Church Trips Team

Marty began serving at Compassion in 2010 as part of an on-going life calling to serve the poor. It was while studying abroad in Latin America during college and through many short-term mission trips that Marty was first made aware of the plight of the poor and was burdened with a desire to understand how the Church was to love and serve others in desperate need. Since that time Marty has been driven to be a part of serving and equipping the Church to live out her God-given calling of bringing about the reconciliation of all things (Col. 1:20), specifically in the realm of poverty alleviation.

Marty graduated from Colorado Christian University in 1999, having majored in Spanish and Biblical Studies. He later earned a master’s degree in Intercultural Studies and Missions from Hope International University in 2013.

After graduating from college, he served with the Council for Christian Colleges in Costa Rica and later as a Spanish interpreter in the Denver area. Prior to joining the team at Compassion, Marty worked at Food for the Hungry in a variety of capacities, beginning as National Teams Coordinator in Peru. Later, he served on the Global Human Resources team focusing on staff recruiting and training.

A Colorado native, Marty resides in Colorado Springs where he and his wife, Tammy, along with their two sons, Solomon and Silas, enjoy being close to family and the Colorado outdoors. Together they enjoy traveling, camping, board games, reading, exercising, good movies, time with friends and their church family. Marty and Tammy serve with Awana at their home church. They also enjoy hosting small-group Bible studies in their home.

Marty is a sucker for a good cup of coffee, time spent in the Rocky Mountains, his sons’ laughter and his wife’s smile. He loves working on the Compassion Trips & Visits team of Church Trip Planners in their effort to serve the Church specifically in cross-cultural contexts to support Compassion’s work of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Rachel was born and raised in Winona, Minnesota — a small town on the Mississippi River. You may catch her with a Minnesotan accent every now and then! She has a deep love and appreciation for the roots she established growing up — especially playing cards weekly with her grandpa and the lessons she learned from Cribbage.

At age 18, Rachel attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma — no this was not to get away from the snow of Minnesota! After much prayer and God’s leading, Rachel felt God drawing her 12 hours away from home. She majored in English Bible and minored in Christian Counseling/Spiritual Development. She is fascinated by the Old Testament and the historical/cultural impact on Scripture.

At a young age, Rachel’s love for people, cultures and languages began when she traveled to Japan as a student ambassador. This love has only planted its roots deeper in her heart since coming to Compassion. When Rachel met her sponsored child, Pascaline, it fueled a passion for Compassion’s mission to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. Seeing the work of Compassion firsthand, witnessing the tireless effort each staff member pours into each child and experiencing the joy of moments with her sponsored child were life-changing events.

To share her deep love of Compassion with others, show the impact of Compassion to church partners, sponsors and donors, and have a little fun while experiencing all of this, is what fuels Rachel each trip.

Rachel loves coffee, working out, hiking in Colorado, reading and playing guitar. She enjoys seeing the potential in people and encouraging their development. She is always up for a challenge — physically or mentally — and no adventure is off the plate! After all, life is a grand adventure orchestrated and narrated by the Divine Author.

Claudia has been on a journey serving at Compassion International for over a decade, during which time her life has been turned upside down by witnessing God’s hand at work through the ministry. It has been a time of deep engagement, growing, reflection and transformation, and she loves to share the same invitation with everyone she interacts with as part of the Trips & Visits team.

With a God-given passion for children and the Church, Claudia embraces the opportunity to serve both in her role as an International Trip Planner.

Originally from Nuremberg, Germany, Claudia came to the United States in 1995 and has three beautiful children of her own: Chevalier (right), Tatiana (left) and Solomon (top). In addition, she mentors two beautiful foster children, Misti and Abigail, whom she loves as if they were her own daughters.

Together Claudia and her family love youth camp, kids club, babysitting children with special needs — anything that involves caring for and being around children! It is out of her own story of God working through her life as a single mother that Claudia’s passion for the poor was ignited, and she is blessed to witness and lead others to experience His same work of transformation through Compassion.

Claudia loves experiencing new cultures, cooking and watching crime shows. She is also an animal lover. Mostly, she is thrilled to live out a God-given calling of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name at Compassion International.

Keith is from Compassion’s very own Colorado Springs, where he has lived the majority of his life. Keith is married to his college sweetheart, Megan, who is an English teacher at a charter school in Colorado Springs. Together they have two sons, Levi and Graham.

Keith’s life was radically changed in 2001 when he boarded a plane to Belize to participate in a four-month study abroad program. For the first time, Keith was exposed to the injustices of poverty while working with indigenous Mayans displaced due to nearby industrial development. This work ignited a spark in Keith which has since become a life-long passion for raising awareness about poverty and speaking up against injustices in the developing world.

Just after college, Keith and Megan served together in the Republic of Macedonia as Peace Corps Volunteers where Keith served a small non-profit chartered to help Gypsy (Roma) children move from street begging to traditional classrooms. During those two years, Keith and Megan backpacked throughout Eastern Europe, developing a love for culture, language and travel. Keith combined Peace Corps with further studies in International Development through Colorado State University. He earned a Master of Science degree upon returning to the U.S.

