Dave - grayscale


Salvation Testimony

I was born in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1958 and grew up in the Columbus area of south-central Indiana. I didn’t grow up in what could be considered a Christian home, although I think my father was a believer during that time. He had been saved when he was 19 or 20, but because of some of the theology and practice of the church he attended, he became discouraged and didn’t live for the Lord again for another 30 years. 

I’m not sure of when I actually became a born-again believer. We didn’t attend church regularly except for about a year when I was 12 years old and during that time I made a profession of faith as a result of attending that church as well as my dad talking with me about Christ. However, I was not discipled and did not grow in my faith if I was saved.

After high school, in1976, I began studying engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. Unfortunately, going to parties soon began to be a major part of my life and this almost ended my college career. However, Karen, my future wife, encouraged me to make a turn-around in my studies and I did graduate in 1980 with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Karen grew up in a Catholic home and community. She attended Saint Mary of the Woods College graduating with a degree in history and secondary education. Although somewhat religious, she was not a born-again believer.

After graduation, we were married and I took a job as a manufacturing engineer in my hometown, while Karen worked in accounting and banking.

In 1981, I joined a country band, playing in bars almost every weekend. This lifestyle led to a drinking problem and almost ruined our marriage. By 1984, I was seriously considering divorce, leaving engineering and trying to pursue a career in music.

However, the Lord intervened through a friend who had talked with me about Christ for five years.  During that entire time I had never listened to him and thought he was a fool.  But in the summer of 1984, the Lord used him to bring me to genuine faith in Christ. Within just a few weeks of trusting Christ for salvation, the Lord restored our marriage, took away the alcohol and gave me a new sense of direction and purpose in life. Within the next couple of months, Karen had also trusted in Christ for her salvation as well. We began attending a Bible-teaching church and we soon felt the Lord was directing us toward full-time ministry.

Educational background

In 1985, we attended the Word of Life Bible Institute. In 1986, I enrolled in Dallas Theological Seminary. In 1987, I was invited to Word of Life and to be the Dean of Men at the Bible Institute.  What was to be only a one-year internship turned into almost three years of ministry.

In 1989, we believed the Lord was leading us to Hungary to be missionaries with Word of Life and start a Bible institute.  So, in 1990 we returned to Dallas to finish my M.A. in Biblical Studies. We arrived in Hungary on December 30, 1992.

Ministry career

During the time that I was the director of the WOL Hungary Bible School (1994-2009), over 300 students from 27 different countries attended the two-year undergraduate-level program. The majority of the graduates are currently either in or preparing for full-time ministry. Most of the WOL Hungary staff are graduates of the Bible school, as well.

In 2004, I became the Associate Director of the WOL Hungary ministry, while continuing my responsibilities as Director of the Bible School and Director of Technical Services. I also served as the teaching elder of our local church for several years.

I have taught and ministered internationally in a number of countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, India, South Korea and the Philippines.

In  2008, we sensed the Lord leading us to a new phase in our lives to start a new ministry. I and three other men in full-time ministry established a ministry called “The Alliance for Biblical Integrity” (ABI). Our goal is to promote and reclaim a biblical hermeneutic and world-view within the evangelical community in the U.S. and abroad. We do this through a resource website, conferences, preaching in local churches, teaching courses in schools, writing and a variety of other ministries.

With the blessing and encouragement of the WOL’s leadership we returned to the U.S. in February, 2009 to begin developing ABI into a full-time ministry.

In January 2010, I joined the faculty of Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana as an adjunct professor and began teaching in their extension program at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (a medium and maximum security state prison). Unfortunately, this opportunity came to an end in May 2011 when the state de-funded all undergrad education in the prison system.

In 2011, I began working with one of ABI’s cofounders, Jimmy DeYoung, directing and teaching in his graduate-level degree program in advanced eschatology (which functions under the authority of Louisiana Baptist University). Since 2014, I have been doing a weekly segment on current theological issue as part of his Prophecy Today Weekend radio program.

In 2012, I was able to write my first book, The Harbinger: Fact or Fiction?, which was published by The Berean Call. (This book is a formal review and rebuttal of Jonathan Cahn’s 2012 bestseller, The Harbinger.) I have since written another book, and contributed to two others, as well as written a number of published articles.

We are members of Community Bible Church in Paris, Illinois, where Dave Laborde is pastor. I am an elder in the church and occasionally preach and teach there when I’m not traveling and doing other ministry.

As part our tent-making process of partial support for the ministry, I do freelance work in graphic and multimedia design as well as book editing, formatting, and publishing assistance.

Additional family info

Karen and I have two children, Chris and Becky. Both are believers and walking with the Lord, having trusted Christ at a young age. Both are bilingual and bi-cultural, having lived in Hungary most of their lives.

Karen is currently working at Indiana State University as part of our tent-making process in ministry – and is very involved with the ministry of our church as she has time.

Chris graduated from the Hungarian school system and as well as from the WOL Hungary Bible School. He was married in May 2010 to a Hungarian young lady who is also a graduate of the Bible School. They are parents to four of our six grandchildren and are serving the Lord as missionaries with Word of Life in Hungary.

Becky also graduated from the WOL Hungary Bible Institute in May 2012 and returned to the States to complete her education and work on long-terms plans. She is married to David Johns, an American “missionary kid” who was born and raised in Turkey. He and Becky met while students at the Bible Institute in Hungary. He is the pastor of a church in Grand View, Iowa. They have two children.