I am from a large family of eight kids. I was an EMT for almost six years and have been coming to Ukraine since '93 on short term mission trips. Now I have been living in Odessa, Ukraine since December 14th 2005. In the winter shortly before this trip my cousin had asked if I had ever considered massage therapy as a career.  When I heard her say these words it was like bells and whistles went off.  Yes, I believed that is what I was supposed to do, but I didn't really know how I could use it on the mission field.  Then I went to Odessa where God showed me that he wanted to use me to do massage on the babies and to help with their conditions. The abandoned and abused children are becoming an ever increasing burden in Ukraine (sometimes they are even called "rats").

Now, I am a Certified Massage Therapist and Certified Infant Massage Instructor.

My work consists mostly of ministering to abandoned babies at the hospitals and as well as older orphans. I help educate families and caretakers on how to connect and bond with their babies through Infant Massage. I visit these babies regularly, bring supplies when needed and do infant massage.