Debby and Russ Chasteen
US Mobilization, based in California, serving all western states | 41380
Our Story
I (Debby) grew up in France as a GEM MK, and first served in France in church planting and in women's ministries. After five years back in the US in which I received a Master's in Foreign Language Education , I went to Germany with GEM to teach at Black Forest Academy, a school primarily for MKs. I taught high school French, started and led a Drama Outreach Team, and led several girls' small groups. About 8 years into my time at BFA, a friend of mine, Russ Chasteen, also a missionary (with Mission Aviation Fellowship), lost his wife to cancer and a couple of years later, regular e-mails led to visits in Germany, and in August of 2004 we were married. Russ joined the staff at BFA and started serving in the IT office, eventually becoming the network administrator for three campuses and seven dorms! Russ always accompanied the Drama Outreach Team whenever we traveled, as well as on my many field trips with my students (many over a couple of days, giving students the opportunity to live with a French family overnight and for several meals).
Where We Work
I loved living in France because it was "home" for most of my life, well into my young adult years. I knew and loved the people, I understood the culture and the language, and I just "belonged."
Later, I taught for 20 years in Kandern, Germany, a small town in Southwestern Germany. I loved the beautiful setting of BFA and living there for so many years felt that Germany, not just BFA, was my missionfield. Russ and I sought to develop relationships with our German neighbors and shopkeepers.
Fast forward to 2017. We were packing to go to California for Christmas with my parents and the day before we flew, my father had a fatal heart attack in the night. So, our three week vacation turned into 7 weeks of planning a memorial service and moving my mother from her apartment to assisited living because of her blindness. Back in Germany, we ended our school year early and in April 2018 we moved to California to care for my mother.
In 2019 I joined the Mobilization Team and Russ became a GEM Associate. He isn't salaried but we are a team when we visit college campuses and participate in church mission conferences. In April 2023, my mother went to be with the Lord and we started traveling to Europe more often, serving at Camp des Cimes in France, on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, debriefing our Ten2 college summer interns in various locations, and helping out in Paris as the different ministry teams prepared for the summer Olympic Games. We live in the San Diego area and are seeking the Lord's will for future ministry, here or in Europe or possibly a combination of the two.