Collection 513 Oral History Interview with John R. Stauffacher

Collection

Identifier: CN 513

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Oral history interview in which John Raymond Stauffacher in which he describes his childhood in Kenya, missionary parents John and Florence Stauffacher, his brother Claudon, missions in Kenya, the Masai people, Mrs. Westervelt and the Westervelt Home, studying and teaching at Rift Valley Academy, Charles Hurlburt, the Mau Mau Rebellion, Great Britain's colonial administration of Kenya, Christian life, conversion, missionary call, language learning and missionary work with Africa Inland Mission in Zaire and Central African Republic among the Zande people, missionary support, Erik Barnett, animism, evangelism in Kenya, national church leadership, limited response to the gospel among the Zande, medical missions, missionary training, the Simba Rebellion, World War I, relations with the Catholic Church in Zaire, educational aspects of missionary work, prayer, and other mission-related subjects. The interview covers the time period 1908-1995.

John Raymond Stauffacher was interviewed by Paul A. Ericksen on January 30, 1995 in the home of Lester Harris in Seminole, Florida.

Dates

Created: 1995

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biographical Information

Full Name: John Raymond Stauffacher

Birth: July 18, 1908 at AIM Rumuruti Station, Kenya

Death: August 1, 2004 in St. Petersburg, Florida

Parents: John W. Stauffacher and Florence Minch Stauffacher

Siblings: Claudon Stauffacher

Marital Status: 1934 married Sara Elizabeth Sloop Stauffacher

Children: John Ethelbert Stauffacher (b. 1936); Betty Stauffacher Constance (b. 1938); Mary Anne Stauffacher Harris (b. 1942); Sara Stauffacher Maclure (b. 1948)

Education

1928-1929: John Brown University, studied cabinet-making

1930-1931: Columbia Bible College, Diploma in Biblical Studies

1931-1932: University of South Carolina, B.S. Science

Career

1936-1940: Began language school at Aba, Belgian Congo; later started missions work on Napopo station in Zaire (later renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo) among the Zande people

1945-1947: Transferred to Rethy AIM station in Congo to teach at Rethy Academy

1947-1953: Continued missions work at AIM Napopo Station

1953-1959: Transferred back to Rethy Station, where Raymond served as principal and teacher at Rethy Academy and together the Stauffachers served as dormitory parents.

1959-1961: Transferred back to Napopo Station, where the Stauffachers began a Bible school to train indigenous pastors and their wives. The Stauffachers were evacuated from Napopo in 1961 during the Simba Rebellion.

1961-1962: Furlough in the United States spent teaching at Columbia Christian School

1963: Returned to Africa to teach and serve as dormitory parents at Victoria Academy for missionary children in Tanzania.

1964-1970: Transferred to Rift Valley Academy for missionary children in Kenya, where the Stauffachers served in the school.

1970-1973: Stauffachers retire from teaching work at Rift Valley Academy and transferred to Democratic Republic of Congo to start a Bible school to train indigenous pastors in Mboki, which was later moved to Zemio.

1973-1977: Retired from the mission field and returned to the United States live at AIM Media Retirement Center in Clermont, FL, and Raymond taught classes at Calvary Christian School in Winter Garden, FL.