“Our Personal Profile”

By Rod Boothby

      A wise man once said, “If you look for the bad in people, expecting to find it, you certainly will!”

    I must admit that I love youth. I loved being a youth, and I love being around them. While I am not blind to their shortcomings, I can empathize with their challenges. The world today is a lot tougher on kids than it was thirty years ago. 

   

My wife, Marcia, and I were both born and raised in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We are second and fifth generation Adventists, and we attended Adventist academies through twelfth grade. I graduated in 1980, Marcia in 1981. We were high school sweethearts and married in August 1981.

    In 1982, I received an AAS degree as a licensed airframe and power plant mechanic (aviation mechanic). In 1986, Marcia received an AAS degree and became a licensed practical nurse. We believed and trusted in the pillars of our faith, not doubting for a moment the gift or validity of the Spirit of Prophecy in the church. And after twenty-seven years, we are closer to each other, more thankful for our sure foundation, and more convinced of the Lord’s Testimony through the Spirit of Prophecy. Praise God! 

     In 1986, Michelle, our first daughter, was born. I had prayed for a girl, and there she was! In 1988, Alecia was born. Again, I had prayed for a girl, and there she was! An illness would prevent Marcia from safely having more children, so we gladly settled for two! Our home now felt complete, and as did Enoch, I was to find that my precious girls would lead me to see and realize more fully the love of Jesus.

    By this time, we had a well-established construction business. Marcia had left nursing to be at home with the girls, and aviation could not support our growing family and thirst for adventure. At the same time, we were blessed to be involved in church leadership, Bible studies, and youth ministries. As youth leader, Pathfinder director, and vice-chair person on the local academy school board, I was finding that God had given me (and Marcia) a great love and capacity for working with young people. Many of those young people have stayed in contact with us through the years, and we consider them dear friends.

     By the late 1990s, our business had grown to the point where it was difficult to manage without extreme commitment, and while we were thankful for the opportunity to be of service to our employees and community, we realized we needed change. Since our family has always shared a love for camping, horseback riding, hiking and exploring the West, our search for balance would lead us to sell our home, business and majority of personal belongings and move from Southwestern Michigan, to Northwest Montana. Here, Marcia would continue to homeschool the girls, and I would again build a comfortable home. Together, we would redeem lost time and search for God’s will for our family in this new and wild place He had led us to.  

      After a year’s sabbatical, my return to work would prove much diversified. I started a leather shop and built high quality western saddles. I also guided clients on horseback thirty miles into the Bob Marshall Wilderness to a remote outfitter camp, and worked for the government on the largest carnivore study in history, “The Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project.”  I also have worked extensively for a local outfitter as a back country guide and have kept up with construction in both log and conventional new homes.  I also currently work with 3ABN as Ranger Rod on Kids Time doing their Nature  Time segments. 

    You might ask, “How do these lines of work prepare or qualify you to work with youth?” All of these opportunities have put me constantly in direct contact with young men and women I have had the privilege to train, encourage, and learn from—as well as older, more experienced people to glean ideas, knowledge and wisdom from. 

   

Time has swiftly passed. We’ve been in Montana for nine years now.  Our oldest daughter, Michelle, our sweet violinist and my greatest personal spiritual mentor, after working as a dental assistant for four years, decided to make soul winning and ministry her life work. She attended Mission College of Evangelism in Portland, Oregon, in the fall of 2007. Graduating with honors, and greatly beloved by faculty and students, she was urged to return as part of Mission College staff.  She worked as personal assistant to the president, girls’ dean, instructor, and general office assistant for two semesters.  She now teaches evangelism, personal ministries and religion at Mission Quest. God is doing great things for and with her.

     Our youngest daughter, Alecia, has always been my constant outdoor companion. 

We have always shared a similar love for God’s natural world and adventure. She loves horseback riding, backpacking, canoeing, and even construction. She also worked with me on the “Grizzly Project.” Alecia was married in February 2008 to J.D. Harding. He is a wonderful young man that we met at a youth conference in Vancouver, BC, in the spring of 2007.  She has worked as a dental lab technician and receptionist for four years. She is a very talented, Godly young woman, and an efficient, loving wife. J.D. is such a blessing to our family! His love for missions and young people led him to attend college and study personal ministries and Bible work. He worked as a colporteur for a year before going to Bolivia to help his sister start an orphanage there. Then while working with his family in a logging operation in Northern BC, he attended the same youth conference that we did in Vancouver. The rest is their story. J.D. and Alecia also live in the Swan Valley not far from our home and are expecting a baby girl in August.  They are very much involved in the school of Mission Quest.

    That brings us to the subject of our training school. For several years, Marcia and I have tried to figure how we could bring young men into our home and train them for practical Christian service, help them form Christ-like characters, and offer them perspectives on lifestyle, ministry, mission, and purpose. With our girls still at home, it didn’t seem like a good fit. But now they are not at home, and God seems to be leading us to move ahead. 

    

While some might say, “You’re crazy! You have had to return back into debt, sacrifice your independence and time alone, and open yourselves and your home to the ‘public eye,’” we believe that time is short. We want to continue to make a difference in the lives of youth. Eternity offers us plenty of time, and our mansion of gold is paid for. Our secluded home on the New Earth will give us the privacy and liberty we so much desire.  Praise God for the opportunity to serve. If we might be of service to you or someone you love, please contact us. Let’s be glad we did!

                                            —Rod

Contact Information for Mission Quest Academy:

Rod & Marcia Boothby

3310 Providence Ln.

PO Box 945

Condon, MT 59826 

(406) 754-0094   missionquest@blackfoot.net

www.missionquestacademy.org