John Elmore, Chile

Missionary Code: #013109-8HZ

John H. Elmore is a missionary of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church assigned to the United Methodist Church of Chile. Based in Iquique, his responsibilities include coordination of work teams and construction projects in the northern part of the country.

Previously a self-employed carpenter in Alabama, Mr. Elmore responded to God's call to mission service in 1995 and served as a Volunteer in Mission in the Dominican Republic where he was instrumental in constructing a hospital/clinic.

Following completion of the hospital, he served for 2 ½ years in Chile as a construction and work team coordinator. "For the past five years, my mission has been in the form of construction," he said. "I have come to learn that it's not what we do, but it is what God does through us. I may be a carpenter and I may be able to organize work teams, and I may be able to solicit funds and people to work on projects, but it is not me who is doing the work. I am just the vessel through which God can work."

Of his ministry, Mr. Elmore concluded, "God puts me in situations that are unfamiliar to me, but somehow he gives me the tools to not only do the job, but allows the job to get done in spite of myself."

A native of Richmond, Virginia, he and his family lived for seven years in Panama. Mr. Elmore graduated from Woodson High School in Fairfax in 1971. He is a member of Forest Lake United Methodist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Of his return to Chile as a GBGM missionary, Mr. Elmore said, "I feel very honored that the Methodist Church of Chile has invited me to come to their country and perform my ministry: through my construction, I am able to reach spiritually to those who don't often meet Christians. I love my ministry," he concluded. "God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things."