Serving in Kenya
From: United States of America

Who we are:

Theresa was born and raised in Sayville, New York. After graduating from Ithaca College in 2000, Theresa spent a year doing full-time campus ministry. Jake grew up near Frederick, Maryland and met Theresa while attending Cornell University. After Jake graduated in 2003, we were married and moved to Maryland where Jake began working at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he has worked for the past nine years.

This latest chapter in our journey started one fall evening as we wrestled through Richard Stearns' "The Hole in Our Gospel." Prior to that night, whenever the topic of leaving our home in Maryland to serve the Lord cross-culturally came up, we always had a list of reasons why it just wasn't the right time. That night, though, God brought us to a new place of surrender and we found ourselves fully embracing the idea of "going." Suddenly, we didn't seem to have any reasons NOT to go!

Since that evening in November 2009, we have been praying, studying, and dreaming about how God might use our gifts and passions to serve Him overseas in full-time vocational ministry. After two years of exploring missions, and believing God was indeed calling us to serve Him overseas, we applied to join SIM. After attending SIM's candidate orientation in May 2012, we were accepted by SIM and assigned to serve with their Kenya team in the country's capital, Nairobi!

What we do:

Jake will be working with Christian leaders in one or more of Nairobi's 60+ slum areas. His primary focus will be on providing Bible training for these leaders, many of whom have neither the time (due to working jobs on top of their ministry commitments) nor the financial resources for more formal training. Jake will also be working to bring best practices from other organizations and churches to these leaders, helping empower them and their churches to be the hands and feet of Christ among some of the most impoverished people in the world. Theresa is passionate about discipling women as well as ministry to orphans and street children. This being our first term overseas, Theresa's initial focus will be caring for our family as we adjust to life in a new culture.

Lord willing, we will depart for Kenya by June 2013.

Involved with:

Theological Education
Evangelism/Church Growth