It all started in Shelbyville, Missouri for this little Hippie kid when He met the lord in 1973.  Patty and were married in 1975 and moved to Kirksville in 1976, where we began to raise our family.  During that time we were leading a group of Christian Hippies in Kirksville called Agape fellowship.  Through the next twenty years we stayed in or around the Kirksville area and were a founding family in Covenant Life Fellowship.  Being a home group leader, deacon, elder, and then extra local team member, I began traveling to other churches from C.L.F. and the leadership team.  During this time we met Doug Kreighbaum, Tony Fajkus, Tom Bedford and many other wonderful brothers and sisters, working closely with them in a team context.  Looking backwards, it hasn't been an easy road but it has been a road where the realities and meaning of friendships have been tested.  I value these brothers and others like Dave Richards from Basingstoke England, and Anthony Earl from Chicago,  who bring accountability and security into my friendships and work in the Kingdom of God.  Today, in the Central United States, different churches are beginning to find common values and vision to build God's Kingdom as a family of churches.  Some of these relationships from my Kirksville days have gone on to pastor churches.  They are now helping to pioneer and build into this exciting chapter of kingdom building.  I get the privilege to travel from Sweden to these churches and see the coming together of old and new friends in a new day of God's grace.  Four times a year we meet to thrash about values and vision and issues regarding this emerging family.  Doug Kreighbaum puts together the initiative for these meetings and a yearly Leadership conference in Pittsburg Kansas.  Dave Richards has been instrumental in being an Apostolic voice into this new Paradigm, and Håkan Gniste from Uddevalla Sweden, has been a Barnabas, a pillar of strength and encouragement to this group.  Many of these brothers have come to Europe and Sweden to renew friendships with my family and meet new brothers in Europe and invest in new foundations in this part of the earth.  The Kingdom of God really is all about relationships and I would never want to do this without cherished friends. 

See pictures of Doug Kreighbaum and Dave Richards.

You can see pictures from different friends in our USA photo album.