I grew
up in the Dominican Republic, where my parents served as missionaries for 28
years. I went to Santiago Christian School, which is a school in Santiago, D.R.
that was started for missionary kids. Today it has over 500 students most of
which are Dominican. All of the teachers are U.S. certified, born again
Christians, who have a burden to reach out to these students with the gospel.
While in High School I became actively involved in the ministry in the
Dominican Republic. I was involved in the Dominican church in the area of
sports evangelism, evangelistic and discipleship bible studies, youth
activities, and many other areas. During those years, God called me into full
time ministry.
In 1993 I went to Lancaster
Bible College to major in Pastoral Ministries. As part of my internship in 1995
God allowed me to return to the Dominican Republic for the summer and work
along side of my parents. That summer I helped them start the ministry in
Cienfuego's. The Lord used that experience to reconfirm His call in my life to
return to the Dominican Republic as a career missionary.
In October of 1999 I returned to
the Dominican as a career missionary. The Lord allowed me to work as a
co-pastor in the Cienfuego's church, until returning to the U.S. in December
2000, in order to get married to Barbara. We were joined in holy matrimony on
March 31, 2001.
I was raised in a small town
named Martinsburg, PA. I attended Lancaster Bible College for 3 years,
majoring in Secretarial Studies and Bible. I met Dan while doing my internship
at L.B.C., while he was taking a summer course. Of all the places in the world,
we met in the computer lab. Lucky for us, a mutual friend was having a swimming
party and we both showed up...and it goes from there. I was in my final year of
College, and not really sure where God wanted me to served Him, though my
initial thoughts were Africa. After meeting Dan, he offered for me to come and
visit this "wonderful country that he grew up in and loved". Well, I
took him up on the offer, and within the first week there, God gave me an
assurance that this is where He wanted me to serve Him. So, after prayer and
seeking to know the will of God, and not our own, we both felt that this is
God's will. Needless to say, now we are planning on returning to the Dominican
Republic to do ministry and serve the Lord there.