“I knew at 17 for the first time in my life that I was lost and I needed Jesus. But Satan put it in my head, ‘David, do not give your heart to Jesus, because if you do, he’ll send you to Africa to be a missionary.’ And that scared the fire out of me.”

For Dave Eaves, now 81 years old, surrender didn't come easy. It took a full year of wrestling with God before he made the choice to turn it all over to Christ.

“At 18 I just said, ‘God, I don’t care where you’re sending me. I need you. I’m lost. Be my savior.’ And that’s where my Christian life began,” he says.

He never looked back. And the impact he's made on the lives of thousands of seekers stands as a testament to God's faithfulness — and to one man's willingness to follow the call.

From Quiet Introvert to Eager Evangelist

Having given his life to Christ fully at age 18, Dave was ready to serve. And while God didn’t send him to Africa, Dave had a cousin who went to Nairobi with his wife as missionaries.

“They’d put the Jesus Film on a projector and sheet in the middle of the jungle,” Dave says. “And even though I wasn’t there, I was helping someone who was there. And God got me excited about that.”

But there was a hurdle. Dave was, by his own description, "an introvert who was very shy." He had a real hunger to share Christ. He just wasn't sure he could.

“It was a struggle I had for a long time,” he says. “But I married a good woman who had no inhibitions about sharing the Gospel, and she constantly challenged me to be more outgoing. I realized I either had to die of embarrassment or get over my anxieties.”

He got over them. For decades, Dave and his wife shared their faith with the world around them. Then, around 15 years ago, God opened a new door.

The Meeting That Changed Everything

Roughly 15 years ago, an ExploreGod (at the time, Global Media Outreach) employee came to Dave’s church to share about the ministry. Dave's pastor pulled him into that meeting — and everything changed.

Soon after, Dave became an Online Missionary (OM), and eventually an OM Community Leader, recruiting 25 people to the mission along the way.

Over the years, he's seen volunteer numbers shift and new contact response rates rise and fall. What hasn't changed is Dave's passion for the work.

“What excites me about being an OM is that I’m sharing God’s Word,” he says. “I’m sharing the Good News. ExploreGod gives me a vehicle to be active in fulfilling the Great Commission.”

Hatim, a Northeast African seeker Dave is guiding on a Discipleship Journey, highlights what makes serving as an OM so fulfilling: 

“I'm really excited and full of happiness after going through your prayers. I'm optimistic to have you as my spiritual Father, mentor and educator who changed my direction from darkness to light.”

Today, more than half of the seekers Dave walks alongside live in Africa. The very place that once frightened him has become his most fertile mission field.

But as much as Dave loves to share the joy of Christ, there’s another side to Dave’s story that’s equally important.

Guiding Through the Grief

Alongside his day-to-day work engaging seekers, Dave also serves in one of ExploreGod's specialty OM communities: Suffering Loss & Grief.

The calling is deeply personal. After losing his first wife 16 years ago, Dave began attending — and eventually leading — a GriefShare group at his own church. Now he brings that hard-won wisdom to some of the most heartbreaking situations ExploreGod's seekers face.

“I never enjoy reliving the pain of losing my wife, but I know sharing what I’ve learned through that experience can help other people,” he says. “So I just do my best to encourage and guide others in whatever ways I can.”

Sometimes that looks like a grieving mother who lost her 6-year-old daughter and couldn't imagine going on — let alone putting her faith in God. When Dave first began walking with her, she wasn't even attending church. The path took her past her daughter's cemetery, and she couldn't make it through the doors without breaking down.

“In that situation, this mother needed just as much help processing her grief as she needed help learning how to walk with the Lord,” Dave says. “So I share with her things to help with her grief as well as resources to help her grow as a believer; we connect probably three to four times a week.”

Months into their conversations, she told Dave she was finally planning to return to church.

"I've got a few others like that who I'm just trying to help grow, at whatever point they are in their grief and their life," he adds. "Doing that brings me joy. That's why I love serving as an OM."

Since losing his first wife, Dave has remarried, and he and his wife share a passion for ministering to others who are hurting.

Calling Others to the Harvest

While Dave’s heart is to serve, that’s not his sole focus. He regularly calls others to serve, too.

"I just share a testimony of what I'm doing with contacts through ExploreGod," he explains. "I share my experience, because hearing about someone else's experience is what drove me to ExploreGod in the first place."

With a professional background in sales, Dave knows how to get people excited. But his goal was never to pad a volunteer roster — it's been to send more laborers into the field with a purpose.

"The whole reason I do what I do is to share God's Word and help people come to know Him," Dave says. "I just love the opportunity to help someone find the Lord as their Savior or help them begin to grow."

It's a mission he's carried for more than 60 years — from a reluctant teenager who almost ran from God, to an 81-year-old who reaches the very continent he once feared, every single day. The fear that nearly kept him from Christ became the calling that now defines his life.

How You Can Get Involved

If you have a heart to serve like Dave, ExploreGod offers multiple ways to make an eternal impact and see lives changed for Christ.

• Learn about becoming an Online Missionary and walk with seekers all around the world from grief to joy, from doubt to discipleship.
• Give a gift to help more Gospel ads reach people in their moment of need.