Norm was born and raised in Ontario and through the witness of his mom and sunday school he became a Christian at a young age. Throughout high school God used various people and events to urge him to go on a short term mission trip. Norm resisted this urging for a few years but finally gave in and went to Brazil on a trip with Destination Summit. That was a trip that would ultimately change his life as God used it to light a passion in his heart. The next year he graduated high school then went right out to Mongolia for a summer. Almost immediately after that trip Norm went off to New Tribes Bible Institute, a school suggested by Merran Arnold, a friend who served with New Tribes Mission in Brazil.
Debra was born and raised in California, USA and exposed to God and missions right from the start. She too accepted Jesus as her Saviour at a young age. Debra’s dad serves on the mission board at their church and her grandparents served in the Philippines. Both of her parents and her aunt & uncle went to NTBI, so naturally Debra spent most of her life looking forward to her 2 years at NTBI. Debra also went on a short term trip to Russia with a group from her church.
New Tribes Bible Institute is where Norm & Debra met. Though they barely spoke to each other for the first year, God was working in them and preparing them for each other. Norm & Deb learned so much through the amazing teaching there about God’s desire and plan for mankind. At the start of the second year, Norm decided to apply for a six month associate term with New Tribes Mission of Canada in Papua New Guinea, but not long after this did Norm and Debra’s lives start to merge. Through a chance meeting involving Debra’s pet turtles (long story) they started to spend more and more time with each other and both saw in the other the characteristics of someone that they could spend their lives with. God taught them so much during this time and in April of 2003 Norm asked Debra’s dad, Charlie Rutledge, for permission to marry Debra. Charlie approved but asked that they give it more time. What could from a human perspective seem like a setback was actually God’s perfect plan for them.
Norm and Debra graduated from NTBI in May 2003 and Norm immediately left for Papua New Guinea to serve as an associate. Though the seperation was hard, God graced Norm with a visit by Debra as she studied at the Interface campus where he was serving. While Debra was studying there, Charlie emailed Norm and gave him the go-ahead to propose to Debra! Fortunately Norm just happened to have the ring on hand and on July 27th, 2003 (also Debra’s 19th birthday) Norm proposed to Debra at the Bird of Paradise Resort in Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
Norm completed his time in New Guinea and went home to help Debra with wedding plans. April 3, 2004 was picked as the date and after a few more months of separation they were wed in Fillmore, California! After a honeymoon cruise they settled in a beautiful house outside Orangeville, Ontario to take a bit of time off before continuing the training with New Tribes Mission. In Fall 2005 they moved to Durham, Ontario to continue training with NTM. Canaan Joshua Copeland was born to them on March 19th, 2006, he is the joy of their lives!
In June of 2007 Norm and Debra graduated from the training of New Tribes Mission. During their time in the training God had placed in their hearts a heavy burden for the people of Guinea, West Africa. After a short visit to Guinea in July of 2007 they moved to Québec City in August of 2007 to learn French, the trade language of Guinea. The language course was tough but God provided an awesome encouraging church. They received a good foundation in French and will continue to study until they arrive in Guinea. In June 2008 Norm and Debra finished the course in Québec and moved back to Ontario to await the birth of their second boy, due Nov. 17, 2008!
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