About Joan

I was born in Indonesia, the third child of missionaries.  When I was five years old, I realized for the first time that I was personally accountable for my sin, "for the wages of sin is death."  Troubled, I found my mother who explained to me that Jesus, in his death on the cross, had paid for my sin and that I needed to believe on Him, accept His sacrifice for me, and ask Him to forgive me.  Although I was used to mealtime prayers and bedtime prayers, the request I made that day of God made me a child of God.

Since that time, I have had a desire to help children grow in their understanding of Jesus and be discipled in all His ways.  After watching my mother teach Bible club many times, I thought I could do it too.  I carefully gathered up some flannelgraph materials and headed out to teach the children in the neighborhood.  It was different for an 8-year-old than it was for Mom, though, but that was the beginning.

At 12, I began serving as a teacher's aid with my mother and started teaching my own Sunday School class when I was 16.  After graduating from college with a degree in missions, I wanted to go somewhere where my desire to minister to children would be used.  I heard of an orphanage in Mexico in need of help.  Within a month, I was on my way. I stayed there for two years and then joined a children's ministry in Guatemala and later went to the Philippines.  While I was in the Philippines, I earned a Master's degree in Christian Education.  After seven years in the Philippines, I returned to the United States where she became the children's director in a fairly large church in Minnesota.  When the job there outgrew me, I joined the faculty of a small Bible college in Canada, teaching Christian education and discipleship classes.

Then I met Charlie and our lives have followed God's path together.

Now we are part of International Partnership Ministries.  My role within the organization is, once again, working with children and the teachers of children.