Faith Welcomes Nathan Patefield as Dean of Men

August 18, 2021

Faith Baptist Bible College is excited to welcome Nathan Patefield as Dean of Men for the 2021-22 academic year. Nathan and his wife, Dawn, have been serving as church-planting missionaries in Brazil with Baptist Mid-Missions for the last 30 years and are entering a new phase of their ministry lives.

“In our first term, Dawn and I had the privilege of working with John and Karen Swedberg and gained valuable ministry experience under their supervision,” said Nathan. “In 1998, we moved to Rio de Janeiro, where we helped several struggling churches. For the last ten years, we have been involved in a church plant on the north side of the city and are eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus’ powerful ability to build His church. We are currently on furlough reporting to our supporting churches. In the summer of 2022, we plan on moving to the Seattle area to begin a Campus Bible Fellowship ministry to a satellite campus of the University of Washington.”

Patefield will work alongside Noah Kephart, who was named Dean of Students in May. Nathan is excited about a new adventure and to see how the Lord can use this experience as his ministry focus turns to young people on college campuses:

“God has used Faith in amazing ways to encourage our children to walk closer to Him, and we are grateful for faculty and staff who have invested in their lives. Since we are based in Ankeny for our furlough, my wife and I have been praying about how we could be a positive influence to current students attending FBBC. We didn’t expect God to answer in this way, but this is a unique opportunity to walk alongside students and encourage them in their relationship with the Lord. No doubt we will also gain invaluable experience and insight as we prepare for future outreach on a secular campus.”