Kurt and Sally Kovach

Missionaries to Cambodia

Kurt and Sally Kovach have a heart for the Cambodian people. They are currently preparing to serve in Cambodia as career members of Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) International.

Kurt’s journey towards missions has been a lifelong experience. He has followed Christ since he was a child and been involved in short-term missions since his youth. However, it wasn’t until 2000, while attending a missions course called “Perspectives” he began to be drawn to a long-term call into missions. During the course, Kurt saw that God had blessed him to be a blessing to the nations (Gen. 12:1-3). His heart for people groups outside the reach of the gospel quickly grew. Kurt soon went on a three-month missions trip with OMF. He taught English in Thailand and China and also spent time in Cambodia. It was during that time that Kurt developed a heart for seeing the Cambodian people reached for Christ.

Shortly after returning to the U.S., Kurt met a seminary professor from Singapore. He challenged Kurt to consider doing theological training in Singapore to familiarize himself with Asian cultures, learn Asian theology and prepare for missions work in Asia. After praying about it, Kurt eventually decided to attend Singapore Bible College, where he lived among students from 20 nations. He completed a masters degree in intercultural studies in 2004.

Sally grew up in a Chinese Taoist home in Singapore. While growing up, she was exposed to Christianity through believers she knew and the Catholic high school she attended. At the age of 15, Sally was invited by a classmate to a local church in Singapore where she heard the gospel of God’s free gift of salvation and received Christ as her personal Lord and Savior.

Sally's interest in missions was sparked when she was an undergraduate earning her bachelor’s degree in education. She then went through a nine-month missions education and exposure training program with Intervarsity Fellowship. The following year, she went on a missions trip to a tribal village in the Philippines. There she met an experienced missionary couple who discipled her in the Word, Christian living and missions. Sally’s heart for long-term missions continued to grow. She was a secondary school teacher in Singapore for four years before attending Singapore Bible College. There she met Kurt in 2002. She earned a degree in intercultural studies in 2003.

Kurt and Sally were married in May 2004. Since that time, Kurt has served as a research intern for a mission and taught in the International School in Singapore. He and Sally also hosted and co-led a weekly small group Bible study for young adults.
The Kovaches went on a 30-day trip to Cambodia in 2004. During that time, they saw that the Khmer people (in Cambodia) have gone through a tremendous amount of turmoil from war and poverty, and are open to new ideas, including the gospel. As they’ve prepared to return to Cambodia long-term, Kurt and Sally have been encouraged by God’s continual faithfulness, as stated in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”