LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN FIELD
Mike & Mona Shields

Ministry Specialists in Latin America

Where did you grow up, did you have brothers and sisters?

Mike:  I grew up near Goose Lake, Iowa.  It's the tall corn country and we lived on a farm from my childhood till graduation from high school.  I have an older brother (Les) who is a police Sargent, a younger brother (Ric) who is Director of a missions organization (Open Doors), and a younger sister (Verna) who works with the Red Cross.

Mona:  I grew up in La Paz, Bolivia, the worlds highest city at 13,000 feet above sea level, the daughter of Missionaries Monroe and Betty Jane Grams.  I lived there from just a baby until graduation from High School. I have a younger brother (Rocky Grams) who is the Director of the Rio Platte Bible Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  My younger sister, Rachel, is the wife of Rev. Steve Schaible, Pastor of Rapid City First Assembly of God, So. Dakota.  Steve is the South Dakota District Secretary-Treasurer of the Assemblies of God.

Where did you meet your spouse?

We met on an Ambassador in Mission Team assigned to Managua, Nicaragua.  We were working in a church planting effort for 3 weeks.  The next year we both returned to Central America on another AIM team with Missionary Dick Larson in Panama.  During that 3 week outreach it became apparent to me there was only one girl in the world.  It took Mona a little longer to believe that about me.

Mike, When and How did you receive a call to Missions?

I was called into the ministry during high school shortly after being filled with the Holy Sprit.  Mona was in a summer camp in the jungles of lowland Bolivia when God spoke to her to abandon her plans for an art degree and to attend Bible College and prepare for the ministry. 

Tell us about High School and College.

Mike:  I graduated from Northeast High School as President of my class and President of the Student Council.  From there I attended North Central Bible College and received a B.A. Degree.  I then attended Southwest State University and studied among other things television production.

Mona:  I attended North Central Bible College and received my B.A. Degree.  I also attended Southwest State University, and during that time served as the interim Spanish Department Chairman.  I did post-grad studies at University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, and earned a Masters Degree in Education.  I also did a one year ESL Certification at Hamline University. 

What Positions have you held?

Senior Pastors -  Marshall Assembly of God in Marshall, MN

Associate Pastor/Youth - Summit Avenue Assembly of God

MAPS  (Mobilization and Placement Service Volunteer)       

Radio Engineer - Good News Crusades - Madrid, Spain

Director-Youth and College Ministries - MN District Assemblies of God

Director - Global Outreach, a Minnesota based non-profit organization

Following her graduation from college Mona was a full time professor at the National Panamanian Bible Institute.

Mona served for six years as a part time instructor at NCBC teaching Women in Ministry and Spanish.    She worked as a full time instructor at Humbolt High School and as a department instructor of Spanish at Highland High School in St. Paul.

Under DFM appointment, Mona presently serves as a professor at the Center for Theological Studies and the Pentecostal Bible Institute in Santiago, Chile

Children

We have two children: Kristi, a graduate of North Central Bible College and Elizabeth April, who is studying at North Central Bible College in Minneapolis.

Kristi is an accomplished keyboard player and was coordinator of our local church worship team in Santiago, Chile.  She and Elizabeth worked on the worship team and ministered to thousands of people each month in this local church and also traveled with Mom and Dad in camps, conventions and retreats.

What are your likes, dislikes or special needs?

We enjoy video tapes of newscasts from Minnesota, tapes of Garisson Keilor that keep us awake as we drive across the Andes Mountains.  We enjoy it when MAPS teams come down and surprise us with colored paper, blank tape labels for our tape ministry, computer programs and equipment of all kinds.  There's always someone here who can use it effectively.  It's great to get an American newsmagazine in the mail once in a while, and to have a church set up a call we can make to greet everyone during a service back home.  It's a blast.

Where have you served before?

Our main focus continues to be evangelism in Latin America.  We have concentrated our efforts the past couple of years in the countries of Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.  We have had some exciting crusades that have reached out interdenominationally.  We work in city-wide crusades that link up 25 to 50 churches, secure an auditorium or gymnasium, and see it filled to the Glory of God with hungry people who are desperate for encouragement and for prayers.