With over 20 years in pastoral ministry in the Free Methodist Church, Rick comes to missionary service with his heart wide open! Here are a few facts about Rick….
· Rick’s dad was a career Naval officer and travel was a big part of family life. When he bought his first home at age 24, Rick had already lived in 32 different
homes!
· Rick’s greatest earthly treasure is his family.
· Rick’s education includes a BA in Psychology from the University of Buffalo and an MPA from SUNY Brockport.
· Rick is an ordained Elder in the Genesis Conference of the Free Methodist
Church.
Rick is working with the Haitian Free Methodist Church in the earthquake relief and recovery response. He also serves as mission administrator. He will be teaching in the Bible School and assisting with work teams. Rick also is serving as Area Administrator for Latin America under Area Director Dr. Delia Nuesch-Olver.
Cookie anticipates with joy the process of language and culture learning that will be a part of serving Haiti. As a junior in high school, Cookie spent the summer with a Swedish family as an AFS exchange student—her first direct cross-cultural experience. Later, while a French major in College (Elmira College, BA), she was privileged to spend her Junior Year studying in Paris, France at the Sorbonne. She enjoys people and the process of understanding how language affects culture and vice versa. Some facts about Cookie:
In contrast to Rick’s many moves, Cookie came home to the family farm as a newborn and that home is still in the family.
Cookie has been a registered nurse for over 30 years. In 1996 she graduated from the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in Hyden KY with a certificate in midwifery and from Case Western Reserve University with an MS in Nursing. She has had the sacred honor of assisting hundreds of women to bring their babies into the world, including her own four grandchildren.
Cookie anticipates using her medical and midwifery skills to help the women and families of Haiti. Currently the maternal and infant mortality rates are shockingly high. Cookie hopes to help reduce these statistics-which represent not just numbers but real people. She will also be teaching in the Bible School.