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Mark's biography
Mark was born on August 16, 1961 in Ridgewood, New Jersey, the last of four children born to William H. and Jean Lambert. He spent his first three years living in Hawthorn, NJ, then the family moved to Sparta, NJ, where his mother and sister still live. He grew up in Sparta, a beautiful town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains, graduating from Sparta High School in 1979. He spent his college years at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, on a 4-year Air Force ROTC scholarship. He received his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and his Air Force officer’s commission in May 1983. He spent nearly five years serving in the USAF at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, working in the 6595th Aerospace Test Group as an engineering specialist for the Atlas launch program. He lived in the nearby town of Lompoc where he attended St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and was active in the choir and youth group. During his years in Lompoc, he felt the Lord calling him into full-time ministry, so he separated from active duty in July 1988 and moved to Pasadena, CA, to attend Fuller Theological Seminary in pursuit of a Master of Divinity degree. Early in 1989 he had a long talk with a student who was a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Mark was inspired to drop his pursuit of a divinity degree and apply for membership in Wycliffe as an administrator. His application was accepted, and he became a member in October 1989. For his training, he attended the Manager Development and Orientation Course at the International Linguistic Center (headquarters of SIL) in Dallas, Texas, in the fall of 1990. Towards the end of the course, he was assigned to work in Cameroon, Africa. He then returned to California to finish raising his financial support, and he flew to Besançon, France, on New Year’s Day, 1992, to spend the next 18 months in French study. He arrived in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in September 1993 to attend the Africa Orientation Course prior to starting his work as Office Manager for the Cameroon Branch of SIL in December. Mark went on furlough in 1996 and worked at Wycliffe headquarters in Huntington Beach, CA, and at the Wycliffe orientation program in Idyllwild, CA. (Wycliffe has since relocated to Orlando, Florida.) He returned to his former responsibilities in Cameroon in November. The following August, Bonnie Hussey arrived to teach at the American School of Yaoundé. They dated off and on for two years then left Cameroon in May 1999 to get married. Mark and Bonnie were married in Cedar Hill, TX, on July 10, 1999. In October, they traveled to the orientation program in Idyllwild so that Bonnie could become a full member. On April 7, 2000, their first daughter, Theresa Jean, was born in Arlington, TX. In August they traveled to Quebec, Canada, for Bonnie’s French study, returning to Dallas in May 2001. Their second child, Christina Joy, was born on July 26. Seven weeks later, on September 18, they flew back to Cameroon as a family. Mark continued his responsibilities as Office Manager and Shipping Coordinator, and Bonnie stayed at home with the children. They furloughed from September 2004 until August 2005 then served another three years until Theresa was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, forcing them to take an early furlough in July 2008. After two full years in the U.S. during which time the girls attended Hyman Elementary School and Mark and Bonnie purchased their first house in Duncanville (see blog for complete story), they were able to raise sufficient financial support to return to Cameroon in July 2010. If Theresa's condition does not warrant an early return, they plan on working in Cameroon until June 2013. After that, only the Lord knows!
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