Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105
The Stones’ passion for missions began early. Young Ruth led fundraisers to sponsor Lutheran missions, while little Lyman grew up reading missionary letters around the dinner table. After serving with MCN for two years as teachers in a Lutheran school in Hong Kong, they moved to Montreal, Canada, where they shared the gospel through English as a Second Language programs and immigrant outreach in the Parc Extension and Mile End neighborhoods.
Ruth’s heart for international missions and teaching has led her around the world. She tutored English to refugee children while receiving her BA-Mathematics from Transylvania University, and then served a summer teaching in Costa Rica. This path culminated in her being placed in a Chinese-language school in Malaysia through the Fulbright program, where she taught conversational English. Upon returning from Malaysia, she married Lyman (2015), and worked at Immanuel Lutheran School, where she was the Manager of Operations. She then worked full time as an English and Bible teacher at Lutheran Tsang Shing Siu Leun School in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong, before coordinating ESL programs and other church outreach activities for Ascension Lutheran Church in Montreal.
After a mission trip to the Philippines in high school, Lyman was motivated to begin studying economics as a path to serving the world. After receiving his BA-Economics from Transylvania University, he went on to receive his MA in International Trade from the George Washington University. Meanwhile, he worked as a staff economist for a think-tank. After completing his MA, Lyman began work at the Foreign Agricultural Service, where he forecasted cotton market conditions in Africa and the Middle East. When the Stones moved to Hong Kong, Lyman split his time between supporting the mission work at the church and school and expanding his private population forecasting consultancy. The flexibility of freelance consulting work enabled Lyman to do what he truly loves, volunteering and supporting church work and lay theological education, and also helped to support the Stone Family while abroad. He continued that work while pursuing a PhD at McGill University, where he also supported campus ministry activities.
The Stones are now raising three more little missionaries: Suzannah, who was born in Tuen Mun, Hong Kong in January 2020; Josephine, who was born in Montreal in December 2021; and Rosemary, who was born in Montreal in September 2023.
Please pray for Lyman and Ruth as they serve at Ascension Lutheran Church in Montreal, and for the growing, diverse community in the Parc-Extension and Mile End neighborhoods, that God’s Word would be known among them!
Any funds raised that exceed Mission Partner’s Total Cost of Missionary Service may be used to further support Mission Partner in missional activities, or Mission Partner may donate, after consultation with the Executive Director, any excess funds to one or more Mission Partners who are in good standing with MCN or to MCN’s General Fund. The purpose for this is that any funds raised are to support missional activities throughout the world.
PRAY
