Biographies

Jason

I grew up in Whitinsville, MA, a small town that serves as a suburb for Boston and Worcester.  My family was a part of Fairlawn Christian Reformed Church and I was a part of the youth group of the Faith Community Church in Hopkinton.  I attended Whitinsville Christian School, Mass Academy of Math and Science and then Penn State.  I studied Computer Science and went to work for IBM in Endicott, NY after I graduated.  After a year of bachelorhood the Lord blessed me with a wonderful wife: Deeanne!  We were part of the Pierce Hill Christian Fellowship and volunteered at Binghamton University with InterVarsity.

After a few years of programming, the Lord led us to join DiscipleMakers where I get to use my computer skills to support campus stuff who are ministering to college students in Pennsylvania.  Though I grew up in a Christian environment, the Lord really got my attention in early high school and I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior at that point.  In the following years God used my youth pastor, campus fellowship staff, and fellow college students to help build my relationship with Jesus and help me learn to share the good news of the Gospel with other people.  He has also used my children to really challenge my selfishness and I’m thrilled to be a father!  We are now a part of State College Christian Church where I am being stretched and challenged in exciting ways.

Deeanne

I grew up in Ghana, West Africa, where my parents served as missionaries with SIM.  Life in Africa was pretty much all I knew, and I considered it home and wouldn’t trade my experiences there for anything else!  I was extremely blessed to be raised in a loving family and my parents taught me about Jesus even before I could understand what it all meant.  I went to a boarding school in Ivory Coast called International Christian Academy (ICA) starting in 3rd grade, and graduated from there before coming to Penn State. Jason and I met at Penn State, and we were married in the summer of 2000 after I graduated.  God used several circumstances and people in my life through high school and college to grow and challenge me in my walk with the Lord.  And He is continuing to sanctify me today!

We lived in Endicott, NY for a couple years (3 years for Jason), and during that time I went to Broome Community College and earned an associates degree to become a physical therapist assistant.  My real desire was to become a mother though, and God blessed us with our first child in February 2003.  Since then we have had two more children, and I just love being a wife and mother!