Missionaries
Joseph and Patricia Larakers have been appointed to serve as Wesleyan missionaries in Haiti with West Indies Self Help (WISH). Their ministry in Haiti began in the summer of 2001. Prior to coming to Haiti, they pastored the Hoyne Avenue Wesleyan Church in the inner city of Chicago from 1966 to 2001. The Larakers had promoted and supported Wesleyan World Missions in their church, but had never felt the call “to go” themselves. Independently of each other, Joe and Pat had felt burdened to pray for the Lord to provide a replacement couple for missionary friends in Haiti who expressed a desire to retire. The more they prayed, the more they sensed that their gifts were a suitable match for the position. When Joe shared with Pat that perhaps God might want them to go, Pat's spirit agreed. Joe was born and, for the most part, raised in Chicago. In his teens, he sporadically attended the Roseland Wesleyan Methodist Church. When he was 16 years old, the men of the church began to pray specifically for him, and a friend challenged him to read through the entire Bible. Shortly after doing so, he gave his heart and life to Jesus. Joe attended the University of Illinois where he finished three years of a math/physics major before beginning to pastor at Hoyne Avenue. In 1975 he completed the ministerial study course through Wesleyan Educational Institutions and was ordained to the ministry by the Illinois District of The Wesleyan Church. During his years in the pastorate, Joe worked with three inner city missions, ministered to local gangs, and served three years as the principal of the Salem Christian School. Pat was also raised in Chicago and attended the Roseland Wesleyan Methodist Sunday school. When she was 12 years old, she became a Christian at Camp Epworth, the Illinois District camp. She graduated from Fox Secretarial College. She met Joe in Sunday school, and they were married in 1963. She has been a pastor's wife for 35 years and has worked in numerous areas of the Church at both the local and district levels. Joe and Pat desire “to show God's love through practical deeds and to share the message of salvation through Jesus.” They plan on assisting the poor (Christian and non-Christian) in tangible ways, and they also want to be an encouragement to the national Church in their pursuit of God's best. Joe and Pat have five children—the youngest is attending Houghton College. They also have five grandchildren. Life Verse: “Walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing into a fuller knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).