Our Story

For the last few years, we have been involved in the ministry Every Orphan's Hope and needless to say, it has changed our lives in ways we never imagined. Those of you who know us well, we shared with you personally last summer that God was changing us in a way never imagined. After having served with Every Orphan's Hope for 3 years, it was clear that I (Cheryl) needed to relinquish many of my responsibilities as the Program Manager and focus solely on my daughter's homeschooling. What a heartbreak this was for me. As I traveled for what I believed to be the last time Zambia, I was in complete conflict as to where God was leading me. Never would I have expected that His leading me to step out of the ministry was also an opportunity for our whole family to step back in, only differently.

Peter and I have been together since 1994 and although I accepted Christ in 1997, Peter's path was different from mine and he came to Christ in 2007. This was wonderful except for one thing, we had things backwards; I never stepped down as the spiritual leader of our family. This was apparent even in our serving with Every Orphan's Hope as I began serving in the ministry in 2010, and then Peter followed in 2011. So in 2012, God was already working in our hearts and our marriage. We knew we had it backwards and it was time to make the switch, but that's easier said than done when one of us is stubborn and extremely independent! Through much prayer and God's pushing on my heart, we began to make that switch and part of that was my taking a break from Every Orphan's Hope. So that's where we left it, Peter and I would serve as leaders for the Summer 2012 trip; we would come home; I would homeschool; and he would decide where God was leading us to serve next. Even on one of our last nights in Zambia, we were in the home of long-term missionaries, Bob & Mary, and he looked at a map and said "Where do we go next?" My response was simple, "Wherever God leads you, I will follow."

So we waited.....and prayed....and continued to wait. We even went to a missions meeting at our church, Preston Ridge, to see if it was time to go on a mission trip to South America. But nothing....so we continued to wait.

That's when it happened in October that God started moving Peter. He started asking questions about how one could serve full time as missionaries with Every Orphan's Hope. Now you would think that I would be jumping for joy, but that was the contrary. Coming home in August 2012 from Zambia was heartbreaking for me. I couldn't understand why God had allowed me to serve Him in such a way and then ask me to stop. Remember I'm stubborn, so walking away wasn't very easy for me. I cried out to God many nights praying for a reason, but none was ever given. I was left with only one choice....obedience. So I yielded, but it was a painful yield.  Peter was amazing at this time in my life and he held our family up as the spiritual leader and from that time he has continued to do so. God made our transition complete.

But hearing that he was feeling like it was time to serve full time in Zambia, I was cautious to say the least. It had hurt letting go once, I wasn't sure I could start the path again. So we prayed, just the two of us. Then finally it happened....a position opened in the ministry that needed Peter as a full-time administrator for maintenance of the My Father's House homes and would also allow us to work together as leaders during the short-term missionary and intern season.

And so began our journey. In November 2012, we began praying for confirmation that this was what God wanted from us, and time and again, he confirmed this to us through devotionals, scriptures and just people unknowingly coming into our lives or giving us a word of encouragement. In January 2013, Peter traveled with Gary Schneider (founder and president of Every Orphan's Hope) to see how God could use him in Zambia, and he came home convicted that this was where we belonged.

It hasn't been rose petals the whole way...telling family and friends has been at times painful with lots of tears, and only God has kept us at peace through these moments. But at other times, it has been amazing to see how God's fingerprints are all over this. Over the past years, we have been convicted to become debt free, which we did in 2009. Then, Peter began to see the benefits of homeschooling our girls, and finally, I came to realize the same in 2010, which was a true leading from God as I was making plans to pursue a master's degree in History. All these things, along with changing the leadership of our family, has made it possible for us to follow His leading once again as we now prepare to move to Zambia.

From here, we don't know; this is a new era where we are giving complete control over every aspect of our lives to God. So here we go...