I grew up in Philadelphia and studied in Pittsburgh before a saving encounter with Jesus while I was completing a master’s degree in environmental engineering at Duke. People at Blacknall played a significant role in my faith journey and also introduced me to Betsy Scholtes, now Manila. We married in 1996 at Blacknall and were sent out by the church to serve in Central Asia for nearly 25 years as part of a YWAM ministry.

I led various projects and teams consisting of Christians and non-Christians as we served communities with development projects while sharing the love of Christ. We raised our two oldest children, Daniel and Faith, overseas, and adopted our two youngest, Joy and Joseph, whom God connected us with through our ministry work. In 2023, we returned to Durham to join International Students Inc. at Duke University, providing practical blessings to international students from many different backgrounds and seeking to give them opportunities to encounter Jesus.

During these efforts of inviting others to follow Jesus, I have often been humbled by Him as He calls me to change, by his grace, to think and act more like He does. Blacknall has been an important part of that walk. If I serve in the role of Elder, I would seek to help us as a community to stay true to the call of the Gospel: to look more like Jesus, by His grace, as we work with Him to invite more people from all backgrounds to join us, by His grace, in this calling.