In 2008, Keith and Megan returned to Colorado Springs, where the Lord led Keith to a job which allowed him to use his cross-cultural expertise in coordinating mission trips for an organization working with children in the developing world. Keith served in this role for five years before moving to Compassion International in a similar role in January of 2014.

As a Trip Leader, Keith brings a passion for cross-cultural ministry and social justice to every trip. Above all, Keith desires for all sponsors to see the joyfulness and playfulness of the children in Compassion’s child development centers despite the struggles they face at home. Travel with Keith and you will sense the excitement and optimism he sees in experiencing the amazing work happening through the international Church and its partnership with Compassion International.

Kimberly grew up in Seattle, Washington. Although Kimberly (“Kim”) loved the beauty of the Northwest, she was happy to move from the rain to sunny southern California, where she attended Vanguard University of Southern California, earning a bachelor’s degree in Communication with an emphasis in TV/Film.

Kim worked for one year in advertising, then felt the call of God into youth ministry and missions. She began youth pastoring at a primarily Hispanic inner-city church in East Los Angeles, where she fell in love with inner-city ministry and with missions. In this position as youth pastor, Kim took the youth on annual mission trips to a small community in Baja California, Mexico, and on various longer-distance mission trips. Working in this small community in Mexico is where Kim really saw God’s heart for the poor and abandoned, and she resolved to not turn a blind eye. She served at that church for eight years as their youth pastor while also working at Vanguard University in the Communications Department. Kim later graduated with a Master of Arts in Leadership Studies.

In 2009, Kim took a step of faith. She sold everything, quit her job at Vanguard and moved to Costa Rica where she completed the Discipleship Training School (DTS) program with Youth with a Mission (YWAM). During this six-month experience, Kim was changed and accepted a God-given call to work in missions full time. She served full time with YWAM Costa Rica from 2010 until 2011, when she unexpectedly had to return to the United States for a family illness.

Although Kim didn’t understand what God was doing at the time, all along He was preparing the way for her next season of ministry. In August of 2011 she was hired once again by Vanguard University to run their missions program as the Local/Global Outreach Coordinator. In this position, Kim was responsible for all 11 international summer mission trips and two spring break trips along with all local ministries that the student body served in the Orange County area. Kim has had the blessing to travel to over 15 developing countries serving in missions.

Through divine open doors, God brought Kim to Compassion to serve as a Trip Leader in 2014 during which time she also lived out her love for cultures as a flight attendant. Kim later began serving full time at Compassion as an International Trip Planner, and she couldn't be more excited to live out her God-given calling as part of the Trips & Visits team to support releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Schaun grew up in Apartheid South Africa without any regard for the poor and needy, the countless children orphaned by HIV/AIDS or those discriminated against because of the color of their skin. After devoting his life to Christ, God opened his eyes to the plight of the orphan and vulnerable child, and he developed a deep love for all of God's children. Psalm 82:3 became the marching orders for his life: “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.”

This purpose has taken him on a journey to 30-plus nations serving the most vulnerable in their greatest need as a missions pastor and missionary. He has been involved with church-planting, fighting human trafficking, sustainable community development, micro-finance, establishing schools, discipleship and transformative children’s programs. This same purpose has now brought him to serve on the Compassion Trips & Visits team. He is inspired by seeing people reach their full, God-given potential regardless of their, sometimes tragic, situations.

Schaun, his wife, Kosi, and their daughter, Mackenzie, moved to Colorado Springs in 2018. They love exploring the trails and mountains around this beautiful city and building meaningful relationships in their adopted home. This family loves music, laughter, travel and adventure. Schaun played international rugby, loves his coffee and thinks life is worth living to its absolute max.

Lisa is a San Francisco native and Colorado transplant who began working for Compassion in 2017.

Before coming to Compassion, she spent a year living and serving in Malawi, Africa. She also studied nursing for three years, and during the first part of her professional career, she served in various medical roles across different states in the U.S.

Although she does not have a family of her own yet, she enjoys spending time with her parents, siblings and niece.

Lisa loves Jesus, dogs, iced coffee, traveling, laughing, cooking, the ocean, board games and hanging out with friends.

You can often find her taking long mountain drives and staring at sunsets. She has a huge passion for travel and loves that she is able to help people experience a world outside their own.

Jerrell hails from San Jose, California, and is the first-generation American in his family. His parents moved to California in the early ’80s from the Philippines with his older sister and brother, and few years later, Jerrell was born. He is a hunter of all things tasty and would spend all day at the beach if he could.

Jerrell has been married for nine years and has two wild and beautiful children, Kalvari and Evalyse. His wife and he have been a dynamic duo in youth ministry for 10 years now. They moved from California to Colorado in 2013 to help plant a church, launch a youth ministry and lead mission trips. Jerrell’s family loves being in the Compassion ministry field countries, and they look forward to more adventures in the future.