Meet The February 2010 Team!

Anne Johnson - "After visiting CEM last fall I felt called to go back, but not alone (as in not to be the only person from Austin on the trip). God answered my prayer by calling my friend Whitney to come with me! I think I am even more excited for this trip, both to see the shining faces of the children again and to get to know Jaya and the amazing CEM staff better. I look forward to sharing the experience with a friend and seeing how God moves us each through this trip and I'm already looking forward to sharing our experience with others on our return!"


Krystle Guhy - As of right now I am currently working at Beaumont hospital as a service clerk and also going to school part time for my associates degree in general studies until I figure out for sure what is I want to do. This trip to India was very last minute for me but when my sister Andrea asked me to go, my response was yes with no hesitation. I am very excited to get to know the team better, meet jaya, his family, the children, and the staff. This is my first mission trip and first time out of the country. I think this is going to be a great experience.


Whitney Kelsay - I really started understanding what Christ was all about when I started going to Gateway Community Church about 3 years ago. God has progressively been opening my mind and heart to possibilities I had only dreamed of (or hadn’t even considered). I got baptized in Towne Lake (down town Austin) on my first and only mission trip. While I picture myself one day being a world-traveler, this will be my first overseas trip since I was 6 years old. I am excited to experience the culture of India, and see God at work in CEM.





Liz Overstreet - This will be my second trip to India. I was supposed to go back in November but two days before the trip I got sick with the flu. Now, I am even more excited to go this trip then I was before maybe because I had to wait an extra four months. I cannot wait to be blessed by the people of India and especially CEM.



Adam Smart - There is nothing like spending time running around with the children of GCH! I look forward to experiencing God through conversions with the CEM staff and Church planters. Please pray that I will take time to see and hear God as he speaks to us during this week! I am excited and grateful to be able to spend time with this team and everyone at CEM. Amazing.





Jason Saarela - I am a single dad of two beautiful little creatures – Meghan 13 and Joshua 8. I love kids, serving others, music and sports. Jesus Christ is at the center of my heart. I have been to Ensenada, Mexico and La Carpio, Cost Rica and have never felt closer to God, then when on these trips. This will be my first of hopefully many trips to India. I am so excited to go and share His hope, and His joy. I love to serve others, and I have always had a strong calling to be a blessing and encouragement to kids. I am grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to serve.



Dr. Sal Aragona - This will be my eleventh trip to CEM in the last eight years. I am currently serving as president of the CEM-USA board which oversees US funding of Jaya's work in India. Besides "adopting" all 225 Grace Children as ours, I will be involved in dental care for the desperately poor. My heart beats wildly for the Indian people. They are the most kind, honorable, courageous people I have ever encountered. It is an amazing privilege to be a small part of moving a Kingdom of love and compassion that cannot be stopped or hindered to a people so thirsty for a demonstration of that in their lives. Here am I, send me.












Gina Petherick: This has been a year of change. I became an empty nester. This was a drastic change for me. God put going to India on my heart over a year ago. I was going to go with our daughter Kira and my husband Jeff but schedules would not allow her and I to go. I believe it was that willingness to go with Kira that gave me the strength to go this year. I am often reminded that I once told my family "I will never go to India" their response was be careful with that word never. Thank goodness we serve a Big God. This is my first trip to Rajahmundry and I am excited to see how God will use me. I feel blessed to serve Jaya and his people. My husband and I have supported Jaya's ministry for years and Jeff has been there many times. I am excited to share this experience with him. I am sure I will come back a changed person. Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.















Thomas Diloreto - This will be my third time to India. It has always been an honor to work with Jaya and the entire staff at C.E.M. I consider it a privilege to be with a great team organized through Kensington Church. I will be working in the dental clinic on the C.E.M grounds and ministering to the needs of the orphans and the people in India as a servant to our Lord Jesus Christ in any area that He directs me. I pray that this entire mission will be a radical life changing experience for the Kensington team and everyone that is ministered to In India. To God we give all the glory!!!




