Wedge Ezra Alman’s Obiturary:

Wedrell (“Wedge”) Ezra Alman, 88, died Sunday, March 5, 2017, in Lindale, Texas following an extended illness. He leaves his wife of 66 years, Shirley Jacqueline (Campbell) Alman; his son, Robert Wedrell Alman of Castaic, California; his daughter Crystal Ann (Alman) Morse and husband Phillip of Dawsonville, Georgia ; his son, John Brenton and Sofia Alman of Lindale; 8 grandchildren: Shannon Townsend, Travis and Shane Alman of California, Jacqueline Gomez Alexander and husband Anthony of Cumming, Georgia, Andrea Alman of Tyler, Texas, Justin, Jaimee and Jordon and wife Adrea Morse of Las Vegas, Nevada; and 10 great-grandchildren: Queen and Metzle Townsend of California, Sarah Castaneda, Avery and Charles Wedrell Alexander of Cumming, Georgia, and Robert, Lacie, Ashlee, Raydan and Preston Morse of Las Vegas, Nevada. Born in Butte, Montana, to Wedrell Ezra Alman and Mary Hardaway on January 18, 1929, he was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated from Boys’ High and attended Georgia Tech. He was in the Missionary Aviation course at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where he met Shirley. They were married September 1, 1950, in Waterloo, Iowa.

After serving a two-year stint in the army during the Korean conflict, Wedge returned to school to finish his degree and graduate from Central Bible College, Springfield, Missouri, in 1956. His love for the Hispanic world and his proficiency in the Spanish language (which he had studied continuously in high school and college) propelled him step by step to devote his life to living in Latin America. He often said that his “fachada” was gringo (he looked like a gringo), that his heart was Latin, but his stomach was Mexican! He received an invitation to help pioneer a Spanish-speaking church in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Believing this to be the guidance of the Lord, he moved his little family there. To help finance this endeavor he simultaneously worked as an electronic technician in the space program at Holloman Air Force Base in missile Research and Development for five years. These were some of the most exciting years of his life–actually getting paid for his hobby, his passion for everything technical. Early in life he had a passion to reach those who didn’t have a personal relationship with God. He went to the jails and the streets of Atlanta to share his faith, and later while serving in the military often invited soldiers to his home to enjoy his new bride’s cooking skills (or lack of them) and to share the Gospel. In 1965 Wedge and his wife, Shirley, became involved in foreign missionary work when Loren Cunningham, the founder and director of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an international, interdenominational youth missionary organization visited them. Inspired by Loren’s vision to train and mobilize young people in world evangelization, they eventually resigned their church to dedicate themselves to be volunteer missionaries with YWAM. They moved to California where Shirley was administrator of the offices and Wedge traveled continually to the Spanish-speaking churches sharing the missionary vision and recruiting volunteers.

Five years later they moved their family to Mexico to share this new concept that Hispanics could be missionaries. Their ministry continued to expand to the Caribbean and Central and South America. This eventually led them to establish missionary training schools in South America where thousands of Latin Americans were trained and deployed to the nations of the world. Wedge served as International Director for Hispanic Ministries for 51 years. Their international ministry has taken them to sixty countries on six continents. Then in 2013 they moved to the campus of YWAM Tyler, Texas, where he served on staff until his death.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made payable to Youth With A Mission, P. O. Box 3000, Garden Valley, TX, 75771 and designated for Colegio Centro Social Educativo Wedge Alman in Bucaramanga, Colombia.

Pick up a copy of their book  (Wedge and Shirley Alman, ‘He’s Your God, too! (Igniting a global youth movement)