Both my wife and I were saved around the age of five. Jessica is a pastors kid, all she has ever known is the ministry. This has prepared Jessica to be able to serve in any capacity at any time. She knows what the ministry is all about and she will be and has already been a great help meet for me. I grew up up in a Baptist home but had no desire to serve God until I was about 19. In the spring of 2001 God worked on my heart to fully surrender to Him for full time service. I remember going to the alter that day fully surrendered to do whatever God wanted me to do.
June 8, 2002 God allowed me the privilege to marry my beautiful wife. We immediately got involved in the church doing whatever we could to serve God. In August of 2002 we were asked to be the youth pastors family at the church we were serving in. At this time I was only 20 and Jessica 19 but we knew that this was what God wanted for us. For 2 1/2 years I served faithfully as the youth pastor. After the first two years serving as the youth pastor we started feeling like God was going to move us to another place of service. We had no idea what God was going to do, so we prayed for God to make it clear to us where He wanted us.
In August of 2004 God allowed Aubrey Mapp, missionary to Ukraine, to come and present his field to the church we were at. Without a doubt we knew that God wanted us to go to this land of Ukraine. In October we went to Maryland to get accepted by Antioch New Testament Baptist Mission. All went well and we were accepted. For the next 5 1/2 months we started saving money to take a survey trip to Ukraine. When the time came for us to buy plane tickets God provided the money, and when it got time for us to leave God provided the money for the trip itself. Although we already kew that Ukraine was where God wanted us, the survey trip confirmed it even more in our hearts that Ukraine was where God wanted us to go. When we got back we immediatetly started part time deputation, and three months later God allowed us to have enough faith to step out on full time deputation.
Although we received our training for the ministry at a local church in Maine, God has allowed us the privilege to become members of Grace Baptist Temple in Blackstone, Virginia. This is a missionary hearted church that not only reaches their community with the Gospel but they reach around the world. We are excited to have a sending church that has the same desire that we have to win the lost. We are thankful that God has allowed us to have a small part in the ministry of Grace Baptist Temple.
In Christ,
Eric & Jessica Curtis
Immediately we endeavoured to go...assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. Acts 16:10
