BIOGRAPHY

Don and Viv Bond

Donald Bond was born Nov. 8, 1928 in Picture Rocks, PA and grew up in Ellenton, Pa. He graduated from Canton High in 1946 and immediately joined the U.S. Navy. While serving on the island of Guam in the Pacific a fellow sailor led him to the Lord and two weeks later Don was aware of God's call to serve as a missionary in South America. On discharge in 1948 he was led to attend The King's College for preparation. There he met Vivian Kresge, a senior.

Vivian Kresge was born July 23, 1925 in Wilkes-Barre, PA where she lived until graduating from high school. She was saved in Firwood Methodist Church at ten years of age and was called to missions in Latin America at the age of 14 while attending Pinebrook Bible Conference in E.Stroudsburg, PA. She and Don were married June 11, 1949 at The Gospel Center Tabernacle (now Calvary Bible Church) in Wilkes-Barre.

While students at King's they started Baptist Bible Church of Elkton, MD. in 1950. It is now a large church and helps support them on the mission field. After graduating from The King's College in 1952 with a BA, Don studied for his Th.B. and graduated from Baptist Bible Seminary (now Baptist Bible College,Clarks Summit,PA) in 1955. They were appointed by the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) to the Upper Amazon Field of Peru in May of that year. They left the US on Dec. 26,1956 and have served in Peru until Dec 31, 2002. Both received a Masters of Religious Education(MRE) from Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary in 1982. Don is presently studying in the Doctor of Ministries program of Baptist Bible Seminary.

They were called of God to a pioneer church planting ministry and have been engaged in this ministry planting many churches in the Amazon jungle towns, the high Andes mountain villages and the coastal cities of Peru. They have founded 3 camp ministries and have been engaged in Bible Institute development for pastoral training in each of the three regions. The Bonds are retired from active status with ABWE since Dec. 31, 2002 but still minister in churches in the USA and spend 2 months each year in Latin America holding week long Bible Conferences in churches and teaching post-graduate courses in Seminaries.

God has given the Bonds four children and 9 grandchildren. Linda, a graduate of The King's College, taught in Arlington Baptist Schools, Baltimore, MD for 30 years. She is now teaching Spanish in Fredricksburg Christian Schools in Virginia. Diane, a graduate of Baptist Bible College and married to Andy Large, ABWE MK, has three children and is a missionary under ABWE in Managua, Nicaragua. Steve, a graduate of Piedmont Baptist College, is the Assistant pastor of Faith Community Church, Gambrills, MD. He has four children. Debi, a graduate of Baptist Bible College and married to Steve Douglas of Towanda, PA, is a missionary under ABWE in Arequipa, Peru. They have two girls. All of the grandchildren know Christ as Saviour and several sense God’s call to foreign missions.

Don received the Doctor of Ministries (DMin) degree from Baptist Bible Seminary in 2006.

God is good! He has blessed these missionaries "abundantly above all that we ask or think".