Our Missionaries
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Peggy Corcoran, Trans World Radio, North Carolina
Calvary Church is home to Peg and her husband, Tom. Commissioned to the mission field by Calvary Church in 1984, Tom and Peg spent the first eight years of the Trans World Radio (TWR) missionary service in Sri Lanka. They moved to the Caribbean Island of Bonaire in 1992 and in 1997 moved to Miami, Florida to establish TWR's Latin America regional office there. In 2000, another move took them to North Carolina where Peg spent sixteen years at TWR's office in Cary, North Carolina as International Program Coordinator for TWR's women's ministry. Tom and Peg now reside in Baldwin, New York, where she continues to serve with TWR remotely as part of TWR's Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships team. |
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John and Nancy DeValve, SIM, Global Ministry
John and Nancy served together in Niger, West Africa with SIM since 1987. From 1987 to 1992, they worked in Niamey (the capital of Niger) teaching missionary kids, working with African youth, and helping start an urban church. In 1992, they moved to the isolated town of Téra where for sixteen years they engaged in a ministry of evangelism and discipleship amongst the unreached Muslim Songhai people. From 2008 to 2021, they were back in Niamey where Nancy served as the SIM Niger personnel officer while John taught at the SIM theological college and mentored missionaries and local people. Currently they are based in the USA where they are working remotely for SIM. Nancy is handling personnel email and administrative details for SIM fields while John is working as a theological education consultant for francophone West Africa. He makes at least one annual trip to Niger to teach at the theological college. John and Nancy enjoy being closer to their children and grandchildren. |
Mike and Caryn DiGena, EFCA Europe, France
Mike and Caryn DiGena are career missionaries to France. Both were headed for mission work in France before they met. When the Lord brought them together, it was a great confirmation of the Lord's calling. Caryn is from Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) and is a member of the First Baptist Church in Doylestown, PA. Michael is originally from Irvington, NJ and came to know the Lord when he was a junior at Montclair State College. He is a member of Calvary E.F.C. in Essex Falls, NJ. Mike and Caryn ministered in Lyon, France for three years and relocated to Montpellier, France in 2000. They later returned to Lyon. Mike and Caryn have been led to church planting and are part of the Lyon City Team in establishing church plants in the area of Lyon, where only 0.2% of the population are evangelical believers. Mike serves as City Team Leader. Mike and Caryn have also been active members in a French church plant originally initiated by colleagues. Their vision is to multiply healthy communities of worshippers among all people for the glory of God.
Mike and Caryn DiGena are career missionaries to France. Both were headed for mission work in France before they met. When the Lord brought them together, it was a great confirmation of the Lord's calling. Caryn is from Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) and is a member of the First Baptist Church in Doylestown, PA. Michael is originally from Irvington, NJ and came to know the Lord when he was a junior at Montclair State College. He is a member of Calvary E.F.C. in Essex Falls, NJ. Mike and Caryn ministered in Lyon, France for three years and relocated to Montpellier, France in 2000. They later returned to Lyon. Mike and Caryn have been led to church planting and are part of the Lyon City Team in establishing church plants in the area of Lyon, where only 0.2% of the population are evangelical believers. Mike serves as City Team Leader. Mike and Caryn have also been active members in a French church plant originally initiated by colleagues. Their vision is to multiply healthy communities of worshippers among all people for the glory of God.
