Resort missionary takes to the slopes in Tahoe’s ‘playground’

NAMB photo By Gibbs Frazeur

Missionary Debbie Wohler greets participants in a ski slope chapel service near Lake Tahoe. She serves as chaplain for six area ski resorts .

TAHOE CITY, Calif.—After more than two decades as a resort missionary in Lake Tahoe—known as “America’s Year-Round Playground”—Debbie Wohler remains as passionate as ever about her calling.

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“Often in Scripture, it looks like it’s the small things—you know, the salt, the light, the yeast, the seed in the soil—that add up to big things,” said Wohler. “I think a lot of times we want to see the big things without having done the small things.”

Wohler is among nearly 5,200 missionaries in the United States and is supported by the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. She is featured during the March 7-14 Week of Prayer, which this year focuses on “The World at Our Doorstep.”

Among the “small things” she values are children. Her weekly schedule includes serving through First Baptist Church of Tahoe City, which offers a before- and after-school program and childcare services several weekday mornings and evenings. She also leads a children’s day camp during the summer for resort guests, and from Christmas through Easter she serves as a chaplain for six ski resorts.

“I want to raise a generation of people who love God and who serve God,” said Wohler, noting that several of the children she has taught now serve as missionaries themselves. “I want to teach them how to pray, minister, and not be afraid to talk to people about Jesus and what’s happened in their heart.”

Each year, about 700 families participate in at least one of the children’s  ministries offered through First Baptist, which averages about 125 people in attendance each Sunday.

“Every church could be doing what we’re doing,” Wohler said. “We’ve taken care of their kids and loved their families,” she said. “And as a result we’ve seen moms and dads, and boys and girls come to know Jesus. My goal is to strengthen the family so that the family can come to know Christ.”

Many of her children are from local families, who often struggle financially despite the beauty of their surroundings. But her work is also geared toward the 12 million tourists who come through the area each year.

“What I’ve found is that when we genuinely love people and meet their needs, whether it’s childcare or skiing, or whatever their need is, they’re very open to a relationship with us, and then a relationship with Jesus Christ,” said Wohler.

“We try to do fun things with the kids because I really believe that Jesus used attraction rather than promotion,” she added. “I believe a lot of times the church gets stuck doing really boring things.”

In the summer, Wohler, leads the children in her childcare programs on hikes to see God’s handiwork in waterfalls or beaches. And in the winter, she takes the Gospel to the ski slopes.

“Some of the best opportunities come after our outdoor worship service when riding chair lifts and while skiing around before and after the service helping people who are having a hard time skiing,” she said. “Once people are exposed to Christians who are vibrant and passionate and loving and kind, they are open to hearing about the Gospel.”

• Resort ministries provide a Christian witness at a place and time when individuals are free from usual concerns and are often more receptive to the gospel.

• The North American Mission Board supports about 30 resort missionaries and their spouses across the United States and Canada, and works closely with hundreds of others involved in local resort missions.

• For more on resort missions - including ideas for how your church can get involved - visit www.namb.net/evangelism/specialministries.