A Ministry of Refreshing: At 91, Roger Perkin Brings Joy to Lives

As morning sun streams through his dining room, 91-year-old Roger Perkin sits back to unravel decades of history. The clothes dryer hums in the background as he begins.

“I didn’t become a pastor until I was 35 years old. I had been a journeyman printer at Gospel Publishing House for 15 years.”

Roger’s first pastorate was of The Campground Chapel on the Assemblies of God campground in Rocky Mount, Missouri. With his late wife Faith and their four children, he served 15 years as pastor (and seven as camp caretaker), watching the congregation blossom to record attendance. When the Perkins family moved to New Life Assembly of God in Oak Grove, Missouri, a similar blessing occurred. The church flourished, including moving into a new building within the first six months of their 12-year pastorate. During their third and final pastorate, at Osage Beach Assembly in Osage Beach, Missouri, the congregation burgeoned, and a much-needed remodel was completed. Roger also served as a presbyter, an assistant district superintendent, and in several interim pastorates.

“God blessed us with a growing church,” Roger says. “We got to see many souls saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.”

A MAYOR AND A MANAGER

Roger’s cell phone suddenly rings with the sound of a revving motorcycle, interrupting tales of ministry past with needs of ministry present.

“Hello?”

On the other end is a woman asking if the Maranatha Village Mall — a resale boutique of which Roger is manager — has any full-size beds. He assures her of his help, and they hang up, only for his phone to ring again. This time it is an AG World Missions missionary, home from the field and looking to supply the needs of his family. Again, Roger assures the customer of assistance. He gets up from the dining table and jumps into his blue 1998 Ford pickup to begin the day.

Roger has been a resident of the AG-founded retirement community Maranatha Village in Springfield, Missouri, for over 12 years. He first heard of the community in the 1970s, when he brought a busload of congregants from his campground church to tour the AG national office and, as it happened, to attend the dedication of Maranatha Village.

After his father Noel Perkin’s passing in 1979, Roger helped his mother Ora move into the community. Then, in 2012, Roger and Faith moved into a village home next door to his brother Ken.

“We had five wonderful years before my wife had to go into the Maranatha Lodge (nursing home),” Roger says. “We were married for 68 years, and our last year of marriage was one of the best. We had our ways of communication, even though Faith couldn’t talk anymore. We would go to the fireplace in the foyer, and she would automatically lay her head on my shoulder. We sat there by the hour.”

Faith died in 2019, with Roger holding her hand and all four of their children sitting beside her.

After Faith’s passing, Roger intensified his commitment to be a “volunteer at large” in the village. His endeavors quickly earned him the affectionate title of the “Maranatha Mayor.”

In addition to routinely preaching at Maranatha’s chapel, Roger began volunteering at Maranatha’s mall in 2015. He became co-manager, in charge of clothing, and then became the manager, a role he has now filled for six years.

REFRESHING

The blessing of provision and refreshing that rested on Roger and Faith’s pastoral ministry continues in his service of the Maranatha Mall, which is in the basement of the community’s assisted living facility.

The mall receives most of its donations from incoming and outgoing residents and their families, generously stocked with virtually everything imaginable, from jewelry to home furnishings to tires. Steep discounts on already low prices are given to missionaries setting up house after returning from the field, and partnerships are in place with local charity groups (including those for veterans and the homeless).

The mall opens one day per week for about four hours, being frequented by about 80 shoppers each time. In 2023, the mall earned $45,000. The profits enhance the ministry of the village, helping to purchase such items as hospital beds, oxygen concentrators, a van, a power washer on a golf cart for resident and retired missionary Jerry Falley, who does special cleaning projects around the property, a heated and air-conditioned golf cart to keep the village housekeeper in comfort as she travels, benches for residents to enjoy, gifts for beloved employees, and more.

The mall, which truly is a source of refreshing, is advertised only by word of mouth, and has served many, including those who have lost everything in fires, and even a family of five who fled war in Israel, arriving with just two suitcases and a backpack.

“We don’t always charge if people can’t pay,” Roger says. “In the case of the Israeli family, our volunteers took up a collection and paid for everything they needed, so it could be free for them.”

CHRISTMAS AND A PLACE FOR ALL

Around 13 mall volunteers — who he describes as ‘wonderful’ — work for Roger. The well-organized operation buzzes on preparation days and especially on shopping days, when there is usually a line waiting for doors to open. It is a particularly special opportunity for residents of the care facility above, who carefully descend the stairs, excited to shop.

Assistant mall manager and volunteer Jean Bass says, “We even have hunnies — those in their hundreds — who carefully hang onto the guardrails to come downstairs to shop. They love it!”

One resident, who is herself 100 years old, aids the mission of the Maranatha Mall by taking donated fabric and making reusable shopping bags, table linens, and more to be sold.

There is a place for everyone at the mall. Jean even provides baked goods, and there is always hot coffee for shoppers to sit and enjoy.

Volunteer Martha Henderson loves to visit and joke with customers. “The people are my favorite,” she says. “The benefits the mall creates motivate me too. But is so fascinating to talk with people here, as they come and buy things for their hobbies and tell me all about what they are doing.”

One shopper, a grandmother accompanied by her 12-year-old granddaughter, searches for things to use in her creation of porcelain dolls. She tells Martha, “Any skill you have ever learned, you can use in dollmaking.”

A particularly beloved facet of the mall is the Christmas shop. Located in a small separate building that used to be a meeting place for ladies to visit and quilt, the shop is filled to the brim with every kind of glittery Christmas item, and autumn decorations as well. It blazes to life the last week of July for “Christmas in July,” and then again from Thanksgiving through December.

The Christmas shop becomes so crowded on shopping days that the mall staff limits the small building to 10 shoppers at a time to allow everyone freedom of movement, particularly those with walkers or other kinds of assistance.

FIXING THE BROKEN THINGS

Under Roger’s leadership, the Maranatha Mall is thriving, providing ministry outlets and fellowship for resident volunteers and blessing the AG missionary body, Maranatha Village, the Springfield area, and those from around the world.

It is a key facet of Maranatha’s tightknit community and a solid manifestation of the residents’ ongoing desires to minister and serve.

Maranatha Village CEO Brian Miller says, “The network and relationships Roger has cultivated impact Maranatha in more ways than one could imagine. He fills voids in people’s lives — both those starting new homes and those who must give up their last possessions. He gives life and hope to those still looking for ways to minister. He creates opportunity for the lonely to fellowship. And the deals the mall sells each week benefit our entire operation, saving money and enriching our nursing home residents. The mall in its entirety has become a vital part of our ministry.”

Some days, Roger’s phone begins to ring as early as 5 a.m. with a fresh batch of needs for the day. He says, “I love living at Maranatha Village, and I feel my calling here to help anyone I can.”

He indeed works to fill places of brokenness or need, just as he often repairs broken things donated to the mall, whether furniture, technology, appliances, or Christmas trees. His sermons preached at the Maranatha Village Chapel (and recorded on their YouTube channel) are also reflections of his compassionate spirit, assuring listeners of Jesus’ sufficiency in the face of every need and situation.

Maranatha Village Chaplain Shawn Oberg adds, “Roger’s long years of pastoral ministry combine holiness, gentleness, humor, love and kindness. What a great man of God.”

And yet, Roger maintains a humble view of his achievements. In a recent bout of sickness, he called out to the Lord in what he describes as ‘darkest hour.’ He rejoices in having felt God’s touch in response, and comments dryly that despite his illness, his gardening was done. “If I had died,” he concludes, “People could have said of me, ‘Well, at least he got his onions planted.’”