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Brian and Jenny Maret, SIM USA, North Carolina
Brian grew up in Calvary Church and was ordained through the church in 1957. Brian and Jenny served in Somalia for almost five years and then in Ethiopia for thirteen. Brian and Jenny left Ethiopia in 1976 when the government was overthrown. After that, they both worked in the SIM office in New Jersey and then in North Carolina. When Brian retired, he continued to volunteer full time, buying and shipping supplies for missionaries, schools, and hospitals. Since the downsizing of the Purchasing and Shipping Department, Brian works part time at the SIM office. Jenny worked part time for Derek Prince Ministries in Charlotte, North Carolina until her retirement. |
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Gary and Karen Shogren, World Venture, Costa Rica
Born in Rhode Island, Gary was raised in a Christian family. He accepted Christ at a Good News Club and, at the age of fourteen, felt a powerful call to ministry. After completing his Ph.D. in New Testament exegesis, Gary pastored a church in New Hampshire and then began work as a seminary professor. Karen grew up near Philadelphia and gave her heart to the Lord at a young age. Early in her teen years, she sensed that God wanted her to work cross-culturally. God used many fellow Christians from church, youth group, Christian high school, and college to mentor her in faith and service to others, especially through education and music. |
After many years of ministry in the United States, Gary and Karen were called to learn Spanish and to begin ministering in Costa Rica. Just as North America enjoys a huge surplus of resources compared with Latin America, so too it is rich in theologians, Christian writers, and seminaries. Gary and Karen work in an area where it is difficult to get a sound Bible education, even when students are motivated. Part of the Shogrens' reward is to work in a field where there is this greater need. Gary trains men and women in the field of New Testament exegesis. He is also a writer, blogger, and a translation consultant for Wycliffe Associates. Currently he is the final editor for the SUN translation, a new language written for the deaf non-reader. In 2020, Karen founded Levanta La Voz, an international ministry dedicated to training faith communities to prevent and respond to sexual harm, both as individuals and as organizations. She authored and teaches a free, online, eight-week course to train church leaders (either in English or Spanish), runs in-person church workshops, and teaches a nine-month seminary program at ESEPA Seminary in Costa Rica.
Their website: www.shogrens.com
WorldVenture donation link for the Shogrens: https://worldventure.com/pworker/4000-055-shogren-gary-and-karen/
Their contact information:
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Karen
Phone and WhatsApp: 717-413-1764 Email: [email protected] Ministry website: LevantaLaVoz.com Ministry social media pages: Facebook.com/LevantaLaVozEnglish Instagram.com/LevantaLaVozEnglish Facebook.com/LevantaLaVozEspanol Instagram.com/Levanta_La_Voz_Espanol |
Gary
Phone and WhatsApp: 717-663-8577 Email: [email protected] Gary’s blogs: razondelaesperanza.com openoureyeslord.com |
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Chris Studley and Family, Northern Frontier Camp
Chris Studley was blessed to discover Northern Frontier as a Stockader at the age of ten and is now thrilled to be the director. Over the years, he has served on NF staff in a variety of positions (counselor, water front director, battalion program director) and was happily joined by his family for eight summers. Chris spent eighteen years as a teacher in Trenton, New Jersey. He loves the outdoors and all things rock climbing. God has given him a heart for discipling boys and men so they understand who God created them to be and how to use their gifts to bring Him glory. He loves combining these passions at Northern Frontier. During the year, he and his wife, Kelly, who serves as the NF secretary, live in Yardley, PA with their children. At home, they are involved in their church, where Chris serves as an elder, and in their community, where he can usually be found coaching on the soccer field. |
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Missions Projects We Support
Camp Orchard Hill
In 1972, the Eastern District Association of the Evangelical Free Church of America purchased property in Dallas, PA with the intention of providing a more centrally located camp for the churches in the southern part of the district. An apple orchard was located on the property, so the camp was named Camp Orchard Hill. The camp is open year-round and, in addition to running retreats for various groups and ages, makes its facilities available for church groups to rent. Camp Orchard Hill is dedicated to the Lord for biblically centered teaching and training.
Camp Orchard Hill continues to improve facilities, programs, activities, and staff so that they can meet the physical, emotional, social, mental, and spiritual needs of their guests. They seek to be a center for effective ministry by creating and maintaining a community of "learning by doing." The result is a multi-tiered ministry where participants receive blessings from a well run, God-directed program and where staff refine their ministry and calling.
In 1972, the Eastern District Association of the Evangelical Free Church of America purchased property in Dallas, PA with the intention of providing a more centrally located camp for the churches in the southern part of the district. An apple orchard was located on the property, so the camp was named Camp Orchard Hill. The camp is open year-round and, in addition to running retreats for various groups and ages, makes its facilities available for church groups to rent. Camp Orchard Hill is dedicated to the Lord for biblically centered teaching and training.
