Laurel, and her husband, Rick, served for 35 years in Latin America as church planters until Rick's sudden death from a heart attack in January 2017. God's call on Laurel's life has been to continue in missions. She arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador in August 2018 and has been establishing relationships with the national pastors and missionaries in the area. As the Assemblies of God presbyter said in their first meeting, "You are an answer to prayer!" This is because the section is actively training church planters and Laurel will be helping train and mentor them as they launch churches in Cuenca and surrounding communities.