George Edward "Ed" Roffe was born in Toronto on February 1, 1905. His father was A.W. Roffe, an influential pastor who served as superintendent of the District of Canada for the Christian and Missionary Alliance from 1919 to 1925.

After graduating from McMaster University and Nyack Missionary College, Roffe was appointed by the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) to serve as a missionary in French Indochina. In 1928, while studying in France in preparation for travel to Southeast Asia, he was directed by the C&MA to pioneer a new field among the tribal peoples of northern Laos. In 1929, he became the first resident Protestant missionary in north Laos, settling in the city of Luang Prabang. Soon after, Roffe brought his new bride, and recent Nyack graduate, Thelma Wilhelmine Mole (1907-1999) to live and serve there with him.

While on Furlough during World War II, Ed and Thelma Roffe attended two sessions of Wycliffe’s Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL). Ed Roffe also took advantage of the delay which the war posed to earn his wings, and upon returning to Laos in 1947 became the first missionary pilot in the area. In addition to their ongoing direct evangelistic efforts and administrative duties, the Roffes were also given the responsibility of running a Bible College tasked with raising up indigenous leaders. In 1950, a young student from this school by the name of Kheng was instrumental in sparking a mass movement among the mountain tribal people of northern Laos, which saw whole villages come to Christ in a matter of days. This revival precipitated the formal incorporation of the national church in northern Laos. The “Evangelical Church of Laos” held its first assembly in 1957, with pastor Saly (the first Laotian ordained by the Alliance) as the first president.

In 1951, the Roffes were transferred to the city of Vientiane. After returning to Laos in 1955 from an extended furlough, during which Ed Roffe was able to complete graduate studies in Linguistics at Cornell University, the Roffes were assigned to engage full time in the ministry of translation and literature. In a ten year period they were able to turn out approximately 100 titles, some of them original. Ed Roffe was eventually freed from his other duties to work exclusively on translating into Lao a new version of the New Testament, complete with cross-references, a glossary, a dictionary of unfamiliar terms and a limited concordance. The completed work was presented to the king of Laos in late 1973.

In 1975, the communists took control of the government in Laos, and the Roffes were forced to leave the country. In all, punctuated only by war and furlough, Ed and Thelma Roffe had labored faithfully in Laos for 47 years. Upon their return to North America (Orlando, FL) their ministry to the people of Laos did not come to an end. In addition to monitoring the situation in Laos, the Roffes actively cared for Laotian refugees in their area and helped many get adjusted to North American life. During his retirement years, Ed Roffe was also actively involved in correcting, editing, or translating various documents sent to him for comment.

Ed Roffe died on 14 September 2000. He was predeceased by Thelma, who died in 1999.

Walter Post was born on 14 January 1904 in Chicago, Illinois and died in (September?) 1982. Brought up in a Dutch home and the Christian Reformed Church, he received what he considered to be an excellent background in Christian life and practices. In 1921, through the ministry of an evangelist, he made a personal decision to follow Christ.

Shortly after this decision his family began attending a newly formed Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) church led by R.R. Brown. This church introduced Walter to the Alliance’s missionary program, but it was not until he took a course from Dr. Robert H. Glover at Moody Bible Institute’s Evening School that he felt a desire to become a missionary. In 1926 he began studies at the C&MA’s Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, N.Y., intending to pursue missions in a general way. Following his time at Nyack, Post continued his studies at Wheaton College, although he had to withdraw for a time because of personal financial difficulties brought on by the Great Depression.

While at Wheaton, he was encouraged by Dr. W.M. Turnbull to apply to the C&MA’s Foreign Department for a field assignment. The board responded with an appointment to a new field that was being opened by Dr. R. Jaffray in Borneo, Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia). He accepted and, under the sponsorship of the South Side (C&MA) Church of Chicago (pastored by A. W. Tozer), sailed from Seattle in November 1931. He arrived in Borneo a month later. There he met fellow C&MA missionary Viola M. Griebenow, whom he married in 1932.

The Posts worked in East Borneo (Kalimantan) for a year and then were sent to Makassar to work in the Bible school there. After their first furlough, they pioneered a mission effort in New Guinea (Irian Jaya), but in 1943, with the advance of the Japanese forces, they were evacuated to Australia. While there, they were asked by the Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service to assist in translation and interrogation work.

They were flown to Makassar in September 1945 to assist in post war rehabilitation. For the next few years Walter served as chairman of the field and taught in the Bible school. In 1952 the Posts were able to return to New Guinea (Irian Jaya) and work in the Bible school there. They retired in 1972.

Samuel J. Stoesz was born in Mountain Lake, Minnesota on January 30, 1922, and spent his childhood on the family farm there. While attending St. Paul Bible Institute (Crown College) he met and married Wanda Manee in 1945. Sam pastored and started a number of Christian and Missionary Alliance churches in several states. He also taught and prepared students for pastoral and full time Christian ministries at Nyack College, New York; and Canadian Bible College (CBC), Regina, Saskatchewan. In 1970, while at CBC, he co-founded Canadian Theological Seminary (now Ambrose Seminary, which is part of Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta). He wrote several books, notably All for Jesus (principal author), Life is For Growth, and Sanctification: An Alliance Distinctive. Stoesz passed away peacefully on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at Shell Point, Ft. Myers, Florida, where he spent his retirement years He was predeceased by his wife Wanda in 1986, and by his second wife May Carlson in 2005.

From obituary in Regina Leader Post