Camp Orchard Hill continues to improve facilities, programs, activities, and staff so that they can meet the physical, emotional, social, mental, and spiritual needs of their guests. They seek to be a center for effective ministry by creating and maintaining a community of "learning by doing." The result is a multi-tiered ministry where participants receive blessings from a well run, God-directed program and where staff refine their ministry and calling.
Reaching Haiti for Christ
[The following information is from the RH4CM website and has been lightly edited for clarity.]
Reaching Haiti 4 Christ Ministries (RH4CM) is a faith-based not for profit organization housed under the administrative umbrella of the Evangelical Free Church of America. RH4CM was founded in 2006 by Reverend Steven Daniel Exantus and his wife Mercenieuse (both natives of Haiti) and is dedicated to serving communities in Haiti through empowerment, education, and evangelization.
RH4CM has at the heart of its mission to spread the word of God across Haiti to those who will listen. Through this ministry many souls have come to Christ, but many more are still without hope. We currently have two churches in Haiti: one in Port-au-Prince, another in Bombardopolis.
At RH4CM, we believe that education is the key to success. And we believe that it is our duty to make sure those whom we support get a quality education. In Bombardopolis, we have a two-room school (thanks to our supporters) that serves over 150 children in six grades. In Port-au-Prince, our school serves 150 children in an area of the city in need of a safe environment for learning. Through these two schools, we are providing a Christian education which will empower the Haitian children to eventually contribute back to their communities.
[The following information is from the RH4CM website and has been lightly edited for clarity.]
Reaching Haiti 4 Christ Ministries (RH4CM) is a faith-based not for profit organization housed under the administrative umbrella of the Evangelical Free Church of America. RH4CM was founded in 2006 by Reverend Steven Daniel Exantus and his wife Mercenieuse (both natives of Haiti) and is dedicated to serving communities in Haiti through empowerment, education, and evangelization.
RH4CM has at the heart of its mission to spread the word of God across Haiti to those who will listen. Through this ministry many souls have come to Christ, but many more are still without hope. We currently have two churches in Haiti: one in Port-au-Prince, another in Bombardopolis.
At RH4CM, we believe that education is the key to success. And we believe that it is our duty to make sure those whom we support get a quality education. In Bombardopolis, we have a two-room school (thanks to our supporters) that serves over 150 children in six grades. In Port-au-Prince, our school serves 150 children in an area of the city in need of a safe environment for learning. Through these two schools, we are providing a Christian education which will empower the Haitian children to eventually contribute back to their communities.
St. Paul's House
St. Paul's House was started in 1943 by J.J.D. "Daddy" Hall and Creighton Dunlap, street evangelists operating out of an apartment on 45th Street in New York City. When they purchased their present location on 51st Street in 1945, their focus shifted to training Christian workers and reaching out to the local community and to the homeless of the Times Square District. Today's Executive Director, Rev. Shandra J. Velez, started serving at St Paul's in 2000.
St. Paul's House operates as an independent mission house, with the same goal of training Christian workers. This goal has developed into the J.J.D. Hall Internship Program. Student residents are invited to live at St. Paul's for six to twelve months, and, during their stay, they receive discipleship training and hands-on experience in urban ministry and overseas missions. The interns are responsible for running all the various outreach programs of St. Paul's House. Their programs include community Gospel services, a soup kitchen, a food pantry, and Heartbeat Youth Hangouts.
St. Paul's House was started in 1943 by J.J.D. "Daddy" Hall and Creighton Dunlap, street evangelists operating out of an apartment on 45th Street in New York City. When they purchased their present location on 51st Street in 1945, their focus shifted to training Christian workers and reaching out to the local community and to the homeless of the Times Square District. Today's Executive Director, Rev. Shandra J. Velez, started serving at St Paul's in 2000.
St. Paul's House operates as an independent mission house, with the same goal of training Christian workers. This goal has developed into the J.J.D. Hall Internship Program. Student residents are invited to live at St. Paul's for six to twelve months, and, during their stay, they receive discipleship training and hands-on experience in urban ministry and overseas missions. The interns are responsible for running all the various outreach programs of St. Paul's House. Their programs include community Gospel services, a soup kitchen, a food pantry, and Heartbeat Youth Hangouts.