|
Gordon and Dorothy Gartrell came under appointment
as mission co-workers in 1990 and since then have
served as evangelists and church planters in four
different states in Brazil. They began their latest
assignment in July 2006 in Recife, a large city on
the coast of northeast Brazil. They are nurturing a
new congregation in an urban neighborhood without a
Presbyterian church.
Prior to their
assignment in Recife Gordon and Dorothy served in
Salvador, Bahia. There they worked with an organized
church, building it up and strengthening its lay
leadership to the point that it could call a pastor.
They also helped begin new work in satellite
neighborhoods around the city. Gordon served as
chair of the mission committee in the presbytery.
From 1995 to 1999 they
served in Imperatriz, Maranhao, where they helped a
church grow quickly from 5 to 45 members.
Prior to their work in
Imperatriz, the Gartrells worked with six small
congregations, which were located in isolated and
rural areas of Brazil. Several of the churches were
in farming areas that were without electricity,
running water, or stores. Many of the children from
the surrounding community suffered from malnutrition
and diarrhea.
Gordon was born in
Brazil. His parents, Sandy and Bert Gartrell, served
as Presbyterian missionaries in Brazil for 31 years.
As a child, he felt a call to return himself one
day. He holds undergraduate degrees from Montreat
Anderson College in Montreat, North Carolina, and
from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. He
earned his M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary
in Jackson, Mississippi. He was pastor of Hayesville
Presbyterian Church in North Carolina and First
Presbyterian Church in Central City, Kentucky,
before his first missionary assignment in Brazil.
Gordon is a clergy member of the Presbytery of
Western Kentucky. |
