Barbara Youderian, 1925-2024

Born February 27, 1925, in Michigan, Barbara Kee Orton attended Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, intending to serve as a single woman missionary overseas. However, she soon met fellow student Roger Youderian, and the two were married after graduating on September 7, 1951. The Youderians applied to the Gospel Missionary Union (now Avant Ministries) and underwent six months of training in Kansas City before being posted to Ecuador in 1953.

After studying in Quito, Barbara, Roger, and their new daughter Beth, moved to Macuma, a mission station in the southern Amazon region of Ecuador. Together with veteran GMU missionaries Frank and Marie Drown, they worked with the Shuara (Jívaro) people. Along with her other mission activities, Barbara assisted in the medical clinic at Macuma. Their second child, Jerry, was born in Macuma in 1954.

After Roger’s death in 1956, Barbara Youderian returned to her mission work with the Shuara in Macuma. Although she was not involved with the further efforts to contact the Waorani, she visited Elisabeth Elliot and the Waorani settlement at Tewæno in 1961. After Marilou McCully left her position running a missionary guest house in Quito, Barbara took over in 1963, remaining in Ecuador for another ten years. She retired to the United States in 1975. Barbara Youderian died in July 2024 after many years of service with Avant Ministries.