June Breithaupt
- My Local
- My Reach
- My Self
June Breithaupt serves on the North Olympic Peninsula of Washington. The area is mostly rural with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the Canadian border to the north, the Puget Sound to the east, and the Olympic Mountains to the south. Port Angeles is the largest city on the Peninsula with about 20,000 people. Most of the communities are small and spread apart. The Peninsula is also home to the beautiful, world-renowned Olympic National Park which attracts many visitors.
Residents of this area are independent. One town is known for its New Age approach and beliefs, another for its many retirees, while another draws tourists from around the world as the setting of the popular Twilight books and movies. The population on the Peninsula is mainly Caucasian but also includes Hispanic, several Native American tribes, and some Asian and Black. Economically, the area's focus has turned to leisure and tourism in an attempt to deal with the decline in outdoor-related industries such as logging, mills, and fishing.
There are many needs in communities throughout the Peninsula. Drug use and addiction are an increasing problem since the legalization of marijuana in the state, and local drug rehab facilities are needed. Opioid abuse is prevalent; one county's overdose death rate was 29 per 100,000 people (compared to WA state rate of 14.8 per 100,000). Homeless folks are common. Suicide rates are increasing significantly. Many local youth feel they are stuck in these small communities, and are looking for things to do. Safe and beneficial options for them are needed. In 2010, there were 50,498 people (70.7%) stating they had no religion. Some of the churches struggle to meet the needs of their congregation and the surrounding community due to lack of workers and resources. There is opportunity to minister to non-English speakers (mostly Hispanic).
After seeing the need in her community, June began serving youth, women, and Hispanic families through a number of ministries throughout the North Olympic Peninsula.
June teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) in Forks with InFaith missionary Leeann Deutsch to Spanish and tribal language speakers, women mostly from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. These free ESL classes and in-home tutoring sessions include prayer and Bible study as part of the lessons. Learning a new language is often difficult and intimidating, especially for working wives and mothers who often feel isolated in a strange country.
These ESL classes build relationship bridges, allowing the gospel message to be experienced and shared with people who are often religious but lack a personal relationship with God. Including Bible verses or stories and songs has resulted in students seeking discipleship or Bible study, and is a great way to come alongside the small local Spanish-speaking church. Recently, June was approached by ladies who speak Mam, a Guatemalan tribal language with many dialects, and asked to lead a Bible study because it's difficult for them to understand their Spanish-speaking pastor. God has provided some basic teachings in their dialect, through Gospel Recordings, that June downloads and plays at the study and then discusses in Spanish—a second language for all involved with no one truly fluent. The Mam are an oral culture and rarely know how to read or write their own language. Though several attempt to use simple Spanish Bibles, their understanding is limited, making them more or less Bibleless. June helps those interested to obtain Bible sticks or micro SD cards for their phones, enabling them to listen to the New Testament in their heart language!
In Port Angeles, June serves weekly as a volunteer with My Choices, a faith-based, accredited pregnancy medical resource center serving both women and men through pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, resources, and classes related to pregnancy, parenting, and life skills. As a nurse and patient advocate, June does pregnancy testing, helps patients explore choices based on those test results, and makes follow-up phone calls for both the center and their Mobile Medical Center that provides pregnancy testing and ultrasounds for several smaller pregnancy centers around the Olympic Peninsula.
June also serves on the board of Olympic Bible Camp, which meets throughout the year to pray and plan for teen and junior-age camps. She oversees the camp's medical program for staff and campers. Serving as camp nurse provides her the opportunity for one-on-one time with kids/teens at their point of need, building bonds that allow her to share Christ’s love. Olympic Bible Camp is primarily a discipleship-focused Bible camp serving smaller churches and the unchurched around the Olympic Peninsula who might not otherwise have affordable summer camp options.
June has served as InFaith field staff since 2002.
June grew up in the Forks area. She trained as a nurse, believing God was calling her as a missionary to Central or South America to meet both physical and spiritual needs. After nurse’s training and Bible school, God redirected June’s life to service in a local church as a youth leader.
After nine years, June felt God calling her back to her hometown of Forks, where she has since served as a missionary to people from Central America. “Forks had very few Hispanic families when I first left home,” June writes. “Who would have dreamed that in twenty years I would return as a missionary to the Spanish-speaking community?”
