The Fords

About the Fords

We have been with NHI Missions since 2008, and are currently living in Moscow, Russia, where God has called us to teach at Hinkson Christian Academy.  We have been here since January 2010 and hope that the Lord allows us to be here for many years.  At Hinkson, Tom is teaching high school science (Physics, Chemistry and Physical Science) and math (Algebra II), and Lois is working in the English as second language (ESL) and education support departments.  We are also building relationships with Russians and sharing the love of Christ through tutoring English in our apartment building, and participating in English clubs and camps where Russians gather to learn and practice speaking English.

God has called us to Russia as full-time resident missionaries to support the growth of the body of Christ in Moscow.  Our primary purpose is to teach and minister to the students at Hinkson Christian Academy.  The school is made up of students from not only missionaries (MKs), but also international businessmen and embassy staff living here in Moscow.   Supporting these students, ministers to these families as a whole and consequently does much to support the evangelistic and church planting work missionary families are doing here.  Another aspect of our mission is to be involved in sharing the gospel and discipling, by building relationships and participating in the work of the international and local national church.

At Hinkson, our primary role is to be the best teachers that we can, but it is more than just teaching.  It is also building relationships.  It is getting to know our students and interacting with them, both inside and outside the classroom.  We get to know their families and learn of special needs that the students may have.  In addition to the normal issues that traditional students have, these students have other challenges that come with living in a foreign country.  Many of them struggle with where “home” really is.  Some have moved around a lot from one country to the next and going “home” means going to their parents’ home country where they have family that they don’t know very well or see very often.  They have visa issues requiring them to leave the country unexpectedly in the middle of a semester.  As a result, their education can be very chopped up and have gaps and holes in it that need to addressed in special ways.  Hinkson is more than just a school; it is a community and environment of “family” to students as well as their families.  They need a sense of “family” for their emotional well-being.   We support them by being teachers and surrogate family members.  Being there for plays, concerts, ball games, and other events becomes very important.   When students have unresolved problems it often results in families leaving the country and missionaries leaving the field.

Outside of Hinkson, our desire is to build relationships out of which we may share the love of Christ and to work with the local church to support ongoing work.  Moscow is a city of 11-14 million people where the gospel is greatly needed.  In the 1990’s, missionaries and organizations came here in droves because the field was cheap and fertile.  Now with the high cost of living, tighter government regulations, and visa issues, they are exiting in numbers just as large.  The need is still the same.  Russia is plagued with alcoholism, drugs, and ill conditions for a large population of orphans.  Atheism, though on the decline, still abounds.  Despite the sweeping progress of the last 20 years, there is still a sense of hopelessness and despair among many Russians.  Among the youth, many are lonely and hungry for relationships.  They also have a strong desire to learn English.  Being here, we are building relationships.  We are getting to know our neighbors.  Lois is tutoring English in our apartment one night a week.  On another night she travels to another part of the city to help work with an English class offered by a Russian church.  Just recently we have become a part of the school’s English café, where 60-70 young adults come just to fellowship and practice English 2 times per month.  We continue to stay involved with the English camp we have attended 2 different summers.  This camp is a joint effort of Christians coming together from churches all over the city.  Through all of these venues, we are meeting people and building relationships that we hope will result in them having a closer relationship with Christ.

We are originally from the south, Kentucky and Tennessee.  We met while attending a small Baptist College in the hills of southern Kentucky and were married in 1978.  We have 4 grown children: Nathan, living in California; Jonah, who is married to Courtney, living in Boston, Massachusetts; and Hannah, also living in Boston.  We also have a daughter Brenda, who adopted us as family, many years ago.  She lives in the Rochester area with her children.

Before leaving for Moscow, we lived for 26 years in Northwestern Pennsylvania where Tom worked as a petroleum chemist and Lois worked with children with behavioral problems.  Over the years we have been active in the church teaching Sunday school and VBS, working with youth, preaching, singing, leading and participating in choirs, worship team, and leading men’s ministry.

We felt a calling to Russia in 1999 and searched for a job to go as tent makers but the door did not open.  We trusted God that if it was His will for us to be in Russia He would open a door for us.  That door opened in 2007 when we had a divinely orchestrated meeting with Mark Currie while we were in Russia for English Camp, and he told us about Hinkson Christian Academy.  We accepted an offer to join the staff at Hinkson and came on board with NHI in January of 2008.  Over the next two years we worked to raise our financial support and in January 2010 God finally brought us here.