Meet Our Mission Speakers!

JAN HECKLER –

PCUSA Missionary to Madagascar

Jan received her doctoral training at the University of Florida (USA) as a research psychologist specializing in human learning and developing and evaluating methods of teaching. She completed all of the requirements for her doctorate except the dissertation and currently holds Bachelors and Masters of Arts in her specialty areas. Jan is multiply published in the area of teaching methods including her Masters research and is the author of “Teaching Methods That Really Work!” the primary content on which the EBMI PROJECT is based.

Called in 1999, she has served the Lord as a United States Peace Corps volunteer (Zimbabwe) and as a teacher educator and consultant to the ministries of education in Malawi, Namibia and Ethiopia. She has also taught previously at the U. of Fla. (USA). In Ethiopia, she was the lead international consultant for the teacher development program and was instrumental in fashioning a 5-donor nation/World Bank grant & loan package of $417 million to improve the quality of education. Before her call, she was the founder and past executive director of World Literacy Initiative and later similarly helped found A Project of Hope, both NGOs serving people in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, she is a PC(USA) Mission Co-Worker administering the EBMI PROJECT and consults ith FJKM programs empoering women and protecting children and youth. She lives and works in Antananarivo with her two feline friends, Missy and Grace.

REV. MAMISOA RAKOTOMALALA –

FKJM* PASTOR

*FKJM is the Malagasy abbreviation for the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FIANGONAN’I JESOA KRISTI ETO MADAGASIKARA).

Pastor Mamisoa is a graduate of the Faculty of Theology of Ambatonakanga (FJKM) where she graduated #1 in her class academically. Since mid 2013, she’s been senior minister for Tanandava Parish located about 300 km north of Antananarivo. Among her accomplishments, Mamisoa was elected by the Council for World Mission (CWM) and FJKM to stand for FJKM in the inter-nationally acclaimed CWM program, ‘Face to Face’.

Before her call to the ministry, Pastor Mamisoa was a university educator and has trained key functionaries in the Women’s Division of FJKM on leadership and related topics. Born and raised in Antananarivo, Mamisoa and her husband, