From Canton to the Cofán: How Deborah Meredith Fath ‘76 is keeping Christ’s Kingdom First on a global scale

Growing up as an Iowan Quaker, Deborah “Debbie” Meredith Fath ‘76 knew she wanted to attend a small Christian school. She flew from Iowa to Ohio for a Malone campus visit, which quickly confirmed that this was the place she needed to continue her studies. Deborah was one of the few out of state students who started in the fall of 1972.

“Malone was a good place for me,” she recalled. “The faculty had a profound impact on my life.”

Part of this impact was shaping a focus in Deborah to pursue God’s work–a journey that led her to Goshen College for a semester to participate in their international service program. It was here that she met her husband Steven, and after marrying they soon found themselves serving as full-time missionaries training and equipping church leaders in the Bolivian rainforest.

Their international service ended in 1986, but the Faths did not stop caring, praying, or seeking to serve the global church. Decades later, another door opened for them to serve interculturally by supporting new individuals on the mission field. In 2013, Jerrell Ross Richer–a friend from their church and professor at Goshen college– along with his wife, Jane, and their four children had developed a love and concern for the Cofán: an indigenous group in the Amazon basin in Ecuador. They spent six months of each year in a traditional Cofán community, sharing the gospel and serving the local church. Due to the pandemic and growing drug traffic violence, the Ross Richers had to permanently leave this Ecuadorian village in 2020.

The traditional Cofán community they had been serving is secluded from society and is only accessible by river. There are no high school facilities close by, and the nearest medical service is ninety minutes by boat – a $300 transportation cost round trip, plus the cost of medical services.

“These are huge barriers for the Cofán people,” Deborah shared. “The Cofán are called ‘Guardians of the Amazon Rainforest’ and have been granted the right to live off the land–but they cannot profit from it. This means that as a community they have no way to earn an income.”

Together Deborah, Steven, and Jerrell came together with their church to discern how they could keep ministering to this Cofán community, and Four Way Mission was born: a nonprofit aiming to provide high school and advanced educational opportunities for the Cofán, and to facilitate a deeper understanding of God’s work in God’s world through studying the Bible, worship, and service. Mobile Bible training workshops facilitate Anabaptist leadership formation for all scholarship recipients (and their spouses) as well as church leaders and their spouses.

Having received their 501(c)3 status in 2025, Four Way Mission currently supports five students: one high school student, two individuals pursuing nursing, and two university-level students studying to be educators. The goal is to provide education in the Cofán language to their community as well as medical services. One of these students will graduate in July, and will be the first Cofán-speaking nurse in Ecuador.

Deborah’s Malone experience impacted far more than her four collegiate years; it fed her ongoing passion for God’s work and strengthened her skillset that continues to impact the globe for Christ’s Kingdom today. Deborah and Four Way Mission are inspiring examples of the global impact of our Pioneer community, and we are so excited to see how her efforts continue to serve the Church worldwide!

For more information on Four Way Mission and to be notified when their website launches, please contact Debbie Fath at deborah.fath@gmail.com.