My Story

In 2005, God called my wife Dara (the better looking one in the picture right) and me to move our family of six to El Salvador to serve rural communities.  At the time, I worked for a company in Los Angeles (Regency Lighting), and we were part of a great church (Cornerstone SCV).  But, it became clear that God wanted us to learn to let go of the "American Dream" in exchange for His dream for us.  I joined the ministry of ENLACE, an organization that walks alongside churches in El Salvador to alleviate spiritual and physical poverty in their communities.

While in El Salvador, on January 18, 2007, my truck and our caravan was attacked by a masked gunman who opened fire at my head.  One bullet struck me in the neck, a wound that should have been fatal.  Instead, the bullet missed my jugular and trachea by 1 cm, and lodged in my esophagus.  After hours of God's intervention, the bullet was removed, and I was saved.  This event (read more here or watch video interviews of Dara and I here), as tragic as it was, allowed me to experience the amazing presence and protection of Jesus Christ.  The only permanent damage was to my vocal chords which are now paralyzed. My voice sounds like I've been smoking for years or am related to Al Pacino in the Godfather.  But, since the event, God has given me another type of voice.  Within a year of the shooting, I began pastoring a church in El Salvador (Union Church of San Salvador) where I preached every Sunday.  God has a sense of humor. He waited until my physical voice was impaired to use me to speak in public. 

In 2010 we moved back to the U.S. to begin another leg on the journey.  We've landed in Seal Beach, California where I serve as pastor of ministry development for The Garden Church of Long Beach. Our family loves this community and the opportunities God has opened up for us to serve.  Along with serving as a pastor, I lead a ministry in Haiti called serve Three Angels Children's Relief.