Camp under the mentoring of Brother Steve Dobson. During my junior year I met Melanie. Melanie was in banking, and she was a devout Catholic that was introduced to me by mutual friends. During one of our first dates, she expressed that she had no intention of changing her religion. She began to come to church with me on Sunday and still attend Catholic mass on Saturday afternoon. Within a month, the Holy Spirit grabbed her attention and she began to recognize things she had accepted all her life that had no substance in the Word of God. She began to ask questions and we spent many hours talking about our faith and religion. One Sunday, Pastor Carl preached a message that there were six reasons Satan will use to try to convince a person not to walk the aisle. Number six was “You don’t have to do it today!” Melanie grabbed my arm and said “I need to do this today!” She accepted Christ as her Savior on November 30, 2008, and was baptized the following week. In celebration, I purchased a Bible for her with her name on the cover… it only read “Melanie.” I told her that I left enough room to add the name “Austin” if she would marry me. Yes, the stories are true. I proposed to Melanie at The Golden Coral. We laugh about it even today. We were married May 9, 2009. I was scheduled to attend Westwood Baptist School of Missions as Westwood M.B.C. in Winter Haven in the fall of 2010. Our plan was for Melanie to continue working while I learned to become a missionary. But one Saturday morning the Holy Spirit got hold of Melanie and after a conversation over supper with Doug Wiersema, we recognized that she needed to learn to be a missionary and that it was important for her to attend the school as well. We took a leap of faith and Melanie quit her job and enrolled. Now neither of us had a job and we were living off our savings. Doug mentioned that Dr. Pennell was going to Ukraine for Christmas and we asked if we could join him. We did, and we recognized our calling to serve the Lord in Ukraine. We visited the Ukraine for the summer of 2011 and returned home to travel about and tell churches about our calling. We moved to Ukraine in October of 2012. The rest you learn from our monthly missionary letters. God Bless James Rudd!

Gary served in the Airforce for 20 years. He graduated from Baptist Bible College in 1998 and served at Brush Arbor Baptist Church from 1998-2018 as teacher - principal & assistant pastor until his retirement. 

Tommy Burrus was born in Pahokee, Florida. He accepted Christ at the age of 6 and was baptized by the Lakeside Baptist Church of Pahokee, Florida. At an early age he sensed God’s call on his life, so he shared that news with his family and church family.

After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Florida Baptist College & Seminary, eventually earning a Master of Science in Religious Education. He has since earned a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and an Educational Specialist degree from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is enrolled in a PhD program at Liberty University.

Bro. Burrus served at the Minister of Youth and Visitation at Oakwood Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida. He was the pastor at the Faith Baptist Church in Bell, Florida and the First Thonotosassa Missionary Baptist Church in Thonotosassa, Florida. He previously served as the Academic Dean at Emmaus Baptist College before being installed as president in 2014.

Tommy and Nancy Burrus met at Florida Baptist College. They were married in January of 1993. God has blessed them with two beautiful daughters, Victoria and Megan.

Goran was born again in the year of 2011, through a specific verse found in Psalm 50:15.  This new birth occurred after his sin had become exceedingly sinful through the reading of God’s ten commandments (Exodus 20). Unbeknownst to Goran at the time, He had also chosen him to preach and teach His Holy Word (1 Tim 1:12).  He is forever grateful that God has entrusted him to His Gospel (1 Thess 2:4).  Through the Gospel, He has changed Gorans' God-hating heart of stone into a God-loving heart of flesh (Eze 36:26).

Currently, Jesus has appointed him to be the Outreach Director of His Church in Pinellas Park.  They take seriously what Paul said, “how shall they hear without a preacher?”  To accomplish this calling, Jesus has given me His beloved daughter named Jasmine Radak.  God has blessed them with four children (Judah, Leilani, Zion, Ezra).  Their daily time of family worship is their  principal ministry.

We are grateful for Chris assistances. Chris grew up in Florida ABA, and in Polk County, FL. He received Christ as his Savior at 8 yrs. old. He surrendered into the ministry at church camp in Groveland during his senior year of high school. Since that time, he has received an A.S. degree from Polk State College in Lakeland, FL. After 6 years of working in the medical field, he went to pursue a bachelor’s degree of Pastoral Arts at Emmaus Baptist College. He accomplished this April 2021 and graduated with honors.

Chris and Kayla serve currently at Eastside Baptist Church in Mulberry, FL. They work together with Pastor Wayne Tanner. Chris is the youth minister and music minister, while his wife aids in the ministry. Kayla is a Elementary teacher and has been teaching for 8 years. After graduating from Emmaus, Chris accepted a position as a Secondary teacher at Mulberry Christian Academy as supplemental. 

Their passion is to serve the Lord whole heartedly wherever He leads, to shape and edify individuals to follow after the Lord, and to magnify our Savior with all that we are and have. 

Ronnie was born in Kissimmee, FL and after his first tour of duty in the U.S. Army, he gave his life as a living sacrifice to the Lord for His Service on March 3, 1972.  He graduated from Florida Baptist Schools in 1976.  During his third year of Bible College, he pastored First Thonotosassa MBC; in 1977, he began to serve as a Christian School Administer and Assistant Pastor for Solid Rock Baptist Church, Homosassa Springs, FL.  
Ronnie surrendered to serve our Lord as a foreign missionary in August 1982.  Ronnie, Chyrle, and their family of four daughters served in Germany for 18 years.  

In 2001, due to Chyrle's poor health, they took a Sabbatical. During which time, Ronnie served full time as an Active Guard Reserve Soldier to complete his military retirement. During which time, they served actively in different Bible-believing churches where Ronnie was assigned by the Army. 

In 2012, with all their children grown and starting their own families, Ronnie and Chyrle started a new ministry with Eastern Avenue Baptist Church, St Cloud, FL - ARM: Assist and Relief Ministry.  Ronnie is the Director of the ARM ministry.  They assist and relieve missionaries who need a furlough.  They've served in Belgium, Belize, Australia, England and Germany. 

Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church, located in the East Central Florida community of Christmas, FL is seeking a Pastor for our congregation of faithful believers who are inspired by the infallible Word of God. This is a bi-vocational position. The church is generous and compensation could be increased as the church grows. This is a great opportunity for someone with vision and energy to help us reach out to our local community. The Pastor position is voted by the church yearly at the annual business meeting. If you are interested in faithfully preaching the Word and shepherding a small community KJV church, traditional and contemporary, please send a letter and resume to:

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