dean and leta strong- heroes of the faith

Dean and Leta Strong

Retired Missionaries to Kenya
“The Simple Life”
By Stacy Hall, Writing Intern
July 2011

What preparation does serving the Lord in Kenya require? If you ask Dean and Leta Strong, retired missionaries with World Gospel Mission, the answer is to “live the simple life.” By committing to live the simple life, Dean and Leta have experienced God working in intricate ways.

Dean and Leta both came to know the Lord at young ages. Dean was born into a logging and farming family in northern Idaho. His family regularly attended the local one-room church, and he accepted Christ as his Savior at the age of 12. Miles away in Kansas, Leta and her family also attended a small country church where Leta was growing in her desire to please the Lord and do what was right.

Dean and Leta met while attending York College in Nebraska. Dean planned on studying mathematics, but during his freshman year he was called into ministry and completed his Bachelor of Arts in Bible instead. Leta graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

The two were married on June 7, 1950. During the first years of their marriage, they pastored two small rural churches. Dean completed his masters of divinity at Western Evangelical Seminary. After graduation, they began pastoring a church in Beaver, Oregon.

The Strongs invited Gerry and Bunny Fish, missionaries to Kenya with World Gospel Mission, to come speak to their congregation about missions. Gerry and Bunny spoke twice, and at the two events, Dean and Leta began to separately feel God leading them toward missions in Kenya. At one meeting, Gerry displayed a picture of a young African boy with sour milk and asked who would go share Jesus with children like him. Once Dean and Leta consulted each other, they confirmed the calling and began the process toward becoming WGM missionaries.

The couple applied to WGM in 1956, and finally arrived in Kenya in January of 1958 with three young children in tow. In those days, even essentials like electricity or clean water were scarce. However, having grown up in rural areas without electricity, Dean and Leta were used to the “simple life.” Leta accredits this attitude of “make-do” to preparing her most for life in Kenya.

Dean worked on construction and school supervision at Kaboson Pastors’ School (now Kaboson Pastors Training College). He also worked with the local church, supporting and training leaders. Eventually, he became the principal at Kenya Highlands Bible College (now Kenya Highlands Evangelical University) while Leta served as the school nurse. Ultimately, Dean was appointed as field director.

As the five Strong children (Larry, Connie, David, Marilyn, and Karen) got older, Dean decided to take a teaching position at Vennard College and moved the family back to the states. However, six years later, they were asked to return to Kenya. After much prayer, they left again for Kenya to assist rural churches, teach classes and Bible studies, and resume the role of field director.

“Even though there were hard times, our service in Kenya was rewarding,” said Leta. The family faced language barriers and feelings of being under-qualified for the position of field director. However, they built lasting relationships and were able to physically and spiritually help people. Leta said, “You just did what had to be done to the best of your know how…God is bigger than any need.”

God used Dean and Leta to spread the church to remote areas of Kenya and to begin building the church in Uganda. Once, on a surveying trip to the Pokot people, Dean and his companions detoured into an area populated by the Chepnyal tribe. Despite the language barrier, Dean was able to communicate with the chief who asked them, “Are you just coming to take pictures and ask questions, or are you coming back to help?” These words impacted Dean, and he and other missionaries began to make regular trips to the Chepnyal people to build relationships and share the gospel. Dean assisted one Kenyan in becoming a missionary to the Chepnyal people, and he was able to plant a church there.

After 36 years of faithful service as career missionaries in Kenya, Dean and Leta retired from the Kenyan field in 1995 and officially retired from WGM in 1996. Despite being retired, they have stayed active in ministry, including running the mission house in Bolivia for a year and volunteering at WGM’s headquarters in Marion, Indiana. The Strongs continue to live the simple life in Gas City, Indiana, visiting with family and friends and being active in their local church. Through everything, God has blessed the Strongs as He has used them to bless others. They have taken to heart David’s 37th Psalm by trusting and taking delight in the Lord, as he gives them safe pasture and the desires of their hearts.