About Us | Our Team

For the first ten years of his ministry he helped plant two churches in the inner city of San Francisco: a Central American refugee church and an Intentional Christian Community.  Eighteen years ago the leadership of Central American church asked Steve if he would start a ministry that would help get resources to the people in greater need: Central Americans in Central America.

At that time he started Beyond Partnership.  Presently he is team leader of the ministry.  He leads short term groups and coordinates the ministry.

there she was able to learn English. After those years her parents decided to come back to their homeland and start churches in the poor area of zone 18, a very well know area by the crime and gangs, there she started working with the kids of all the neighborhoods where her parents were planting churches, the strategy was to develop a children’s program that would allow them (the de la Cruz family) to evangelize the kids and the parents, since she spoke English and had experience working with kids she joined Beyond Partnership in 2001.

Beyond Partnership

Victoria was introduced to Beyond Partnership through her dad’s ministry when she was 13, and has been working for BP full time for 8 years, has had the opportunity to work in her homeland Guatemala and also in Cambodia as the project coordinator, her job is to do all the logistics, lead the team, and the children’s program while the team is in the area where she works.

Her passion is to see nationals being respected and loved as equals, which is why she believes it is great to work with Beyond Partnership because that is Beyond Partnership’s biggest goal, to work under nationals.

While living in Central L.A. for nine years, and being in the midst of the city during the famous Rodney King riots in 1992, Mike was touched by God’s justice and love for the poor and people of different races and nationalities. Upon graduation, he visited Guatemala for the first time, studying Spanish to be able to communicate with his Central American neighbors. For two-and-a-half years Mike was the Acquisitions Manager for a national affordable housing non-profit organization, in charge of the entire L.A. basin. But then he was moved by the Lord to pack up and move to Guatemala on his own, not really knowing what God had in mind. Mike found work teaching English for two years, and it was during this time that he met his wife Lesly.

Lesly is from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. She was a youth leader in her church and held a small group Bible study in her home, which grew to 50 people. She was also leading children’s programs in the church and in a local orphanage, doing puppets, music, etc. After graduating from school with a degree in Early Childhood Education she was given the opportunity to go to Michigan to study English for a year and a half. She then returned home and was an English teacher in local schools.

Together they have been leading teams with Beyond Partnership since 2001. They focus on projects in Honduras, Nicaragua & Panama and love to see the Lord work through the Central American poor to affect the lives of North Americans and vice versa. They currently live in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.

into a more fulfilling occupation. So in August of 2007 after departing the corporate world, Rick was appointed by Missions Door to serve as an East Coast Team Leader for Beyond Partnership.  Lee Ann is a full-time art teacher in the Oneonta school district and will accompany Rick on church visitations and team projects when school breaks allow.  God has opened the eyes of their hearts while they have sacrificed and modified their lifestyles – it has been a journey that they had not planned for but one that they would never change.

Rick & Lee Ann’s journey with missions became more focused after they served on two short term mission trips to the Navajo Reservation in Tse Bonito, NM with their home church in Pennsylvania.  It then continued with their current church in upstate New York and their older daughter’s trip to Honduras with Partnership in 1999.  From that point forward, the Myers family had been changed forever!  Since that trip first trip they have participated on teams in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Cambodia and have sensed God’s reassurance in their stepping up to serve Him.   

Rick’s role with Beyond Partnership is three-fold: 

• First he will coordinate with national missionaries to identify and prioritize their needs with regards to church building projects then recruit and lead North American church building teams to fulfill those needs.  All details from pre-trip team development and training through post-trip team debriefing as well as handling all the trip logistics while “in country” are coordinated by Rick as team leader.
• Second, he will also act as a liaison to inner city missionaries serving in New York City, utilizing a modified version of the model developed for Central America projects.
• Third, Rick will work with Central American missionaries to identify and assist in the development and implementation of economic programs that would help local church leaders finance their ministries.  From oxen for farming and transportation to maize grinding to other micro business enterprises, Rick will assist the national missionaries in this effort.

Rick says, “It is a true pleasure being part of a larger plan than our own – if we can share our story and inspire you and your walk with God, let us know!”    Rick’s favorite verse is 1 Corinthians 2:9 

In 1999, she decided she didn’t want to live a complacent Christian life.  She was tired of being the driver of her life and letting God be the passenger.  She started praying that God would allow her to live “life on the edge” for Him.  She started an accounting and tax business in 2000 which provided her with more opportunities to be used by God.

