Adventist Mission

Pioneer missionaries Dick & Jean Hall

They Had Grit!

In 1954 Dick and Jean Hall stepped off a freighter in Thailand to begin their new life as missionaries. And what a life it would be! Twenty five years in Southeast Asia packed with adventure, struggle, danger, miracles, fear, and faith.

After four years in Thailand, the Halls received a call to pioneer the Adventist work in the tiny country of Laos. They knew it wouldn't be easy. But nothing could prepare them for the challenges ahead.

Homeless!
Dick and Jean stood beside their three young children watching the plane that had brought them to Laos disappear in the distance. Where would they go? They had no home!

Fortunately, a Pakistani man saw their plight and offered to let them stay in one end of his bamboo hut. It had a dirt floor, no furniture, no beds, no stove, no electricity, and no water! "It made me ask, 'What in the world am I here for?'" says Pastor Hall. "But in later years, when the Thailand mission president and others who now serve God told me that they never would have known Jesus if we hadn't come, I knew why the Lord brought us there.” The Halls started a school for the tribal children and eventually built a small home and church from hand-sawn lumber.

To reach the various villages with the gospel message, Dick had to walk for days, climbing steep mountains and hoping that when he arrived, someone in the village spoke Lao. But there were many villages he simply couldn't reach. If only I had a plane, Dick thought.

When the Halls went on furlough, Dick raised funds to purchase an plane. He had learned to fly while studying for the ministry at Walla Walla College in Washington. The photo on the left shows Dick (on right) with his missionary brother Lee who was also a pilot.

Soon after purchasing the plane, a war started in Laos and the Halls evacuated across the border to Thailand, transporting many students, women, and children to safety.

Soon a call came to lead the work in Sarawak, on the tropical island of Borneo. Here Dick and Lee found many opportunities to use the airplane in mission service. They helped the local people build airstrips in the jungle in order to make medical and spiritual care available to those living in remote villages. Together the brothers saved many lives. A couple of years ago Dick and Jean returned to visit Borneo. "It was thrilling," says Dick, "to have people come up to me and say that if it hadn’t been for flying them out of the villages to the hospital, they would have died.“