Roger and Glenda Kruse

As a church multiplication facilitator with Every Community for Christ (ECC), the church multiplication catalyst of One Mission Society, Roger travels three times annually to India and the South Pacific. He works closely with national leaders by providing encouragement, support, training, and accountability in the oversight of 72 ECC teams. Roger offers ongoing training in the implementation and supervision of church multiplication strategies. Hundreds of new house churches are now being established in villages and communities where little or no Gospel witness previously existed. Glenda provides administrative support and travels with Roger to India for extended ministry once each year.

Roger came to know Christ personally in 1971 and then went on to study Bible and theology, earning his B.A. and M.Div. Sensing God’s call to serve him overseas, Roger responded with obedience, arriving in India in 1980. There, he immersed himself in language and cultural learning, sharing Christ and preparing to teach at the OMS-related Madras Bible Seminary. In December 1980, he met Glenda Keats, a New Zealander who was teaching at Allahabad Bible Seminary. The two married in New Zealand in December 1981. After two fruitful years of training evangelists and pastors, they left India. Their next stop was the South Pacific, where they partnered with national coworkers to share the Gospel and establish new churches. Three of their five children were born during this period. Their son Wade contracted spinal meningitis and required extensive medical help. As a result, they reluctantly left Asia in 1988. For 15 years, Roger then served as the senior pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church in northeast Ohio. During that time, he had the privilege of developing a mission emphasis that continues to effectively build disciples worldwide.

Roger and Glenda have five children: Luke (wife – Victoria), born in 1984, a history teacher; Wade (1985); Derek (1987), a doctor at University of Virginia Medical Center (wife – Lauren, son – Winfield); Caleb (1990), a sales representative with Verizon (wife – Kailee); and Emily (1997), a senior in high school. Wade went to be with Jesus in February 2009 after 23 years of courageously facing the profound limitations of cerebral palsy. God used Wade’s life to teach his family and many who knew him about courage, contentment, and perseverance despite suffering. A powerful message of faith has been woven into their lives.

Roger is an avid runner and for many years has enjoyed coaching local junior and senior high school students in cross country and basketball. Both he and Glenda pursue a simple lifestyle, including growing and preserving their own fruits and vegetables and heating their home with a woodstove. Glenda gives leadership to a women’s discipleship group in their local church and enjoys cooking different international dishes from scratch. They make their home in Middlefield, Ohio, nestled on four acres surrounded by the fourth-largest Amish community in America.