On A Mission For Missions
Preston and Joy Laughinghouse
by Doris Batts-Murray      (printer friendly version)

If you have attended BOCC's 8:00am Sunday service, chances are have seen the smiling faces of Preston and Joy Laughinghouse. They have been members of Body Of Christ Church for nearly five years. The Laughinghouses learned of BOCC while the church was being built near their home. Preston was born in Washington, North Carolina with two sisters, both living in the Greenville, NC area. Joy, a native of the Phillipines Manila has one brother, who still lives there. Preston and Joy, who have been married for 35 years, met in the sixties while in college at Far Eastern University in the Phillipines. They moved to Raleigh in 1974 when Preston decided to further his education at NC State University. Preston earned degrees in History and Business Management while Joy earned a degree in Business Education.

The couple has four children, all professing salvation. Two of their sons work with Preston in the family business(Carpet DryClean, or CDC) in Raleigh, and their daughter runs their franchise in Charlotte. They have one son studying for the ministry. Joy has devoted most of their married life as a homemaker and now looks after their grand-children during the week.

The Laughinghouses are on a mission to support missions. They became interested in missions while in the Phillipines where Preston was deacon of a Guadeloupe church. On occasion, the Laughinghouses like to travel with BOCC's Plus Ministry when the ministry takes trips. They also manage to travel to the Phillipines annually. About three years ago, they accompanied Pastor Redmond and other members from BOCC on a missions trip to the Phillipines. When missionaries from the Phillipines are visiting the Raleigh area, Preston and Joy often host them in their home.

As the owner of the Carpet DryClean business (carpetdryclean.com), Preston uses the profit from his businesses to support missions. they have locations, in Charlotte, Fayetteville, Goldsboro and Raleigh, as well as in Montgomery, AL. The Laughinghouses' personal mission is to support financially at least 500 missionaries within the next five years. According to Preston, it currently takes about $500 per month to support a Phillipine missionary versus $3,500.00 per month for an American missionary. They mainly support the Phillipine missions because they feel the Phillipines can be the jumping board for the 10/40 window, which is an area of the world that contains the largest population of non-Christians. (This area extends from 10 degress to 40 degrees north of the equator, and stretches from North Africa across to China.) Their greatest desire is that everyone is reached with God's Word and learns of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Preston says "We like to think of Carpet DryClean as being the five loaves of bread and the two fish that Jesus used to feed the multitude in the Bible".
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"On A Mission For Missions" was last modified Dec 31, 2009

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