Wally Schoon to be the Special Speaker at a Special Event

By Chuck Kelley

    PHILOMATH, Oregon – When Bible teacher Wally Schoon went to Sweden as a missionary 37 years ago, he would never have predicted he would devote so much of his future time and energy to Latvia.  But for almost 20 years, Wally has traversed from his home in Sweden to Latvia several times a year to teach the Bible and the Christian life in churches, schools, seminaries and special camps and retreats.

    Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Wally graduated from Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with degrees in Bible and History.

He then pursued a year of graduate studies in psychology and education.  An ordained minister with the Evangelical Free Church of America, he worked with Southern Keswick Bible and Conference ministry in St. Petersburg, Flordia. This led to Wally and his wife, Donna, starting a new church fellowship.

    After pastoring in Florida for eight years, in 1973, the Schoons moved to Sweden to begin their ministry with Torchbearer's International. Torchbearers began in England after World War II when the late Major Ian Thomas invited German young people to a large manor called Capernwray near Manchester. Today the ministry has 25 one-year Bible schools and conference centers all over the world, with eight in Europe. The Schoons started the Swedish Torchbearers Bible School and Conference Center in Holsby Brunn,

which is situated half way between Stockholm and Copenhagen. They have been living there ever since.

    In 1974, Wally met Ingemar Martinson, who at the time was the Director of the Swedish Slavic Mission in Stockholm. He was already a legend in ministering to the suffering church behind the Iron Curtain. Ingemar invited Wally to teach at a family conference and then another and soon this conference ministry developed into what later became Solåsen, a study center that brought pastors and ministry leaders from all over Eastern Europe and the USSR to Sweden for three weeks of intensive study and spiritual renewal. Ingemar and Wally started traveling to Poland in 1981 and to the Soviet Union in 1990. For almost 20 years Solåsen was a place where more than 1,000 leaders have been blessed, nourished and challenged to e

xpand their own ministry visions in and beyond their homelands.

    I first met Wally at Solasen in the fall of 1990 when I had also been invited by Ingemar to teach at Solåsen. Young Latvian leaders started coming to Solåsen that same year and several of them point to their time at Solåsen as instrumental in their starting new ministries in Latvia. One such man was Maris Dzelzs who was the first Director of Prison Fellowship for the Soviet Union. He later started and led the Youth With a Mission work in Latvia. It was Maris who first invited Wally to come and minister in Latvia in 1991.

    Wally was also involved in numerous ways in BBI’s early outreach efforts in Latvia, known as Hope ’91, Hope ’92, Hope ’94 and Hope ’99.

    In recent years Wally has limited his travels to othe

r Eastern European countries in order to focus on Latvia. Countless doors have swung open for him and he has been able to use his Bible knowledge and gripping communication style to minister to thousands. He has partnered extensively with Pastor Petr Samoylich of Latvian Christian Mission and the Salvation Temple in Riga, to provide three wonderful conferences each year for public school teachers. Many have come to Christ and many, many more have learned how to use their educational platforms to reach the next generation for Christ. As a Bible teacher and counselor, Wally teaches principles of pedgogy and ‘life questions’ at these conferences.

    We are excited to invite Wally to be our guest speaker at Prayer Days. Wally has attended a couple of Prayer Days as a participant and has been blessed.

    When I asked him why he thinks Prayer Days is important, he replied, “It’s simple. I personally need the times of intercession, refreshment and fellowship with fellow brothers and sisters who touch many lives in Latvia. So I look forward to how He will minister to our hearts and then us to each other.”