Connect with... The Suttle Family

Joseph and Erin Suttle
Gavin, Liam, Anora

Ministry: Maintenance Director, at a school for missionary children, Brazil
Sending Church: El Paso Bible Church, El Paso, Texas

After over 15 years of youth ministry and part-time missions, Joe and Erin wanted to be involved in full-time missionary service. But they weren’t sure where to begin or with whom to serve.

God used their pastor, a former missionary with Ethnos360, to provide direction, and within a year they had gone from application to orientation to international visas.

Joe and Erin are excited about where God has led them. Joe serves on the church planting team at a school for missionary children in Brazil. Specifically, he is involved in the never-ending work of maintenance at the school. His responsibilities vary each day, from installing telephone poles by hand to digging a well to fixing everything from freezers to lawn mowers.

Erin takes care of Anora and homeschools Liam, while Gavin is in sixth grade at the school.

Joe and Erin both impact the students too. Joe teaches wood shop and Erin cooks for students and staff. Together they advise and mentor the sophomore students and rub shoulders with the students in school sports and local outreach. The quality education they help provide the students with allows many other missionaries to continue in their ministries of Bible translation and discipleship.

As Joe and Erin look at the ministry and see Joe’s exact skills being used, they marvel at how perfectly God matched Joe’s workforce experience, hobbies and skills to fit the needs at the school. “It was the perfect training for missions.”