Todd and Barbara Charles

Todd and Barbara Charles serve with OMS in Pallatanga, Ecuador, living and working at Lugar de Shalom, a camp that serves the evangelical churches of Ecuador. Todd and Barbara moved to Ecuador October 1, 2018, and after nine months of Spanish language learning in Quito, Ecuador, moved to Pallatanga to begin their work.

The Charles family works alongside the missionaries currently serving in Pallatanga, both at the camp and in the town, where there is a new evangelical church plant, Iglesia La Vina Pallatanga. Todd and Barbara are the youth ministry leaders at Iglesia La Vina. Todd is also co-leader of the church's men's ministry. At Lugar de Shalom, they are involved in upkeep and maintenance of the camp and hosting groups from within Ecuador and North American team. Todd and Barbara have two daughters. Olivia is 22 and attends college at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, majoring in political science with an emphasis in foreign relations and a minor in Spanish. Madalyn is 19 and attends Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio, majoring in social work with a minor in Spanish.

Todd and Barbara are second career missionaries. They were public school teachers in Ohio previously. Todd taught junior high science and social studies for 25 years. Barbara was an early childhood intervention specialist and then a kindergarten teacher for 22 years. Barbara continues to use her education background by homeschooling fellow missionaries' elementary-aged child, as a volunteer English teacher in the local elementary school, and teaching adult English classes in Pallatanga. Barbara is also the onfield MK education coordinator for the Ecuador field.

Todd and Barbara first began serving in Pallatanga short-term while they were still teachers in Ohio in 2013. So, while they never had the chance to live full-time as a family of four in Ecuador, both of their daughters spent many summers growing up in Pallatanga and spending school breaks there now. The Charles family desires to see the people of Pallatanga and Ecuador recognize God as the Lord of their lives and learn to serve him.