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Local Reach
Dale and Marlene Cardwell serve in Salem, Oregon. The location of their church is an urban area with primarily single-family homes. Most families are low to middle class economically, and the area hosts a mix of Caucasian and Hispanic communities. While there is a strong Catholic presence in the area, many residents do not attend church and are unbelievers.
After seeing the need in their community, the Cardwells started serving local families through the ministries of a small country church, where Dale is the pastor. The church is located within ten blocks of two mega churches in Salem, and many in the congregation have left larger churches after feeling like they had fallen through the cracks.
“Immanuel Baptist church consists of folks who desire to worship God by singing from hymnals and having God’s Word taught through expository preaching. We are a small group of believers who love the Lord and love each other,” Dale writes, adding that in their small church, “they know that they are loved and are encouraged in their walk with the Lord.
The church shares a 100-year-old church building with two other churches – an Hispanic church and a young church that previously met in homes.
The Cardwells have served as InFaith field staff since 1975.
Marlene was raised in a small InFaith Sunday school. After they were married, Dale pastored the church she was raised in. In 1975, Dale and Marlene began to serve full-time in southwestern Idaho. While there, they worked with twenty-two churches and moved Shiloh Bible Camp to its present location.
In 1992, the Cardwells were asked by the mission to move to Salem, Oregon, a field that had been vacant for years. After serving in area ministry there for twelve years, Dale and Marlene retired from field ministry, continuing to serve as area coordinators for the Willamette Valley to give care and encouragement to other InFaith missionaries.
In 2007, the small church the Cardwells had previously worked with in Salem asked Dale to become their pastor. After the church agreed to an affiliation with InFaith, Dale and Marlene began serving the congregation.