A few years ago she felt God prompting her to help the homeless.  She served on the board of “A Hand Up…Not A Hand Out” homeless organization for the past few years.  Working with the homeless gave her a passion for those less fortunate than her.  She met and befriended people from all walks of life who through various circumstances became homeless.  During this time she felt called to go to Honduras on a mission trip with Beyond Partnership under the team leadership of Eric and Gloria Hodel.  What she experienced changed her life.  Working alongside the poor not only showed her how much she had taken for granted in her life but also how much she thought she deserved in order to be happy.  To see people who have so little in the way of possessions but have so much joy was very convicting.  It changed her perspective on what’s truly important in life.  Her desire to help people drew her to Honduras but her love for them and the desire to build relationships with them brings her back. 

Jan feels blessed to have recently joined the Beyond Partnership team.  To be able to use her accounting skills and help the poor at the same time is a dream come true.

for ten years. While serving in full-time youth ministry and, by God's intervention, was chosen to lead his church on his first trip to Cambodia. That helped him see what being a missionary was all about: serving and coming alongside or partnering - with other Christians to minister in a third-world country. After repeated trips to Cambodia, volunteering as a leader for his church, he was asked to join the Beyond Partnership staff to lead and develop new teams.

Beyond Partnership

Andy has led numerous teams to Cambodia and now will start helping lead teams in Guatemala. He has a strong desire to see new teams develop to carry on the vision of partnering with local, indigenous church planting ministries to the poor. His greatest joys in working with teams is seeing that “Ah hah” moment when teams who came to “work with the poor” and do a “missions project” realize that they are the ones being ministered to and their faith is strengthened by those that the world sees as least. He cherishes this moment because he remembers when he had that specific change in heart and perspective.

David was appointed as a missionary in 2006 and lived in Nicaragua during 2007. Working under Pastor Rigoberto Reyes, he has aided many projects including building and starting a welding school. Kay supported the ministry from Massachusetts, and joined David throughout the year.

Working from the States now, their ministry in Nicaragua includes supporting the welding school along with a new project to provide clean water and sanitation. They are also involved with another group which is building a shelter for victims of domestic violence.

television, he worked for over 5 years producing videos for Christian churches and schools in need of raising funds. Sean’s true passion, however, is working with the poor. It is through the poor that God grabbed his attention and brought him to the knowledge of Jesus as his Lord and personal Savior.

Beyond Partnership

Sean has been participating with Beyond Partnership short-term mission teams for over 10 years. During this time, he has documented various team experiences. One of his videos, "The Amazing Mission, Cambodia" won two national awards. However, one of his biggest highlight over the course of his years with Beyond Partnership was in 2004 when he married a local Guatemalan woman, Roxana. Sean and Roxana recently had a little baby girl, Haidyn Grace Milner. Sean continues to work with Beyond Partnership producing videos, web, and other communication tools. His role is to share the heart of the National Ministries, and how their ministry is not only impacting their own people but also the team members coming from the United States.

with these teams to build church buildings and to help and encourage local Cambodian Christians.

Prior to becoming a part of these special efforts, Corky held technical and management positions in the Telecommunications and Data Industry for over 30 years, and then lived and worked in five different European countries over the following nine years.

Upon returning to the US, while searching again for God’s will in this stage of his life, he participated in a short-term mission trip with the First Baptist Church of Los Altos, California. This experience sparked a renewed love for service to others that lead him to serve the poor in Cambodia in this special way.

Beyond Partnership

Corky says that his love for the Lord, for adventure, travel and now for the people of Cambodia and the Beyond Partnership and CMC Teams he works with, has been a blessing he could not have even imagined six years ago.

“What can I do for my Lord, he asks?” Answering not only with his voice, but with his actions, “Love and help those in this world that need assistance the most, the poor.” He followed this by stating that he has never before observed and experienced love for others, love from others quite like this.

Corky has been married to Donna for over 40 years. They have been blessed with two wonderful boys, young men now, that also know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

term missions with Beyond Partnership since 1999. In May of 2004 Josh and Dayna went on their first short-term mission trip to Guatemala, and from that moment on knew missions was something they wanted to pursue.

