General

Tannen VanZwieten, Director

I am from South Florida (although I've lived other places since 2003), the 4th of 7 kids, and a NASA aerospace engineer by profession. Since I was a child, Africa as a continent has held a certain appeal to me. Perhaps it was the raw beauty of the scenery, my perception of and desire for simplicity, the goal of finding peace and happiness even in the most humble of circumstances, or the way that an African child's smile lights up his face. I traveled with a team to Zambia, Africa for the first time in 2003. While our time there was enjoyable, I began to question our ability to make an impact through short-term missions by the end of the trip. I asked our host if there was something that we could do in this short amount of time that would be better than simply cashing in the money for the plane ticket and having him do something useful with it. He suggested HIV/AIDS ministry....and so our work began. Initially, we went to serve strangers in Zambia, but they have granted us the privilege of becoming their friends, brothers, sisters, and co-laborers. This is the thing that I appreciate most – the people, Zambian and American, who put themselves aside to serve others … and the children who sit on our laps and are innocently unaware of what we give up for this moment with them.

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Mary Morgan, Financial Officer

I am an accountant as well as a wife and mother of 3 boys (Alex, Daniel, and Terry).  I recently received a masters degree in Forensic Accounting. While most people have started this ministry with a trip to Zambia, I have enjoyed my behind-the-scenes role of handling the corporate paperwork and financial transactions.