After owning and operating a commercial print shop for 10 years in North Carolina, Mark and Marlene sold the business and joined Wycliffe in 1985. In 1986, they began their first assignment as manager of the print shop for Wycliffe Canada in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In January 1993, they traveled to Ghana, West Africa to work with the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation. GILLBT is a Wycliffe member organization. Mark gave managerial oversight to the print shop and training to the Ghanaian print shop staff on a large single color press. The family returned to Calgary in 1996 where Mark returned to Wycliffe Canada's print shop.

 

Following twenty years of home schooling their children, Marlene began working in the Calgary office in the spring of 2008, assisting in mobilizing passionate young adults by doing student follow up on Wycliffe Canada's National Mobilization Team. In May of 2017, Marlene wrapped up her work with the Mobilization Team to attend to urgent family health needs.

 

In the spring of 2023, Mark and Marlene transferred from Wycliffe Canada back to Wycliffe USA, and settled in South Carolina near their oldest son and his family. For the next year and a half they worked part time at the JAARS base in Waxhaw, North Carolina, as receptionists at The Alphabet Museum and also scanning documents from the Townsend Archives for digital storage.

 

Mark and Marlene retired from their work with Wycliffe in March of 2025, completing forty years of service. They anticipate volunteering occasionally in the years to come. They are grateful that their contribution over the years has helped to encourage Christians towards deeper involvement in the Bible translation movement and would appreciate your continued prayers as they begin a new season of life.