I (Michael) was reared in a non-practicing Catholic household with very little exposure to the gospel. My young adult life was a mixture of helping others when I could and serving myself a lot. But I always felt there was something missing in my life. At the age of thirty-two I asked myself the age old question, "What am I here for?" Following this, God led me to a good evangelical church in which I got involved helping others and trusted my life to Jesus Christ, as my personal Savior.

Through His leading, I first worked in the middle school ministry for two-and-a-half years and then started doing short term missions work with youth and adults. I also led Bible studies, taught Sunday school, and counseled divorced singles.

Five years later I was invited to fill an open position on our Church Mission's Board. I began to lead trips and supervise activities in local and foreign locations such as Haiti, Trinidad, Mexico and Guatemala.

It soon became obvious that my heart was geared for global missions. After the encouragement of my pastor, mentors and many friends, I joined missions full time in April of 2002 serving full-time as the Chief Electrical Officer on board the Caribbean Mercy, with Mercy Ships. During this time I met my wife Kambria.

I (Kambria) was raised in a Christian home and the age of seven committed my life to Christ. At fifteen years of age I went on my first short term missions trip to Mexico. That is where my heart started to grow for missions. Upon completing my college nursing studies I worked as a pediatric nurse for several years in Wisconsin. Then in 1999 I quit my nursing job and went for three months to Guatemala to work with Ministries of His Glory, after that I spent two years in Madrid, Spain working with Youth with a Mission in Discipleship Training Schools.

But all along my heart's desire has been to use my nursing skills and work with Latin Americans. So in 2003 I joined Mercy Ships and spent two years working with these precious people in Central America and the Caribbean. That is where I met Michael and from there God has prepared our hearts to work with orphaned children in Guatemala.