HELMUT & SHIRLEY HALTRICH
Helmut and Shirley have been involved in ministry in South America and the United States for many years. Helmut says the he was born ‘on a hot summer day’ in Montreal, and Shirley was born in Chicago. As a youngster, Helmut got to know the Lord, and attended Rosemount Bible Church (known at that time as Ebenezer Gospel Chapel). He was encouraged to attend Emmaus Bible School, which he did from 1962-1965 in Chicago. After their marriage, the Haltriches lived for a short time in Montreal and attended Rosemount before being commended by the elders to the mission field.
At Emmaus Bible School there was a strong emphasis on missions which had a profound influence on Helmut. He went on a mission trip to Lima, Peru with Literature Crusades’ first summer team. Shirley was also involved in missions at this time and it was on a missions trip in Cali, Colombia that they met. Their future ministry was to be in Colombia. Their main ministry in Bogota and Cali was in church planting and radio work. They also had a rehab centre for drug addiction. The Haltriches lived with the drug addicts, even when their daughters were in their late teens, which was possible because they had won their respect and gratitude. They trained the drug addicts to reach out and help other addicts. Shirley and Helmut say that they were so busy in ministry that they barely noticed the dangers in the country from drug rings and kidnappings. They learned about those dangers afterwards on television, when they returned to the United States. In 1999 they felt called to Bolivia to replace some missionaries who were retiring and they worked there until 2002. In Bolivia they trained and mentored believers in teaching and radio work.
They spent some years in Miami reaching out to the Spanish community there. Helmut and Shirley, retired from the mission field, but not from serving the Lord, then lived in Pittsboro Christian Village, in Pittsboro, North Carolina. For a few years after moving to Pittsboro they spent several months a year in Bolivia. Helmut had open-heart surgery in 2020, but they are still going strong, thanks to the Lord’s goodness, and have had more than 50 years of marriage and ministry together. They moved in July 2021 to St. Cloud, Florida and then to Sugar Mill where they are close to their two daughters who can help them and to their granddaughter. They are seeking to serve the Spanish Bible Group in Orlando.
Contact information:
Telephone: 919-200-5179
To donate: https://www.msccanada.org/