Missi

Strategic Support Team

Missi Schmelzenbach was planning to be a lawyer before she met her husband, Brian. Some 14 years later, Brian and her father are still her heroes.

After meeting Harry and Echo VanderWal in 2008 in Florida, the Schmelzenbachs visited Swaziland in 2010 and returned full-time in 2013. “Our desire grew to do something bigger than ourselves,” she says.

Now Swaziland has become their home, not just a three-year missionary commitment. As the years pass, she “thanks our supporters who are not forgetting you commitment to TLC and to us.”

Since her parents were in full-time ministry, she thought as a young person: “I’m not doing that. No way. Never, never.” Today she laughs and offers, “Never say never.”

Missi’s job at The Luke Commission are as varied as the graciousness she extends to all. She counsels and mentors with her husband Brian, arranges accommodations and welcomes all visitors, volunteers in Sunday school and the music team at Potter’s Wheel Church, supports the admin team, takes care of housing and food details for the international staff. And then she pitches in where “needed.” 

Missi’s daughter Katie and son Peyton attend college in Tennessee, which is tough on a mother’s heart. However, she readily shares the lives of TLC’s nine international children and Swazi children she meets by the hundreds at outreaches. 

Missi’s hope for Katie and Peyton: “That they would find God’s will for them early and pursue that. That they would love God and love others with all their hearts.”

Swaziland has become her favorite place, since it’s “peaceful, offers hope to so many, and fulfills us personally.” 

As for TLC’s longevity, Missi notes: “The vision and mission are passed to others. It’s sustainable. TLC is alive in many, not just a few.”