Meet The Team

Dan Fabrizio -- President

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Dan first went to East Africa in 1990 and has served on two non-profit boards for organizations working in Kenya and Uganda. He has a Master of Science Degree in Media Communications from Florida State University. He is the owner of Dogwood Media Productions specializing in producing training and promotional videos for corporate clients as well as nonprofits. He has produced promotional videos for Mission to the World, Campus Crusade for Christ, Action International, Africa Christian Training Institute, the Nairobi Institute, Trinity Center for World Missions and Thomas Charities. Dan and his wife Kim have been married for over 30 years and have three daughters.

Patrick (Vice President) and Priscillah (Women's Field Coordinator) Malasi   are our Kenya Field Operations Coordinators

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Pastor Patrick Malasi  and his wife Priscillah have been working as a team for over 30 years in East Africa. Patrick is our Field Director in charge of Literacy Training as well as Evangelism and Discipleship. He has BA from Nairobi University in Bible and Priscillah is our Table Banking Coordinator who mentors our Table Banking groups. She has a passion for discipleship and literacy and has taken Certificate level courses in both. Priscillah loves people and she has become a mentor to many of the Table Banking groups. They have four children.

Roger Sowder - Board President

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Roger is a retired church planter and pastor in the Presbyterian Church of America and has an MDiv in theology in the Presbyterian Church of America. He planted several new churches and pastored in the West and Southeast. He has extensive experience in missions---leading church mission trips, developing sources of funding for missions and counseling missionaries on the field. Although he has led teams in China, Central America and Europe he has a heart and passion for the East African people.

Jeanne Sowder - Vice-President of the Board

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Jeanne has worked in insurance and banking for over 10 years.  

She has also worked alongside her husband, Roger, in church planting and pastoral ministry as she served in the areas of music, discipleship, and children’s ministries.  Jeanne has a passion for literacy ministry and table banking as a means of empowering women to live out the gospel. Roger and Jeanne have three children, Cameron, Patrick and Kathleen.

Karen Southwell -- Secretary of the Board

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Head Librarian, School of Journalism & Graphic Communication , Florida A & M University 

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I work in a branch of the University Libraries at FAMU and perform other duties for University Libraries in general. As a solo librarian, I get to do a little bit of everything for my library. I assist students and faculty with their research. I assess the curriculum, create helpful guides on each subject and teach library instruction sessions, attend faculty meetings, and buy books. I also perform duties
for University Libraries as a whole. I am the library liaison to the Business School. I serve on the Faculty Senate. I am the Graduate Studies Department liaison librarian.I also manage our virtual reference system.  

Bill Rhey -- Discipleship/Financial Adviser

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Bill has over forty-five years of staff work with the Navigators, an organization dedicated to Christian discipleship. His work included campus ministry at the University of Mississippi and Florida State University, community and church ministry in Brandon and Lakeland, Florida and mission support work in Bulgaria, India, Jamaica, and China.

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He also has over forty years of experience in higher education, as a professor, associate dean, center director, graduate dean and business dean at various universities in Florida and Hawaii.

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He has non-profit board experience with Common Grace of Honolulu, Hawaiian Council for Economic Education (Vice Chair), Metro Rotary of Honolulu (Program Chair) as well as several others.

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Bills education includes a BS from Bucknell University, an MBA from Baylor University and a PHD from the University of Mississippi.

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the village basket

the village basket

The Village Basket Kenya