Our Testimonies

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Fred grew up in the farm country outside of Buffalo, NY and Jennifer was raised in Gaithersburg, MD, a suburb of Washington, D.C. We both trusted in Christ for eternal life while attending Christian camps as teenagers. In 1990 we met at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapter of our college in Rochester, NY and both graduated with science and engineering degrees. Fred was also commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army and continued onto graduate school. In 1994 we got married, settled in Maryland, and started our professional careers. We were very blessed to find Grace Baptist Church in Bowie, MD and became active in Sunday School, Evangelism Explosion, and Youth Group leadership. We really enjoyed being part of a church that was committed to outreach and missions, both locally and around the world.

Through our church we met Keith and Angie Copley the year they decided to become New Tribes missionaries. We became close friends and encouraged them as they received their training and then left for Papua New Guinea in 2000. In April of 2002 we had a great opportunity to visit the Copleys in the Hewa tribe in the highlands of PNG (see picture on the side). It was amazing that it was during our flight there that we pondered and prayed how we could better serve God with our gifts and abilities (see our journal entry on the side), and it was during this trip that we saw first-hand how many support people are needed to keep tribal missionaries in the field! Be careful what you pray for! While we were in the tribe we also met missionaries that were building an airstrip for the New Tribes missionaries there. It was exciting for us to learn of full-time missionaries helping church-planting missionaries with their difficult projects so that their Bible translation work is actually accelerated! Since then God has given us the desire to serve missionaries in this way. John 10:10 says that Jesus came so that we may have abundant life - we want to help others have this blessing through faith in Jesus Christ.

Since the end of 2002 we have been coordinating logistics for projects in support of church-planting efforts all over the world. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (NIV) Looking back, we are thankful for how God prepared us both for this ministry through our experiences working with the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, NASA and civilian companies. We currently operate out of the ABWE main office near Harrisburg, PA. Fred travels a few times a year to projects around the world to evaluate project sites and lead work teams. His most recent trip was in September, 2007 to Togo, West Africa to assist in the planning of a new hospital there. His next planned trip is to Papua New Guinea in early 2008 to assist with house construction projects for ABWE church-planting missionaries in the Simbai region.

In April of 2000 God blessed us with our first son Matthew, followed by our second son Timmy in September, 2003. They are two of the greatest joys in our lives. Our prayer is that we would raise them both in a manner that is pleasing to God.

Our journal entry which we wrote during our flight to Papua New Guinea in 2002 (click on it for a larger version)

It's always nice being welcomed home after a work trip overseas!

Fred and Jen with the Copleys in Hewa, Papua New Guinea in 2002