Read letters from Frank and Nancy Dimmock
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The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 154
Nancy Dimmock
Mission Co-workers 1985-2015)
(Serving in Zambia, Malawi and Lesotho)
Frank and Nancy Ended their mission Service in 2014 & 2015 respectively - Thank You for your support of their Work
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About Frank and Nancy Dimmock's ministry
In 2014 Nancy moved to Louisville with their four younger children to be reunited with husband, Frank, after serving for a year as the Young Adult Volunteer site coordinator for the new YAV site in Lusaka, Zambia. Nancy is using her broad experience and skills gained from nearly 30 years of mission service to serve as a mission co-worker in residence with the World Mission office at the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Frank began serving as World Mission’s poverty alleviation catalyst in 2013. Read more about World Mission’s critical global initiative of poverty alleviation and the campaign: Quality Education for One Million Children by 2020.
Nancy and Frank Dimmock were appointed as PC(USA) missionaries on June 1, 1985, which happens to be the day they were married. In fact, they interrupted their honeymoon to be commissioned during the General Assembly that year. The Dimmocks’ first appointment to mission service was in Lesotho, where they were assigned to serve at Scott Hospital, a mission hospital in Morija, with a unique comprehensive community health outreach program.
After two terms of service in Lesotho, they moved to Malawi in 1992, where Frank became the health coordinator for the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) and began his work as regional health consultant for the PC(USA) in southern Africa. Frank coordinated the CCAP’s health management and administration and facilitated the sharing of ideas and solutions to common problems and concerns. He also assisted with communication among the three synods in Malawi. Nancy supported this ministry with hospitality through their home and raising their children (they added four more children to their original four during these years). She also found time to help establish a Crisis Nursery, or temporary care facility for infant orphans, in conjunction with a local, community-based orphan care program called Ministry of Hope.
The Dimmocks’ next appointment, which began in August 2007, was again to Lesotho, where Frank served as PC(USA)’s Africa health liaison. He worked with partner churches and ecumenical agencies to strategize for better health provision and particularly, to develop programs for children. In addition, he helped to establish a network of Christian Health Associations in Africa and was part-time advisor to the Christian Health Association of Lesotho. His work required him to travel frequently to Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In his role as Africa Health Liaison, Frank found that he was a conduit of ideas among the partners. He called it “cross-pollinating,” sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas between the countries. One such idea was patient-retained health booklets. The inexpensive, pocket-size booklets give a patient more knowledge of their own health situation, reduce unnecessary or repetitive tests or treatments, give a health provider a patient’s history at a glance, and save lives. Frank shared samples of these books, which originated in Lesotho, throughout his region of influence, and several countries adopted them into their national plans for health. “It has been a tremendous blessing to me personally to visit the countries of this region,” writes Frank, “and establish relationships with the various health providers. I have met quite a few saints of every culture and color working with joy and devotion in some very difficult circumstances. It has been a privilege to provide a listening ear to those needing to share about their frustrations and problems. And even without providing solutions, they have been encouraged to have been able to share and to have felt understood. I am convinced of the importance of this job and appreciate the insight of the PC(USA) who recognized the need and potential and made it happen.”
Nancy, meanwhile, continued her work with vulnerable children. In Lesotho, she worked with an orphanage to help them improve standards of care and later helped establish the option of adoption through the Ministry of Social Welfare. She also helped to establish another temporary care facility for extra-vulnerable children, particularly those orphaned or nutritionally or medically compromised. In 2013, she and the younger four children were transferred to Zambia, where she helped to set up a new Young Adult Volunteer service opportunity and establish a library of HIV/AIDs materials to help resource pastors and youth leaders for ministry in that area.
Regional context
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) began its participation in God’s work in Africa when the first American Presbyterian missionaries arrived on the island of Corisco (present-day Equatorial Guinea in West Africa) in 1869. Traditionally the PC(USA) has been particularly concerned for the poorest and most marginalized people groups in Africa. While the continent has abundant natural resources, unjust economic and political systems have kept the people from enjoying their benefits. Africa is home to severe poverty, and millions lose their lives each year to the diseases that accompany poverty such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The PC(USA) is working to address these problems with African partners through education, health care, and community development ministries. At the same time, our partner churches in Africa are growing rapidly and are experiencing severe clergy shortages. The PC(USA) is working with our partners to train more leaders through seminaries and special training events.
About Frank and Nancy Dimmock
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Nancy is the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, David and Polly Miller, who served in Africa for 40 years. She has two degrees from North Carolina State University, a B.S. in animal science and a master's in international agricultural development and animal science. Before her marriage she served as a livestock manager with the Peace Corps in Lesotho and worked as a ranch hand in Nebraska.
Frank earned a B.S. in botany and zoology at North Carolina State University and an M.P.H. in epidemiology and tropical medicine from Tulane University School of Public Health in New Orleans. He had previously served as a volunteer in mission and later as a mission specialist in public health in Zaire before being appointed as a full-term mission co-worker.
Nancy and Frank are members of Montreat Presbyterian Church in Montreat, North Carolina. They are the parents of eight children, Nathan, Moses, Jessica, Katie, Andrew, Alifa, Isaac and Jackson.
Birthdays:
Frank - September 4
Nancy - September 12
Nathan - July 15
Moses - August 5
Jessica - September 18
Katie - July 5
Andrew - March 13
Alifa - May 18
Isaac - October 26
Jackson - December 12
