The Mission of Macedonian Call Foundation is to provide automobiles for evangelical missionaries when they are in the U.S. for temporary stateside assignment (furlough).
The Beginning of Macedonian Call Foundation
Harvey & Charlene Kneisel founded Macedonian Call Foundation in 1980. Prior to that, they served as foreign missionaries for 14 years in Guyana, Philippines, Cayman Islands and India. Harvey later pastored churches in Oklahoma and Texas before becoming the Minister of Missions at Houston’s First Baptist Church. As a veteran missionary, he knew the needs and struggles of missionaries who returned to the US for temporary furlough, or as it is now called, “stateside assignment.” Every several years, most foreign missionaries will return to the US for a short term (six months to one year) to refresh themselves, work on training and education, share about their work and spend time with family and loved ones. Finding suitable transportation is difficult, if not virtually impossible.
In 1980, Harvey began MCF, a non-profit charitable organization, to loan cars to missionaries to use while living in the United States. The missionaries would fly to Houston, pick up their car and use it while they were on stateside. Today their only expense is a monthly user fee of $325 plus any minor maintenance that might be required during the user period that the missionary is using the MCF vehicle – up to an amount of $600 per incident.
The ministry is located in Houston Texas, where the missionary cars are picked up and returned. MCF of Texas currently has a fleet of 37 cars that are actively serving missionaries in six states.
Today, the presidency of MCF has passed to Douglas R. Miller. He and his wife, Cathy, took over operations of the ministry in January 2013. Doug and Cathy have been members of Sugar Creek Baptist Church for over twenty years and have been active in foreign missions work in several countries. They are on the support team of several missionaries and over the years have become well aware of the need for dependable transportation when missionaries are on temporary furlough. Doug and Cathy have led a Sunday School class for several years at Sugar Creek and teach an evening Bible Study. Doug is a deacon at Sugar Creek and has served on the Missions Committee.