About us.
Our Pastor
I was born in Florida while my parents, missionaries to Colombia, South America, were home on furlough. I spent the next twelve years of my life in Colombia. My early education was at two missionary boarding schools – one in the high mountains of Colombia and the other in Venezuela. Following the completion of seventh grade, our family returned to the US to stay, due to my mother's health.
The Lord saved me when I was in third grade. One evening after our dorm devotions, my heart was so troubled and burdened with the realization that I was a sinner before God and worthy of His judgment. I clearly recall my dorm mother coming and sharing with me from her open Bible. That night, as I called upon the Lord to forgive me of my sin and save my soul, He did just that! A few years later, as I was struggling with doubt, the Lord spoke to my heart through Hebrews 10:38a - “Now the just shall live by faith.” The realization hit me that my salvation is not in how I feel or in what I can do, but rather by faith in what Christ completed for me. Joy and peace filled my heart!
In 1982, I graduated from Victory Christian School in Williamstown, N.J., and then from Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, FL., in 1986. That December, Rachael (Reese) and I were married, and a few years later began to prepare to go to Chile as church planting missionaries under the Gospel Fellowship Association of Greenville, S.C. We reached that goal in 1991 and went to Chile with three young children. The Lord allowed us to minister there for twelve years, and see several people come to know the Lord. At the close of our third term, we were able to leave a church in the hands of its own national pastor. During those years, five more children were added to our family.
While preparing to return to Chile in 2005, it became apparent to us that the Lord was directing us to remain stateside. I served for a short time in our home church, Grace Bible Church, Elmer, N.J. In June of 2009, I accepted the call as pastor of Church of the Open Door, where I, by God's grace continue to minister today. The Lord added three more girls to our family since our return to the US, giving us a “quiver” of four boys and seven girls. We currently have nine grandchildren.
