By Melody Pfaffenberger
Since the Grace Brethren Missionary Residence in Winona Lake, Ind., was built in 1980, it has been a place of respite and relaxation. In the nearly 27 years since it opened, it has housed more than 5,000 people, either missionaries who need a place to stay for a few nights or families who are home from the mission field for a year or more.
It has been a significant part of people’s lives.
Mike Taylor, former missionary and now the director of personnel and regional director for Africa at Grace Brethren International Missions (GBIM), and his family have lived in “the Res,” as he calls it, at different times over the past 18 years.
“What I remember most was the pantry that was always stocked with food,” he recalls. “We would have enough to get us by until we were able to go shopping. It was such a blessing. The Missionary Residence is a huge asset to GBIM.”
Jay and Debbie Hocking, missionary appointees to France, currently call the residence “home.” It’s the second time they have lived there as a couple
