Wessel, Hugh

Hugh and Martine met in 1969 while Hugh was serving in the U.S. Army in Munich, Germany. They came to faith at L’Abri in Switzerland in 1972, and were married by their pastor, Francis Schaeffer, in 1973. Martine went home to be with the Lord in April 2025.

The Wessels have served with MTW since 1979. Their initial charge was church planting, evangelism, and church renewal. They later founded the Marseille Team. In 1989, Hugh was made country director for France, and supervised teams with CoMission in Ukraine. In 1995 Hugh was asked to be MTW’s European regional director.

Currently Hugh serves in a role of consultant for research and development. In addition, he trains French pastors and lay people in evangelism and serves as seminary chaplain at the John Calvin Seminary in Aix-en-Provence, where he also teaches leadership, teamwork, cultural differences, missions, and street evangelism, all related to church planting. He is on the board of The John Calvin Seminary, Assisting Indigenous Ministries, (AIM) and several denomination committees.

Martine ministered through teaching Sunday school, using their home extensively for hospitality, and leading women’s Bible studies. Martine and Hugh have three adult children: Laurence, Damaris, and Nils and four grandchildren.

Please pray for Hugh as he minsters to advance the gospel in France.