Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School will celebrate our 90th anniversary! Here, we introduce our community to “90 Faces of LBC” each week. Keep up with all the news and events of our 90th year, read stories and more at lbc.edu/90.
Lancaster Bible College is honored to feature alumni who have served or are serving as missionaries worldwide as we reflect on the recent 2024 Missions Conference, a meaningful tradition at LBC for many years.
Aaron Wells (’20 & ’23), right, speaks with ministry workers in Togo, West Africa.
Aaron Wells (’20 & ’23)
Answering the Call
Aaron Wells (’20 & ’23) thinks of himself as an instrument God uses to bring to completion—or at least a few steps forward—His perfect plan. When God’s calling to missions and then to teach on Wells’ life became clear, LBC | Capital played a significant part in helping him become the instrument he was called to be.
In the summer of 2005, Wells and his wife, Bonnie, committed themselves to being “fully devoted followers of Jesus.” In the years following, God indicated His plan for their lives, which involved a plane trip and a willing heart.
Aaron and Bonnie acted on their calling by moving to Costa Rica in 2013, where they directed a mission camp, hosted mission teams and even led ministry through skateboarding. Then in 2015, when Wells was led to Esterillos Oeste in Costa Rica, God placed church planting on his heart.
While serving in the southern coastal region of Costa Rica, Wells connected with the Leon family, who taught him to plant churches in a way he’d never experienced. Once prepared, the Wells family was commissioned to Middlesex, Va., to not only plant a church but also train other church planters. Thanks to these tools, Wells is now expanding his church planting ministry to Togo, Africa, which he visited for the first time in February 2023.
“In nearly 20 years of ministry to several different people groups in a variety of cultural contexts, I can say that the most effective way to make disciples that will proclaim the gospel and be witnesses for Christ is to plant local churches,” Wells shared.
In all his travels, Wells sees a great need for the gospel in families. “There is deep brokenness in families throughout communities all over the world,” he said. “The way things should be is almost unrecognizable because it is becoming less and less common.”
As he engages in this important ministry aspect, Wells is grateful that LBC | Capital helped him pursue his education in 2017 while continuing his missions and ministry work.
“[Because of] the accessibility to be able to continue to serve as a missionary and work on my undergrad degree, LBC was the perfect school choice,” he said. “What a blessing it was to learn that there was a program for adult learners that was available fully online.” After his 2020 bachelor’s degree graduation, Wells immediately enrolled in LBC | Capital’s Master of Divinity/Master of Arts in Ministry program, graduating three years later. While these were significant milestones, there was more Wells wanted to accomplish; he wanted to teach.
“Seeing someone ‘get it’ is so rewarding,” Wells said. “I love helping people discover their calling, engaging in the mission of the Church and being equipped to go and teach others.”
This is where a PhD in Biblical Studies from LBC | Capital enters the picture. With his terminal degree, Wells hopes to not only teach but also equip others to teach. “As I grow and mature in Christ, I feel the call to continue to learn and, in turn, invest time into others who will teach others who will teach others,” Wells said.
Over nearly 20 years of ministry, Wells knows for certain that there is no better way to reach the world for Christ than through church planting and teaching. “As a lifelong learner,” he said, “I want to be fully equipped to help raise up leaders as God calls them.”