More About Joe

Personal Information

Birthday on May 30, 1976

Single

Grew up in Lake Havasu City, AZ

Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Math

(Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT)

Master of Education in Sports Administration

(Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA

NAIA All-American Point Guard at Rocky Mountain College

Coached College Basketball for 5 years at Rocky Mountain College, Northwestern State University, and Charleston Southern University before God called me to serve in Kenya.

Coached in the 2001 NCAA Tournament while at Northwestern State University

Salvation

Accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 6 years old after watching the film “A Thief in the Night” at a Sunday Night church service

Been serving in Kenya now for almost 5 years (Jan 2004 – current)

Christ’s Gift Academy (CGA)

www.cgakenya.com

Christ’s Gift Academy is a primary school in the fishing village of Mbita, Suba District, Kenya.  In response to the AIDS pandemic, CGA was founded in 1997 to provide a quality education for the aids orphans and other needy children in the community.  This school not only educates the children, but also helps to meet their basic physical needs including food, clothing, medical assistance and other essentials.  The students continue to live in the community with relatives or guardians such as widowed parents, elderly grandparents or young persons.  We also support the caregivers and their families in various ways so that they can care for the children.  There are currently 271 students in Nursery through Standard 8.   110 students have already completed primary school and through the help of CGA they are attending various secondary schools throughout the country. 

Another 30 students have completed secondary school and are continuing in universities, colleges, technical training or are working

Joe’s Role at the School:

-          Teaching Math and Bible classes

-          Oversee the secondary school sponsorship program (110 students) includes financial assistance, working with parents/guardians of students, discipleship, holiday programs of remedial work, spiritual encouragement. 

-          Serving as Administrator which helps with duties including correspondence with American Non-Profit Board, communication between orphans and sponsors, serving on the leadership team for the school, teacher training, scheduling, overseeing sports and games program and various other duties

Suba Lakers Football Club

www.subalakers.com 

The Suba Lakers Football Club was created in 2009 to provide opportunities for children in Mbita, Kenya to develop their God-given abilities and potential, especially for the girls.  With one of the highest HIV/ADIS prevalence rates in Africa, Mbita is a difficult place for a young girl to grow up.  Many of them drop out of school at an early age because of pregnancies, early marriages, child labour or lack of money for basic necessities.  The football club is used as a means to develop their talents, build their self-esteem, keep them in school and help them grow physically, socially, cognitively and spiritually.  Above all, we felt like the club could give these girls hope for a better future in this life and for eternity. 

The primary students come one weekened a month during the school term for training and teaching while the secondary students join us during their school holidays.  They stay busy with training, academic support, life skills teaching, and other activities.   Currently we have 50 primary school students involved with our program and 25 secondary students (10 that are sponsored through the club).

Joe’s Role with the Club

-          Head coach in charge of training and tournaments

-          Secretary who organizes meetings, scheduling, tournaments, contact with officials, players, parents and teachers

-          Teacher and math tutor