Our Family History and Information
We were married July 10, 1972. We have four grown children and eight grandchildren.

Our oldest daughter, Elizabeth Stone, lives in Springfield MO with her husband, Andy and their three sons, Kyle, Byron and Kelley. Andy's daughter Amanda also comes to spend summers with them. They own their own computer business and Beth is pursuing a career as a substance abuse counsellor.

Joshua , our oldest son, lives in Austin, TX with his wife, Suzette and their sons, Michael and Ricky. Joshua is a youth pastor and Suzette is a valuable asset to Joshua's ministry, and takes good care of him and the boys.

Rachel Whalen, our youngest daughter, lives also in Springfield, MO with her two children, Marc-e & Janis. Rachel works as a supervisor for Grand Vista Vacations.

Caleb Kelley, our youngest son, lives is Willard, MO with his wife Tracy. Caleb is finishing up his last year at Baptist Bible College. He is majoring in pastoral theology. Tracy is a graduate of Baptist Bible College and is a good helpmeet for Caleb.

We are very proud of all our children and grandchildren and ask for your prayers for them.



Ministry History
Brother Kelley was saved in 1971 at the age of 16. He met and married his wife Joy when they were both 18. Shortly thereafter, in October, 1974, he joined the US Army, which was truly a God-ordained move. When the Army sent them to Darmstadt, Germany in 1976, they met Joseph Ondesko, a SFC in the Army who had started a Baptist mission there. At that time, the Kelley's re-dedicated their lives totally to the Lord and Bro. Kelley surrendered to the call to preach. He was licensed to the Gospel Ministry on April 26, 1978. He served as associate pastor of the mission, and when Bro. Ondesko was transferred out, Bro. Kelley helped out in easing the transition of the pastorate to missionary Jim Garrison, who later organized the mission into Faith Baptist Church.

In January, 1979, still in the Army, the Kelleys were sent to Fort Campbell, KY. When they arrived, there was no independent Baptist Church off-post actively ministering to and trying to reach the military. So they were led to start a church. With authority from their church in Darmstadt, Germany, they started the Maranatha Baptist Church of Oak Grove, KY in 1979. There Brother Kelley was ordained, and he pastored the church for two years.

In 1981, they were sent to Fort Carson, CO. There they worked at the First Baptist Church of Peaceful Valley, pastored by Brother Kelley's mentor & sending pastor , Dr. Gene Woods. During a mission conference preached by Dr. Onsy Whicker, the Kelleys were called to be missionaries to the military. On May 24, 1984 they were approved as BBFI missionaries (under the AMOS - American Ministries OverSeas program), and were called by God to go to Augsburg, West Germany.

In August of 1984 Brother Kelley was discharged from the Army and started full-time deputation. They raised their support in 19 months and were on the field in Augsburg,West Germany, on December 5, 1985. There they established the Faith Baptist Church of Augsburg. The Kelleys spent eight and a half years there pastoring that church. They saw over 2,000 saved & baptized and 40 men called into full-time service. Under their leadership, the church supported 36 missionaries at $50 apiece. Then, due to the military drawdown in Europe, their community shrunk from 19,000 Americans to under 1,200. So they were led of the Lord to go to Korea to start churches in Area 1, the 2nd Infantry Division.

The Kelleys arrived in Seoul, Korea, on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1995. They started their church, Uijongbu Baptist Church, on December 17, 1995. God moved miraculously in the establishment of this church! In Korea, a large sum of money (called Key Money) is required for deposit on renting (not buying) a building. The Kelleys found a building right outside the gate of Camp Red Cloud in Uijongbu (the military bus hub for the 2ID Area). It was a perfect location. The church building is highly visible from on-base. They were able to sublet rooms on the 4th floor of the building until May 1996 without having to pay any key money. But they were told that by the end of May, if they wanted to continue using the building, the landlord would be asking for $65,000.



The Miracle!
At the beginning of May, all they had in the bank was $9,000. As it turned out, the landlord lowered the Key Money to $39,000 but said they could only rent one side of the building. Then they watched while the Lord miraculously provided $30,000-plus by the end of May. There was enough money left over to carpet and install American-style bathrooms. What a blessing! And the miracle didn't stop there. By Thanksgiving of 1996, God had already provided the money and they were already renting the entire 4th floor of the building! The church was organized on July 21, 1996, and 32 people signed the charter. This church has grown phenomenally! Just during the first year, 98 were saved and 70 were baptized. Since then, there have been near 1,000 more saved! The Kelleys say it is the most exciting ministry they have ever been involved in.

Due to the large number of Koreans who had been attending services, Bro. Kelley saw the need of starting a church for Korean nationals. He asked one of the members, Bro. Ray Gee, ICS missionary, if he would be willing to pastor this church if it was started. So on November 14, 1996, the first Korean service was held with Bro. Gee preaching with a Korean translator. On May 5, 1997, the mission was organized as Emmanuel Baptist Church. The present missionary pastor is Rev. Barry Hoffman, and by April, 2001, they were running in the 90's on Sunday mornings.

In November of 1999, Bro. Kelley felt led of the Lord to start another church in Tongduchon (TDC) to reach the military personnel assigned to Camps Casey, Hovey, Mobile, Nimble, Castle & the Western Corridor camps. God provided another PERFECT location 300 meters from the front gate of Camp Casey and directly in the middle between Camps Mobile and Nimble! The key money was only $10,000 and the rent was only $370 per month. The space was large enough for a good-sized auditorium seating 100 people. So the church (Uijongbu Baptist) voted on starting a mission there in TDC. The property was leased, the building was prepared with money provided by the Lord, and the first service was held on December 7, 1999. There were 63 present for the first service, including only 34 members of Uijongbu Baptist Church. Then on July 9, 2000, they organized the mission into First Baptist Church. The charter was signed by 26 people. The church grew and flourished with many souls saved and baptized, even though Bro. Kelley was splitting his time between the two churches. First Baptist Church really needed a full-time pastor, so in the fall of 2001, Missionary Larry Ferguson and his wife, Kyong (Kay) and son Ed came to Korea, and the church voted to accept Bro. Ferguson as their pastor. That was a blessing for Bro. Kelley, because then he could get back to pastoring full-time at Uijongbu Baptist Church.




Future Plans if God allows:

We would like to establish another church near Camp Stanley. The area over there will be expanding in the next couple of years, and there will be a need to establish a church there. Already, there are close to 3,000 soldiers there, and many military families, who have come, though they are not really authorized by the military to be there. We request your prayers that God will supply a building for a church within walking distance of Camp Stanley, as they soldiers there are not allowed to have privately owned vehicles. Over the past seven years, we have always had quite a few soldiers that attend Uijongbu Baptist Church from Camp Stanley, but it's a long bus ride over there.

Joy is working on her masters in Psychology/Counseling through distance education and is planning to pursue her doctorate when she is finished with her masters. Be praying about this and also about our future plans for the ministry.

 

Our sending church
First Baptist Church
of Peaceful Valley
Dr. Gene Woods
Colorado Springs,
CO 80931 Telephone:
(719) 392-4444

Our field address
Rick & Joy Kelley
PSC 311, Box 72
APO AP 96258
Phone and Fax:
82-(351 or 31)-826-3483

E-mail: rkelley@kornet.net