Natasha and I graduated from New Tribes Mission's training in May of 2004. Our desire is to work as tribal church planters in Papua, Indonesia. Paul said in Romans 15:20,21 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation; 21 but as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND." We want to teach men and women who have never before heard the Gospel message about this truth that can set them free from the bondage of sin and death and then disciple them in Christ and translate the Scriptures into their tribal language.

I came to recognize my personal need for the saving grace of Jesus when I was in my later teen years. Before that time I had put my "confidence" in a works based religion. I praise the Lord for delivering me out of this false belief and making it evident to me that all my "goodness" was as filthy rags in His sight. In Romans 7:13 Paul speaks about how through the Law of God, that which is good, a man can see sin as utterly sinful. That's what happened with me, I finally saw that there was no goodness in me and that I needed help from a source outside of myself. I believed in Jesus Christ, as my sin-bearer, the only One who was able to pay my sin debt and reconcile me to a right relationship with God. Since that time the Lord has continued to pour out His wonderful grace to me and helped me to grow in Christ.

The Lord used a preacher at a Christian youth camp to challenge me with missions. His challenge stayed in my mind through the years as the Lord drew me close to Himself. After trusting the Lord Jesus as my Savior, I got involved in various outreaches to children and adults to share God's saving truth with them. I was growing in my own walk with the Lord and also praying about what the Lord would have me to do, I read many biographies of Christian missionaries who were involved in different aspects of ministry all over the world.

Through the friendship and mentoring of my pastor I was encouraged to begin investigating the areas of service that I felt were of personal interest and that I may be gifted in to use for God's glory. As I prayed I trusted the Lord to open the doors to me for the training that He wanted me to receive and to shut doors where necessary, so I would be in the place where He wanted me to be. God opened the door for me to get training with New Tribes Mission. He used the training to affirm His calling for me and to bring about much personal spiritual growth, as well as, to teach me some of the practical ins and outs of being a cross cultural missionary.

I praise the Lord for the blessing of being raised by parents who preached Christ in our home! Through this declaration of God's Word, I came to realize I was a sinner and that only Christ could rescue me from my sins. After this realization of my need, I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. As I grew in the Lord during my teen years by hearing and reading His Word, I began to understand that Christ wanted to change me to be more like Himself now that I placed my faith in Him. He wanted my unconditional obedience to all His commands. This realization led me to the life long process of becoming more like my Lord Jesus. I am so grateful that the Lord has given His followers His precious Holy Spirit that makes this sanctification possible. To God be the glory!

At the age of nineteen, I was convicted of my lack of surrender to the Lord in the area of foreign missions. I simply did not want to be willing to serve Him overseas! By God's grace I surrendered myself to His will for me whether that be service at home only or abroad. After this I experienced great joy and excitement as I waited on the Lord for my future. I began preparing myself for further service and was privileged to spend 5 ½ months with a missionary family in Cameroon, Africa. My experience of living with this family among a tribal group influenced my life in a very positive way. I came home and continued serving the Lord in ministry outreaches with a growing desire to serve the Lord as a missionary overseas. I continued my studies and made my desire a matter of earnest prayer. Four years later, the Lord brought Scott and me together in marriage. Now, together, we look forward to serving Him in tribal evangelism.