The Kennell Family
The Kennells come to us feeling almost like home folks. For Beverly this is coming home to her roots, where she lived from age five after they moved here from Denbigh. Beverly, known by friends as Bev, is the daughter of Lewis and Helen Burkholder; she has three brothers--David, Norman and Steven.
Bev has fond memories of her childhood on the family farm with an assortment of different animals as pets and lots of opportunity for fun and play. Church work was very important in the Burkholder household. Bev remembers traveling to Powhatan from Denbigh on Sundays so that her dad could preach between milkings.
When she was twelve, Bev accepted Christ at a youth community worship service. A very precious part of her growing up years was the close friendship she had with the other girls at church, and she has fond memories of Girls’ Club and youth group with Dave and Nancy Moyer as leaders. She loved to sing and along with the Schaefer sisters, Sheila and Helen, sang for churches and prison ministry.
After graduating from EMHS, Bev attended Rosedale for two years, where she met her husband-to-be, Tim Kennell, who was at Rosedale for three six-week terms. It didn't take long for him to notice the confident, poised young gal from Powhatan! Bev hadn't really noticed Tim, but she says with a chuckle, "After we started dating, he grew on me pretty quick!"
The son of Eldon and Mary Alice Kennell, Tim grew up on a farm in Roanoke, Illinois, with his brother, Dennis. One evening when he was eleven, Tim became overwhelmed with the thought of what a sinner he was. He knelt on his bed and asked God into his life. It was a very precious and highly emotional moment for him as he experienced the cleansing blood of Jesus.
Tim attended public school and participated in sports--all kinds of sports. He said, "Sports, cars and motors were my life and my love. My priorities were way out of line, and you can't have your feet in both worlds. There is no middle road." When he was a junior in high school, he made another milestone decision: that God would be Lord of his life. God began to change the heart and desires of tender young Tim. He had a yearning to grow deeper into God's Word and after high school decided to attend Rosedale, where he could receive Godly teaching and training. It was also a time of coming to peace with a lot of issues in his life.
Tim and Bev dated--long distance--for two and a half years. It was a good time, and they spent a lot of time writing letters and talking on the phone. After they were married, they moved to Illinois and took over the farm so his dad could attend seminary and become a chaplain. They raised corn, beans, hogs, beef cattle and even llamas. Tim worked on the side for a heating and air conditioning business, and they also had a battery store on the farm which Bev helped to run. In 1986 God blessed their home with a beautiful little girl, Renel.
One evening in 1991, Tim and Bev went out to eat with friends, and they began talking about Russia, the wall’s crumbling, and the opening of doors to hand out Bibles. Tim piped up, "I always wanted to do something like that," and Bev chimed in, "Me, too!" They were stunned, as they had never talked together about mission work. Each had given it some personal thought but never thought the other would be open. They began to pray for God's direction and shared with their parents, Tim's brother and a few personal friends the desires of their heart. It was three years before all the doors were open to go to Belarus. In the meantime, God blessed their home with another precious little girl, Kayley.
In July of 1994, the Kennells flew to Belarus for a two-year term of service with a Baptist Camp, where they worked with gardening and farming, but their hearts began to ache for the deep spiritual needs of the Russian people. As they began to make friends in their village, Tim and Bev invited them to a Bible Study, where they began to share the love of Jesus. This group eventually evolved into a church.
Tim, being a foreigner, could not be called pastor, even though he did much pastoral work in teaching, preaching and counseling. God was working in mysterious ways and brought a young national to pastor and work with Tim. When the door slammed shut last April, preventing the Kennells from staying in Belarus, the church had leadership that could continue. Still, it was disappointing and heartbreaking to the Kennells to be torn from their Russian friends after living among them for five years.
After returning to the States, Tim went back to work for his old boss in the heating and air-conditioning business, but Tim and Bev felt deep in their hearts that God had another special assignment for them; they just didn't know when or where. Then came the call from the pastor search committee in Powhatan. Bev says, "This has all happened so fast. I never really had a desire to move back to Powhatan, as Illinois had become my home. I never thought I wanted to be a pastor's wife; I know what a pastor goes though. But God has led us here. I know there will be problems (maybe difficulties), but the blessings of God far outweigh the problems." For Tim it looks like a huge task, trying to figure everything out. He says, "I feel called here. But it is not a job or my job. This is God's work. I want to be a pastor from what flows out of my relationship with Christ and not because I was voted on or approved to come here. It is with fear and trembling that I realize that I cannot do this in my own power. That feels good because I know God must minister through me."
The Kennells say they have left home to come home. As for those roots, sometimes it feels good to be transplanted by the Master Gardener and bloom where He tenderly and lovingly plants.
By Pat Hertzler