Eight Texans appointed international missionaries
___RICHMOND, Va.--Eight Texans were among the 63 people appointed as missionaries by the International Mission Board during a March 10 service at Broadmoor Church in Shreveport, La.
___Frida Robles will work as a church planter to mobilize the Piaroa Indians of Venezuela. She will serve as an evangelist and will work in discipling and church developing. In addition to working with the Piaroa, she also will begin researching the 165 unreached people groups in her area. Since 1996, Robles has served as a church planter with University Church in Fort Worth. Prior to that, she was a missionary with the Rio Grande River Ministry in El Paso. She counts Grandview Church in El Paso as being among the churches influential in her life.
___Jeff and Staci Powers will serve as pioneer church planters in Botswana, southern Africa, where the couple has been missionary apprentices for the past three years. During that time, they identified several unreached villages in the area and developed plans for delivering the gospel and starting churches. Prior to their term as apprentices, the couple lived in Fort Worth, where they were members of Hope Community Church. They also consider First Church in Early as influential in their ministry.
___Tom Bevers will work in Russia as a strategy coordinator in an area that contains almost 6.5 million people. He will work in cooperation with the Russian Baptist Union and the European Russian field to build a team focused on impacting the lostness of the area. Bevers recently completed a term in Uganda with International Service Corps in which he coordinated the theological education by extension program. He is a member of Wedgwood Church in Fort Worth.
___Roger and Melinda Russell will help start churches in Bucharest, Romania. They will partner with Romanian believers to implement evangelistic strategies that will help start churches. He will serve as a church planter, while she will conduct home outreach. Since 1999, the Russells have served in Romania with International Service Corps, coordinating evangelism and discipleship efforts of the Romania Chapel Project.
___Brett and Jennifer Waldrep will live in Brazil, where they will assist in starting new churches in the area. He will motivate, train and supervise teams of students to start churches, while she participates in evangelism and discipleship. A pastor of an Oregon church, he previously was youth pastor at Williams Creek Church in Waco. She is the daughter of former International Board Missionaries Clint and Andrea Ashley. They consider First Church in New Boston as being influential in their lives. He was born in Texarkana; she in Dallas.

The Baptist Standard