The One Mission Society (OMS) World Headquarters recently held a 40-year chapel recognition for Gwen Pinkerton.
“It’s been true that God has been able to lead me through different places,” Gwen shared confidently. “And so that’s what I’d like to share.”
Gwen grew up in a Christian home and remembers committing her life to Christ around three years old. Just two years later, at the tender age of five, she sensed God calling her into missions.
At 15, entering the 10th grade, Gwen felt a strong nudge to attend a Christian school. With limited options nearby, she moved to Kentucky to pursue this. Learning to live away from her parents at such a young age was not easy, but it was one of many ways the Lord was preparing her for missionary life.
After high school, she heard about Bible college and decided to enroll. “God blessed me during my time there,” Gwen reflected. After graduating, she continued praying for clarity about where he was leading.
A Christian school in Tacoma, Washington, asked her to come and serve with them for a year. Yet again, more instances of the Lord preparing Gwen for missionary life. Still, she didn’t yet know where her long-term calling would take her.
In 1985, Gwen applied and was accepted as an OMS missionary. Over the next four decades, God faithfully guided her to Ecuador, Brazil, and the OMS World Headquarters in Indiana. Her roles have been as diverse as the places she has lived—working as a teacher for missionary kids, serving as director of Missionary Services, serving as treasurer, and working in accounting.
“God had me learning and doing a lot,” she said.
Gwen might not have foreseen what her path would look like, but the Lord had her missional journey mapped from the time she was five.