Seth Stark - This will be my third trip to India shooting video for Kensington. Amazing colors, faces, smiles, and smells make this part of the world so unique. What a gift to capture God's beauty and see him work through the kids and adults in all walks of life.






Andrea Guhy - God blessed me with the gift of time about 8 months ago when I lost my job. Since then I've been a stay at home Mom to two great kids, Ava & Dawson and I've been loving being able to spend so much time with them. I'm also going to school full time to get my license in natural medicine. This is my first mission trip and I'm really excited about spending time with the team and everyone at Jaya's CEM campus. I'm especially looking forward to being with the kids and having fun with them. I look forward to being a part of spreading the message of God's love & hope and pray that he gives me the courage to step forward and stretch myself so that I can be more like him.



Josh Jouppi - This is my first time going to India. I am on staff at Kensington as a Video Editor and I am going on this trip in order to shoot video for upcoming Kensington initiatives. I am very exited for this trip but still not quite sure what to expect from it. I guess i'll just have to find out when I get there.






Jim Mayes - I find it difficult to describe my involvement with CEM in only a short paragraph. This will be my 7th trip there and suffice it to say it has become my home away from home. I am so passionately connected to Jaya, his family, the children of GCH, the staff, and all of the people I have had the privilege of meeting over the last couple of years. Each visit brings me a more clear understanding of why Jesus spent so much time talking about and surrounding himself with the poor. And each time I find myself wanting more to be like him. Although my position as CEM USA’s Executive Director has me responsible for fulfilling duties relative to the ministry, it is my heart and love for the people that fuel my passion and keep me connected. I am truly honored to be able to lead this team and I am super excited to see what God has for each member.


Communitas India Team February 11-20, 2010





Craig Mayes- After a two year hiatus, I am very excited to return to my friends in India. Nothing in my life has stretched me and shaped my thinking more than my experiences In India the last decade. Most of all I love the early morning chapels with the children and spending time with the men and women being trained as future church-planters.







Caleb Mayes- I've made 4 trips to India already and every time I go I see something that impacts my life. My first trip to india was crazy. When I got back I told everyone how terrible the travel was but how amazing my experience in India was and that I would do it over again! I cannot wait to get back in Dowlaiswaram to be with Jaya and his extended (200+) family.





Dave Alexander- I had my first chance to join the KCC mission team to CEM in 2007. Instead of walking or driving by the “scenery”, I had the chance to enter into it. What I found was a whole world of God’s children. While their physical needs were far more than I (or we) may ever be able to take care of, Jesus showed me what they needed the most. The best part was He also revealed I (and we) was more than capable of satisfying this need: LOVE. Free, unconditional love available and expressible in so many ways: a smile, a hello, a hug, laughter, a game, a water balloon fight, a song, and simply spending what God had given me an abundance of during my trip…time. This will be my third trip to CEM and I can’t wait to start freely spending the time Jesus has given me to share the other thing He and has given me an abundance of: LOVE.



Stephanie McKenna- It is very exciting that God has led the way
for me to go to India. I have done mission work in Malawi and South Africa, but I have never been to India. I can't wait to see firsthand what Jesus is doing in this special part of the world and to bring love and support to those who work and live at CEM. Amazing things can happen on mission trips (I met my husband on my first trip!)...Let's see what He'll do in India!



Erin Voytal- This is my first trip to India and CEM. I couldn't be more excited to see what God has in store. I have a special spot in my heart for children and can't wait to share the love of Jesus with the children of CEM. I am certain that God is going to stretch and grow me in ways that I cant even imagine.







Mike VanConant- I am so excited to see what God has in store for our team going to India! This will be my first excursion to CEM. I have heard so much about India through my friends at Communitas who have made the trip before me. I am thankful God has provided me with the provisions to be able to make this journey. I look forward to see how Jesus will reveal himself through the work He is doing at CEM.