Meet the Micah Project Staff
The Micah Project owes much of its success to the passionate and dedicated staff that cares for our young men and works in our ministries. It can be an intense calling: 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, we are involved in our boys' lives, making sure that they receive all that is necessary to grow up to be the men that God created them to be. It takes patience and a willingness to hold on to hope as the young men leave the darkness of their past lives behind them and move towards Christian adulthood. Please use this page to pray for our courageous staff!
Michael Miller, Founding Director. Michael first came to Honduras to work with street kids in 1993 on a six-month internship through Wheaton College's International Studies Program (HNGR). In 1998, he moved back to make this work his life's calling. While aiding in the reconstruction effort after Hurricane Mitch ravished Honduras in October 1998, Michael began to develop a vision for the Micah Project, which opened doors in January 2000. Michael has been the executive director and group home dad at the Micah Project ever since!
Roger Figueroa, Activities coordinator, mentor (pictured center). Roger has worked with street kids since 1996, when he began to work in a drug rehabilitation center for street kids in Tegucigalpa. Having grown up in a similar environment as the boys, Roger understands them and can mentor them as they leave their pasts behind.
Roger has served faithfully with the Micah Project since we opened our doors in January 2000. Currently, he teaches school at the AFE project in the city dump in the mornings and serves at the Micah House in the afternoons and on weekends.
John and Rebecca Bell are a couple with a true calling for missions, which is lived out daily in the passionate and wisdom-filled way in which they minister. Rebecca Haver Bell joined us in March of 2004, and is currently Director of Operations. She graduated from Malone College in Ohio in 2000, and then from Wheaton College in December 2001 with a MA in Intercultural Studies. She joined the staff of our ministry after spending time training and working in group homes for street boys in both Mozambique and Brazil in the previous two years.
John Bell married Rebecca in December of 2008 (they had met in Wheaton eight years prior!). After graduating from Wheaton College, John worked in Mexico as a missionary, first with CFCI and then with Instituto CanZion. John serves as chaplain with the Micah Project and spends a lot of time pastoring the boys one-on-one and in small groups.
Marlon Castellanos joined the Micah Project in February of 2006 as the Leadership house coordinator. He is married to Nohemy and they have a daughter Elizabeth who was born in September 2006. As coordinator of the Leadership House, Marlon is very involved with our older guys who live in there and those that study in universities outside of Tegucigalpa. Marlon also coordinates the legal affairs of the project, making sure that our paperwork is current with the Honduran government.
Aida Martinez, cook. Aida came to the Micah Project in May 2000, after working for twelve years in another program for street children in Tegucigalpa. Aida takes care of the weekday meals for the Micah Project. The boys' nickname for Aida indicates that she is much more than a cook: they call her "Mama Aida!"
Ana Herman: Teacher, group home assistant. Ana has worked with the Micah Project since 2001. She teaches in our elementary school programs each weekday morning. In the afternoon, she helps keep the Micah House running, which includes our weekly grocery purchases, helping in the kitchen (especially when we have groups) and organizing the daily laundry and housecleaning.
Paty Pavon: Paty is a part-time teacher in our educational program. She teaches beginning reading and math to our young men who are just coming off the streets and beginning their education. In the afternoons, Paty studies education at the university. We have known her family since 1998, when they lost their home in Hurricane Mitch. She currently lives with her mom Flora in our Villa Linda Miller community; we use their home as our base of operations when we work with missionary groups in that community!
Wendy Varela (seated in photo): part-time teacher. Wendy teaches high school language arts and humanities in our education program. She also uses her college degree (in counseling) by helping our young men get psychological and psychiatric services when needed.
Jenna Miller, missionary. Jenna joined the Micah Project in August of 2009, although she had volunteered with us throughout 2008 while teaching at a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa. Jenna is a Californian who graduated from Biola University in Los Angeles with a degree in graphic design. She and David Hawthorne serve as our communications coordinators, while also wearing a variety of hats in the daily life of the Micah Project, including teacher, mentor, and group home on-duty person.
David H., missionary. David joined the Micah Project in the fall of 2009 after serving with us for six month in 2008 as an intern from Wheaton College. As mentioned above, David serves many roles at the Micah Project, including communications, teacher, mentor and group home on-duty person.
Hector Licona, street ministry intern. Hector grew up on the streets of Tegucigalpa before going to live in an organization that works with street kids. When Hector became too old to continue living there, the Micah Project helped him find a place to live in our neighborhood. In 2008, Hector joined the project as our street ministry assistant, while studying in our high school program in the mornings.
Aaron Lozano, night watchman. Like Hector, Aaron grew up on the streets of Tegucigalpa before moving into a Christian ministry as a teenager. When Aaron was too old to continue living there, the Micah Project helped him find a place to live in our neighborhood. Since 2009, Aaron serves as our night guard, a position that we created after the Micah House was broken into several times.
Brian and Natasha Wiggs moved to Honduras with their sons Michael and Brian James to begin full-time ministry with the Micah Project in November 2009. Brian will be starting a technical school to teach auto-mechanics and carpentry skills while at the same time practicing "body-off" discipleship.
Brian and Natasha are from Portland, Oregon, where Brian coordinated the Night Strike program for Bridgetown ministries, which served hundreds of Portland's homeless every week. To read more about the Wiggs, take a look at their blog here: http://wiggsfamily.blogspot.com/
Jeremy Tolleson joined the Micah Project for his second tour of duty in February of 2010. He spent six months with us in 2003 as an intern through Wheaton College's HNGR program. In 2010, Jeremy assumes the vital role of Leadership House residential assistant, and is coordinating the transition of the Leadership House to the Timothy House, which will occur in 2010.
Before returning to Honduras, Jeremy was a soccer player in the United Soccer League First Division and an assistant soccer coach at Gordon College. Click on Jeremy's wikipedia entry to learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Tolleson .