About Me
Younger Years
Growing up in North Central Indiana, I attended Northfield High School and was very involved in athletics, music, 4-H, youth group and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. My family, including my parents, 3 siblings and I, were regular church goers. At the age of 15 I understood my sinful nature and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior while at a weekend FCA retreat. I chose education as my career choice, because I felt I could affect many people’s lives through the classroom and one-on-one opportunities.
College Years
I pursued degrees in Physical Education, Athletic Training, and Coaching while attending Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I participated in Division I athletics including basketball and lacrosse. In addition I was also very involved with a campus ministry reaching out to college students and others in the community. Upon graduation in 1986, I accepted my first teaching and coaching position in Cleveland, Ohio.
Professional Career
For 2 years I taught K-12 and coached field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. The experience was challenging and provided insight and reflection on how God wanted to use my life. I moved back to Indiana to teach Recreation Management at Indiana Wesleyan University attend graduate school at Ball State. This is when I became involved with Reliant Mission, formally known as Great Commission Ministries. Upon receiving my Masters Degree, I began teaching Fitness/Wellness, Athletic Training, and Physical Education professional courses at Ball State University in the Fall of 1990. During the 5 years I taught at Ball State, I served as the Faculty Advisor for the Reliant campus ministry and enjoyed working with students in a variety of ministry roles, including mentoring, music team vocalist, leadership facilitator, and a life group leader and coach. During this time, I began more and more to see and live out the “big picture” while capturing the vision of reaching the lost for Christ.
Vision/Ministry
During the summer of 1995, my life moved in a new adventurous direction which lead me to Orlando, Florida, as a church planting team member. In 1998 I went on staff with Reliant Mission to reach teens through high school ministry. Mid-summer 2003 I was asked to consider being a part of assisting a Reliant church plant in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. God called me once again to step out in faith to pursue Him and make Him known. I moved to Amsterdam in November 2003 to serve the Lord there by reaching out to young Dutch and Europeans in a very international and spiritually dark city of less than 800,000 inhabitants where only 1-3% have a relationship with God. From 2015 – 2019 our ministry focus was on the refugees from the Middle East and Northern Africa, coming from muslim backgrounds. After nearly 15 years I left the Netherlands in order to be near and care for my elderly parents. For nearly 35 years I have worked with young people through education, athletics, mission trips to Kenya and many ministries influencing their lives by sharing God’s love and encouraging biblical values. God has provided many opportunities for making an eternal impact in the lives of youth, young professionals, orphans and refugees, for which I am very blessed and grateful. In this new season of ministry reaching out to people in the Flagstaff area, I pray many will come to faith in Jesus and carry on the Great Commission.
Goals
My heart’s desire is to be effective in reaching out to young adults through my life example and whatever ministry path God places me on. I trust that each aspect of my life’s work will draw others to Christ and assist them in strengthening their walk with Jesus Christ, in addition to training them for making an eternal impact in the lives of their peers. In order to accomplish this, I am responsible for maintaining a Reliant Mission ministry team to partner in both financial and prayer support for my work in Northern Arizona.