Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
and Giving God all the Glory

Cheryl and I met in 1980 while attending Christ For the Nations Bible Institute in Dallas, Texas.  Cheryl was born and raised in South Africa and I am from Wichita, Kansas.  We were married in May, 1981.  During our two years at Bible school and for two years afterward, we held evangelistic services that primarily dealt with the dangerous and deceptive onslaught the enemy was successfully waging against our youth through secular rock music.  We conducted over 300 of these seminars across America and in South Africa in churches, auditoriums, schools, television, and radio programs.  In this fruitful season of spiritual warfare, hundreds of young people became followers of Christ, and thousands more made commitments to a deeper walk with God. 

 In 1983 we moved to Waxahachie, Texas where I attended Southwestern Assembly of God College and earned a Bachelor of Science in 1985.  Prior to my Bible school training, I attended Wichita State University for two years. 

 In October of 1985, Cheryl and I moved to Durban, South Africa with our 3-year-old son; Daniel.  While there, we served as missions pastors at Durban Christian Centre where Fred Roberts served as lead pastor.  This church has grown to over 10,000 in attendance and was one of the first multi-racial churches during a time when South Africa was experiencing racial upheavals.   For four years, Cheryl and I enjoyed productive ministry as we helped train pastors, plant churches, hold evangelistic crusades, establish children’s ministries, teach in Bible schools, minister at local churches, and work in various building projects.  Our daughter, Kristen, was born there in February of 1987.

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In December, 1989, we moved back to the U.S.A. settling in Rockwall, Texas which was where our home church was located.    For six months I served as a prayer pastor and guest speaker with Larry Lea Ministries.  Pastor Larry had bombarded the heavens for America and the world.  During that season, Larry began conducting large “Breakthrough” prayer meetings in auditoriums of major cities across America. 

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 In August, 1990 the Church On the Rock agreed to send Cheryl and I back to my hometown of Wichita, Kansas where we planted a Church On the Rock church.   It was during this season that our daughter, Sarah, was born in October 1991.

God led us to relocate to Austin, Texas in February, 1994.   In the Fall of 1994 we began attending Shoreline Christian Center (formerly Christian Faith Center)  founded and led by pastors Robert and Laura Koke.   In 1996, after a two-year break from public ministry, I began ministering with Dale Witt of Global Advance, led by Dr. David Shibley.  Dr. Shibley was the former missions pastor of Church On the Rock, Rockwall under Larry Lea, and served while we lived in South Africa and beyond.     I joined Dale and his teams in conducting “Frontline Shepherd Conferences” for pastors and Christian leaders in poorer lands.  In 1997, Cheryl and I became missions pastors at Shoreline Christian Center Church. We served both ministries while simultaneously traveling as guest speakers at several local churches.  At Shoreline Christian Center Church we served in this capacity until February of 2003. We were privileged to lead teams on short-term mission trips to nations in Africa and Latin America for evangelism, construction, and evangelistic meetings.

 In March 2003, Cheryl and I were offered to take the role of lead pastors at Family Faith Center Church in Pflugerville, Texas, a suburb of Austin.  We sensed this was God’s plan and timing for us and accepted the position.   I continued my involvement with Global Advance and have helped conduct at least four leadership conferences overseas each year from 2003 to the present time.  We changed the church name to Tree Of Life Church in 2005 and are continuing to lead the congregation, celebrating our 20th anniversary as lead pastors in March, 2023.  We are blessed to have our three children; Daniel, Kristen, and Sarah all living within ten miles of our house. Kristen and Sarah are married to Jeremy Sistrunk and Nate Ragaisis and have given us six delightful grandchildren; August, Caleb, Theodore (Kristen), Ruthann, Everleigh, and Lorraine (Sarah).