Dayna loves photography and always wanted to use it to help tell the story of the poor. While on a team in 2007 to Guatemala, Steve Reed of Beyond Partnership said they needed someone to photograph the children of the pastors there for a new program. She asked if she could help. She now travels to Guatemala twice a year to photograph and interview children of Pastors. She finds partners for the children here in the States and then she communicates with their U.S. partners on their progress of the children and their families. Click here for info about Beyond Partnership Website Children’s fund 

Dayna can sum up her passion for the program by one comment made by Pastor Jerson Cartagena. She asked him what his hopes and fears were for his children. He said, “I fear that they will see how hard the work of the Lord is and they will become exhausted and lose their love for Him.” She doesn’t see her ministry as one that “saves souls”, but rather provides a small amount of relief to those who do.

a Christian home and committed his life to Christ at age 22. Gloria was born in Lodi, California, and grew up in a loving Catholic home. They met and were married when in their 20s and raised 3 daughters who live nearby. They also have 5 grandchildren whom they love very much.

In the late 1990s they began attending bible studies and Calvary Bible Church in Lodi. In 2000 they participated in their first short-term mission trip to Honduras and their lives were changed forever. Christ became more real to them than ever before and they were baptized at Calvary Bible Church in April of 2001. Over the years they have become more deeply involved in working with Beyond Partnership. They have been involved in coordinating multiple trips to Central America each year, and plan to be even more involved in the coming years.

Gloria has recently retired from her job and is dedicating much of her time to learning the Spanish language in addition to helping with projects. They love to work side by side with their Central American brothers and sisters, sharing duties and responsibilities, worship and play, and most of all the relationships between the Central Americans and the North Americans. Christ is alive and well in these churches and the people of Central America.

a medical provider. In 1997 she and her husband, Dave, had the opportunity to participate in a medical team to Guatemala. The work was hard and the hours were long but working with the poor was the most meaningful thing they had ever done. She was overwhelmed with the number of people in need and a missionary told her that she just needed to concentrate on the person before her and if there was nothing medical that would help then to share prayer and the love of the Great Physisian, Jesus Christ.

A couple years later, Jan and her family had the opportunity to participate in a short term mission with Beyond Partnership. It was a building mission rather than a medical team. She didn’t realize that this team would change all of their lives forever. "The first thing I remember Steve Reed asking the team was if they thought God loves us more because we have more? And does God love the poor less because they have less?” She was astonished at this statement. This statement changed her world view forever. She realized that Beyond Partnership teams are completely focused on sharing as Christians, on relationships and respect rather than one of dominance and control and being the one to come and save the day. On the building teams Jan and her husband really had the opportunity to make relationships with the Guatemalans—to talk with them, to eat with them in their homes and to work side by side.

all of their lives and have been members of The Heights Church for 12 years now. They are both active in the church working the lights and sound for worship on Sunday morning services. They feel that God has placed on their hearts to serve the poor and they feel that the philosophy of Beyond Partnership fulfills that calling. Jeff and Donna have been doing part time missions for about ten years now, and have been in volunteer leadership for the past five years.

They live in Prescott Arizone and have been married for 29 years and they have three grown children. Ben, Adam and Caitlin.

He works at Gordon College in Wenham, MA, where he has led STMs with college students since 1989. He is involved with the mission program at his home church—West Congregational, Haverhill, MA and served on the National Short Term Mission Conference planning team for five years. Phil’s nine years of experience in student and leadership development along with over 20 years of short-term mission experience have given him a love for team development and ministry.  

Phil has been taking teams to Central America through Beyond Partnership since 1993 and volunteers with Beyond Partnership in the summer.

2007 and had triple cardiac bypass surgery a week later. He has been involved in local churches since childhood and has served in multiple ministry capacities.

Beyond Partnership

Steve has participated in projects with Beyond Partnership since 1996. Though he became interested primarily because of the construction element of the experience, his involvement has evolved. He has helped lead and host teams for over ten years; both as a
representative of his local church, and as a member of the Beyond Partnership team. Steve has developed relationships with several of the national leaders in Central America, and has been honored to serve them by working with their mission organization in the United States.

Steve receives tremendous fulfillment, and believes that it pleases God, when he and his North American brothers and sisters are serving their Central American brothers and sisters; as they work to make disciples in their part of the world.