In a nutshell

De Wet

De Wet was born and raised in Uitenhage, South Africa and moved to Massachusetts with his family in 1999. He entered a career in missions in 2002. He is spontaneous, free spirited, wild, diplomatic man with an infectious laugh.

Marysol

Marysol (formerly Rodriguez) was born in Miami the daughter of Cuban immigrants. Her family later moved to Nashville. She’s been in missions since 2001. She is a quirky, generous, organized, intelligent, feisty Latina who is incredibly loyal.

How we became Missionaries

De Wet

When was asked what I wanted to do when I grew up. I usually told people I wanted to be a fighter pilot, or race car driver, something fun and exciting. I calmed down a little as I got older and by the end of High School I decided on engineering. I wanted to go to the University of Massachusetts but before I did I thought it would be good to get out of the house for a while, go see the world. For some reason I thought that going on a short term missions trip with YWAM would be a good way to broaden my horizons, so I did in the fall of 2002.

Years later, my little “getting out of the house” trip was hijacked by God who turned it into a burning passion to see God’s kingdom established to the ends of the earth. I maybe never became a race car driver, but I have been in wild taxi’s in Asia. I may never have become a pilot, but God has had me on more flights to countries than I can count. I might not be an engineer, but between working on this website and videos for our ministry I have more time behind the computer than I ever wanted.

God has given me a specific call and passion to see His people know Him better by knowing his Word. Missions has been the exciting adventure where every day is worth living.

Marysol

I was often asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. Unlike most kids however, I listed off 5 or so career choices, followed by the clause, “anything but a missionary.”

Since I was 4, I wanted to be a journalist, hoping to one day work for NBC or CNN. I dreamed of traveling the world and telling the stories of people from every walk of life. In hindsight, I see God took some of my initial dreams and modeled them into a completely different passion.

In 2001, after high school, I unknowingly began my work in missions with Mercy Ships. What I thought was going to be a few months of service, drastically changed the course of my life. I say I got my calling somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, probably on a day I vomited from being so seasick. I returned home with a long layover in New York City, took a hard look at the studios I once wanted to work for, and realized I was not the same person.

From that point on I went to work throughout Asia. In between limited showering, sleeping in bamboo huts, and getting bacterial dysentery, God further solidified that missions would be my way of life. I’m hooked now.

Random trivia

De Wet

• Hobbies: Being active, a bit of daredevil, playing guitar, cycling, being a geek, cuddling up to my favorite person in the world
• Longest time without a shower: 4 days
• Favorite food: Steaks, burgers, “I’m allergic to vegetarian food”
• Oddest job I’ve had: Male nanny = manny
• Best deal I ever got: My first car for the price of the rear shocks
• Strangest flight: I can’t beat Marysol’s
• Other language: Afrikaans

Marysol

• Hobbies: Photography, design, hanging out in my pajamas, a good book, cooking, blog reading, herb gardening
• Longest time without a shower: 10 days (I win!)
• Favorite food: Chocolate, cheese, girl food, salads with lemon, mexican
• Oddest job I’ve had: Janitor, specifically I was given the urinals
• Best deal I ever got: Asian jungle safari on elephant back for $7
• Strangest flight: Iraqi national soccer team on Russian cargo plane
• Other language: Spanish

How we met

We met in 2003, while we were both working with YWAM Montana. We separately traveled the world doing missions. For 3 years we saw each other but never had a real conversation. De Wet was the guy Marysol said she “would never be with” (it was the hair).Then one day in Dec 2006, we bumped into each other on a flight. We sat next to each other and talked the whole way. Marysol was being polite. De Wet was thinking there was real chemistry. He asked her to breakfast after the flight, Marysol turned him down. Six weeks later, De Wet asked her to go ice skating. From there the story of De Wet’s non-stop, all out pursuit begins. Marysol wasn’t initially interested, but he was adamant. Its a great hilarious story of falling in love. We knew of each other for years, but had no idea we could have such friendship, chemistry, and shared values. While we are very different, we compliment each other well. We got married Jan 12, 2008. Eight days later we moved to South Africa. Through the stress of raising kids and building a ministry, we make it work by putting our relationship first.