Daniel

I was born on May 11, 1981 in Des Moines, Iowa.

My parents arrived in Holland in 1983 as missionary church planters with BMM. I was two. I grew up in a row house in Veghel together with my brothers, Mark and Nathan. I enjoyed most aspects of growing up "third culture" and had the unique privilege of knowing my grandparents ons the field. Herb and Ruth had opened the Dutch field for BMM in 1954 and my mom's parents, Rusty and Norma were missionaries with EBM to France. I was six when I made my profession of faith. I was confronted with my own terrible sin (I was a pretty stubborn kid) and my dad recognized the opportunity to help me realize my desparate need for a Savior. That afternoon in Waterloo, Iowa I confessed my sin and my understanding that Jesus Christ had died on the cross for my sins and risen again and I asked Him to save me. During my teen years I struggled with worldliness and whether or not my faith was real. This spiritual struggle lead to my decision that I needed to be baptized and I surrendered my life to God. In the months and years that followed God placed a desire in my heart for missions.

In 1999 I graduated High School and moved to the United States to attend Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. I graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pastoral studies. In the fall of 2003 I attended seminary at Faith Baptist Theological Seminary and graduated summa cum laude with a Master of Arts degree in 2004.

Heather

I was born on February, 20, 1979 in Dubuque, Iowa.

I have two older brothers and one younger brother. My dad worked in a local bakery that produced Sunbeam Bread, so I wasn't allowed to eat any other brand growing up. My parents were new Christians when I was born, but they were very faithful to church. I even remember walking up the snow covered hill to get to church when the roads were impassable.

I was saved when I was five years old. One day on the way home from church I just kept thinking to myself that I really needed to get saved. I had grown up in church and knew what I needed to do. When we arrived home I sat down on the couch, confessed my sins and asked the Lord to forgive and save me. I was baptized shortly thereafter.

I attended public school in Dubuque, IA and attended Faith Baptist Bible College when I graduated in 1997. I received my Teaching degree in 2001.

Daniel and I met in the kitchen of FBBC, became best friends, and started dating my senior year. In deciding to pursue a relationship with Daniel I realized that God was changing my future as I had envisioned it. God specifically used a sermon from Luke 14 to challenge and comfort me with this change of direction. I realized that night that God had been preparing me for this all my life. We were married on August 3, 2002 in my home Church in Dubuque.

our three boys

Nicolas or "Cole" was born in Cedar Rapids, IA in 2005.

Luke was born in Dubuque, IA in 2008.

Joel was born in Dubuque, IA in 2010.

Our three boys are a true blessing from the Lord and we love our parenting task, but covet your prayers for them as they go to public school and make friends in this Godless society.

the rest is history

Before we knew each other God gave Heather and me the same life verse: Psalm 73:28. This Psalm has been a driving force behind our life choices and commitments and God has used its truth to direct our hearts and thoughts time and again. As we have drawn near to Him, and learned to trust Him with all the circumstances of life, a desire has been cultivated to declare all His works. As we learned to work together and follow God, He also gave us the desire to
declare all God's works to the Dutch people.

At Urbandale Baptist Church (in Iowa) we learned to work together and complement one another in ministry. When He moved us to Cedar Rapids in 2004 to join the ministry of Good News Baptist Church, He taught us to encourage and strengthen each other during exciting ministry oportunities, juggling ministry and family responsibities, and even facing some leadership conflict. In 2006 we applied to BMM and deputation taught us endurance, patience and the importance of family. God used all the changes, challenges, victories and heartaches to teach us that it is good to draw near to Him and in every circumstance make Him our refuge. As we learned this our desire to simply declare all His works intensified.

In 2007 we were asked by the Dutch field to consider coming to Holland in the summer of 2008 to run teen camp. Good News Bible Camp is a one-week ministry that Heather and I had hoped to spearhead once we made it to the field. It was our first opportunity to really "do something" as missionaries with BMM. It was a wonderful first experience - even though Heather stayed home with the boys - to see how God would use us to impact the lives of 31 Dutch teens.

On May 21, 2011 we boarded a plane to Belgium. Really. It was cheaper to fly to Brussels than to Amsterdam. Within a month we found a car and an appartment and after the summer Cole started elementary school. Within just a few months Heather was doing language training and we served the Evangelical Baptist Church of Veghel while my parents went on furlough. A new and welcome adjustment in ministry in the country we had been preparing for!

In 2013 Heather and I moved to Bergen op Zoom to join John and Anna Kay Haskell in a small church plant. We loved working alongside them and in 2015 they retired to the States and we became the lead Church planters.

We have been serving in Bergen op Zoom since. We continue to run teen camp, a young adult retreat and an occasional retreat for couples. The BMM missionary team also organizes a Men's and Women's conference in March and October. Through it all we continue to simply declare all God's works to the Dutch people!