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I was born in 1971 in Southern California.
I was raised by Mormon parents and brought up in the Mormon faith.
At the age of 20 two friends and I were hit by a drunk driver
while walking on the side of the road. One of my friends was
killed and I came close to death. Because of this tragedy, and
by God’s grace, I came to know the Lord Jesus as Savior.
God allowed this to happen in my life and used this to draw me
to Himself. God brought new friends into my life to share the
Gospel of Jesus Christ with me. I learned that I was a sinner
in need of a Savior. My sins separated me from a holy God and
in order to have a relationship with Him I needed to believe
on His Son, Jesus Christ who had died for my sins. I soon joined
a local body of believers at Grace Bible Church and was eager
to share the Gospel with others who never heard the message of
salvation.
In 1994 a single missionary Wendy Rees with New Tribes mission
came and spoke at my home church. She told us about her ministry
in Panama among tribal people. She also shared with us the need
for believers to go and reach those who have never heard the
Gospel. I was amazed to hear that God wanted to use people like
me. I was challenged to pray about going on a short-term missions
trip.
In 1995 three people from my church and I headed out to Papua
New Guinea on a 6-week missions trip. We had the privilege of
spending 4 weeks in a remote tribal village located in the Sepik
Region of Papua New Guinea. We worked with the missionaries and
helped in clearing land for an airstrip. I was also able to spend
time with the tribal people and learn some of their culture.
We witnessed the work God was doing through the missionaries
that have given their lives to reach this village with the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. It was there, where the Lord burdened my heart
for lost tribal people.
In January 1996 I went to New Tribes Bible Institute in Jackson,
MI. I spent 2 years studying the Bible and learning more about
missionary involvement. After Graduating in December 1997, I
went back to Papua New Guinea for an 11-month internship. Then
in January 2000 I started training with New Tribes Mission. I
spent one year in Baker, Oregon at the Missions Institute. Some
of the things I studied were church planting, discipleship, partnership
development, and how to reach a tribal culture. Then in 2001
I moved on to the last part of my training at New Tribes Language
Institute. I studied phonetics, grammar, language learning methods,
and learned about translation and linguistics. I graduated in
December 2001 and am now a New Tribes Missionary. |
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