Keith Leo Amunson

AMUNSON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen- Volunteer (email)
Date: 4/21/2015 at 21:48:48

Monona County History
1982

Keith Leo Amunson, p 88-89

Keith Leo Amunson was born on August 11, 1944 to Clifferd and LeOra Amunson of Manilla, Iowa. He was their first child. He graduated from Soldier High School in 1962.

With interest in agriculture and helping other people, Keith enrolled at Iowa State University in the Agricultural Engineering course, thinking in the terms of the Peace Corps. While a student at Iowa State University, the campus organization called Navigators, explained how to become a Christian through personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Keith gave his heart and life to Jesus Christ for whatever He had planned.

Partially through the experience of going into the Army and serving 19 months of that time in South Vietnam, Keith became burdened for that part of the world and felt the Lord could use him in Agriculture as well as leading these dear people to faith in Jesus Christ. After returning to the States he completed his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering and went to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois for seminary training. While a student he spent his summer months serving an internship at the Onawa Evangelical Free Church. After seminary he pastored for one and a half years at the Community Evangelical Free Church of Junction City, Wisconsin.

At the end of 1975 he began traveling to various churches to raise his financial and prayer support for going to the Philippines as a church-planting missionary under the Evangelical Free Church. He met his wife, Jo, in Florida. She is from Defiance, Ohio and graduated from Trinity Bible College in Dunedin, Florida with a B.A. in Christian Education. Jo taught Bible in the public schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee for 3 years, then began working full time with the Children’s Bible Mission in Polk City, Florida. After 10 years with the Children’s Bible Mission, she knew the Lord was leading her to overseas missions. During her Bible college days she had given her heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and had an initial interest in overseas missions then.

Keith and Jo met at the Lakeland Evangelical Free Church in Lakeland, Florida where they were both representing their respective missions during February, 1976. Their relationship grew in the Lord and they soon realized that His will for them was to and they soon realized that His will for them was to serve Him together, thus they married on October 30, 1976 and the following February they left for the Philippines, beginning language study in Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines.

Later they worked with a church at San Fernando, Cebu before being sent back to Davao City, Mindanao in July 1979 to help begin the EFC mission work there. They were able to see a church planted on that island before coming home to the States in May 1981 for a one-year furlough.

They are traveling to many states to share in churches about their missionary work in the Philippines. They are planning to return to Davao City for another 4-year term where they will be working to help establish additional churches.