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The Founding of the Mission
A young man from Ireland read a Thomas DeWitt Talmage sermon over 100 years ago. After reading the sermon, this young man called upon God and found Jesus Christ as his Savior. When he announced this to his parents the next morning at breakfast, his father told young Walter, "Walter, all Duffs are Christians. We attend church and give heavily to support it." Walter looked at his dad and responded, "I know, Father, but last night, God saved my soul!" Walter then proceeded to live what he made his life motto: "I would sacrifice my all for my Christ to be a soul winner."
Walter launched a full-time evangelistic and training ministry that became known as the Irish Christian Workers' Union. He married Mathilda Hamilton who had come to study and work for the organization. They had four children ' Helen, Evangeline, Walter, Jr., and Olive. Later in America, their second son, Haldane was born.
Walter Duff Sr. decided to take his family to America. The custom of the day was for the father to travel to America first, and then send for the family after all housing arrangements had been made. The year was 1912. The ship the Duff family was to sail on was none other than the Titanic. After all, it was unsinkable and safe. Then Mrs. Duff decided she and the children could not wait that long and booked passage on another ship that would arrive earlier. They did not hear of the Titanic sinking and the loss of 1200 lives until they reached Boston.
The Duff family then made their home in International Falls, Minnesota. A year later, the family boarded the train for Portland, Oregon, with a climate wet and warm like Ireland. After preaching the Gospel for twenty years in Ireland, Walter Duff Sr. preached another thirty-three years in the United States. Although his pastorates were in city churches, he always had a concern for the people in rural communities who did not know Jesus Christ as Savior. He would often minister during the week in rural areas. When he would return home, he would tell his family of the many closed churches in rural America because there was no pastor available.
During his growing up years, Walter Duff Jr. was given a part in this father's evangelistic ministry from door-to-door invitations, taking up the offerings, to trombone solos. Later as a young man, he traveled in the Pacific Northwest for 13 years holding evangelistic meetings.
In February 1934, Walter Duff Jr. was invited to preach in the Dallas, Oregon Methodist church where he met Edith Dunn. They were married on June 12, 1936 and the following year spent the summer in Ireland, because Walter Jr. said, "You'll never understand me unless you know where I came from." Three children were born to them, Pricilla Ann, Mary Margaret, and Walter David. Reverend Duff served as pastor in several churches in Oregon and even one in Nebraska while attending seminary.
In the meantime, Walter's sisters, Evangeline, Olive, and Helen, formed the Duff Sisters Gospel Trio. Traveling in the far western United States, they conducted evangelistic meetings first in rural communities and then later in the cities. They loved the rural areas and small towns and developed a deep burden for the spiritual needs of those areas. Helen Duff Baugh's book The Story Goes On, published by Stonecroft Ministries, records those early years and the history of Stonecroft Ministries. She writes, "Many and varied were our experiences in rural America. But always one thought was uppermost in our minds. In each community there were people-fathers, mothers, young people-who did not know our Lord Jesus in a personal way. Our one desire was to present Christ in such an attractive manner that those without Christ could not resist His love. Hundreds of people made their reservations for Heaven through hearing how to do it at our meetings."
After marrying Elwood Baugh in 1929, Helen began a ministry to women employees of his bank that quickly expanded into an outreach to women in other metropolitan centers. Although no longer able to minister to rural communities herself, Helen encouraged the groups to sponsor teams of young women to minister in rural areas, called Youth Home Missionaries. By 1948, there were forty-nine Youth Home Missionaries. These young women visited in the communities, and conducted Bible studies, Sunday School, and Vacation Bible School. In 1948, Miss Mary Clark, a woman who had ministered in rural areas in Maine, joined Mrs. Baugh in ministry. It was the beginning of a lifelong working partnership that eventually resulted in today what is known as Stonecroft Ministries.
Mary Clark knew of three couples who wanted to become part of Youth Home Missions and go out as missionaries to rural communities. Helen approached her brother, Walter, about directing an organization that would send out couples. Although by then he was the pastor of a large, growing church, Walter agreed to take on this added responsibility. Years later, Walter told his sister of their father's dying request. His last request was, "Walter, having a pastorate is fine. But why don't you give your life to recruiting and sending out other ministers and missionaries to country churches without leadership. You should be able to send out at least one hundred men in your lifetime." Village Missions, a mission to send pastors to rural areas, was launched at the Cannon Beach Conference Center in Oregon (founded by their sister Evangeline and her husband, Archie McNeill), on September 9, 1948. Rev. Walter Duff, Jr. was appointed the National Director and a Board of Directors was formed. The close relationship with Stonecroft Ministries continues today and their continued support by prayer, finances and close friendship has been vital to Village Missions in reaching rural America with the Gospel for Jesus Christ.
