Chris and Mandy Campbell
In 2014, Chris and Mandy Rose first received the call from the Lord to be sent. Only, they didn’t know where. Doors would open, but then God would close them. First it was Colorado, then Kenya, then Texas, then India… Every time they were willing, but the Lord would say, “Good, but not yet.” During these ten years of waiting and watchful willingness, Chris served as a pastor while Mandy Rose served as a worship leader at their church, both leading small groups and providing marriage counseling, with Chris leading addiction recovery programs and Mandy Rose specializing in emotional trauma care. But while serving in these roles, God was doing a deeper work in them and their family.
In 2015 at the age of 35, Chris was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and began treatment, taking a chemo pill daily for what they believed would be the rest of his life. But God had other plans. In April of 2021, after six years of chemo, Chris had his blood drawn to check his numbers as usual…and the test came back with two words: “not detected.” The Lord had healed him!
During this time, Mandy Rose was suffering in her own crucible. In 2013, after the birth of their fourth child, Mandy Rose unknowingly developed Lupus. This went misdiagnosed for over eight years as bipolar disorder. The highs and lows, which were really neuropsychiatric seizures, ravaged her mind until she was suicidal. In 2019, Chris decided for the sake of his wife to continue pastoring, but lesson his ministerial role and move out into the country so Mandy Rose could heal. This saved her life, and God began to heal the whole family. In 2020, Mandy Rose’s identical twin developed her own autoimmune diseases. This was a tremendous blow, but God used it. Through familiarity with her own illnesses, she began to recognize that Mandy Rose’s mental attacks looked more like autoimmune flares. In January of 2021, after taking simple steroids for suppressing antibodies, within thirty minutes, Mandy Rose had her mind back. She felt like Nebuchadnezzar, coming back in from the field!
The next year, while praying for where to spend their twenty year anniversary, which would be combined with a month-long sabbatical for Chris in May of 2023, both Chris and Mandy Rose heard separately from the Lord that they should spend that time in Scotland! Shocked, but excited to see what God had planned, they believed they should take all four kids with them for ten days, then spend the rest of the time just the two of them. By the end of the month, the Lord had spoken to all six of them that Scotland was where He was calling them. And as icing on the cake to confirm it, Mandy Rose experienced complete remission of her autoimmune diseases while in Scotland! During their four thousand mile trek to “search out the land," Chris and Mandy Rose saw the spiritually ravaging effects of modern philosophy and the rise of evolution on the Scottish people, who were once so strong for the Lord. Church of Scotland buildings were now abandoned, for sale, or had been turned into nightclubs, museums, or restaurants.
But what would be “the door to the gospel” for the Scottish people through the Campbell’s? Chris has had a passion and gifting for hospitality and cooking his entire life, so what better way to connect than over good food and conversation? He plans to earn an MBA in Scotland over the next year, then open a Texas BBQ restaurant, where they can meet people, develop community relationships, and eventually host small groups through discipleship, offer recovery classes, and engage with atheists who have gone astray. Mandy Rose has had a passion for the LGBTQ+ community her entire life, because from the ages of four to 38, she suffered from Gender Dysphoria herself, most of that time in secret, and homosexuality from the age of 11. What she believes isn’t simply doctrine; it’s her life story. She desires to reach the Queer community through her own testimony, and the original songs the Lord has given her. She will be attending college in Scotland where she can immerse herself in the LGBTQ+ language and culture, hear their stories, develop relationships, and be a light for the gospel in the dark. Then with that degree she plans on writing a book based on her life and the goodness of God through it.