The Lord brought us together from two extremely diverse backgrounds and has set us on the path to become church planters in Milan. Here are our stories.

Ron's story: I grew up in Aiken, South Carolina, in a wonderful Christian home. I became a Christian when I was seven years old and even then wanted to serve the Lord in some way. When I was in eighth grade I felt the Lord calling me into full-time ministry. I decided to attend a Bible College and went to Columbia International University (CIU) . While I was there the Lord broke my heart for missions. It was during a missions trip to Calcutta, India the school was sponsoring, that I began to feel God calling me to missions. My experience of the world no longer centered around the small town of Aiken. I finally had an appreciation of what God was doing around the world - and I wanted to be a part of it!

Amy's story: I was raised in France as a missionary kid. Along for the ride with my church planting parents, I was involved in many evangelistic efforts. When I was 21 years old and in my junior year at CIU, I returned to France for a summer evangelistic campaign. All summer long we did street evangelism in the suburbs of Paris. Most of the people we talked to did not believe in God and much less in Jesus. I remember one evening singing with our group, in French, the words 'I believe in Jesus, I believe He is the Son of God'. That statement might not mean much to you, but to say this to a French person sounds very strange and almost argumentative. While I was singing, it clicked with me. That was my identity, the rock my life was standing on. I should not be quiet or vague about my true beliefs, even though it might sound strange to others. That summer I was truly inspired to be a bold messenger of Jesus.

Since we’ve gotten married (1998-2008) Ron has been serving as a youth pastor and Amy has been taking care of their 4 children. But our eyes have been toward the mission field of Milan, Italy. This year we are taking a step of faith by resigning the youth pastorate job and going into full-time support raising.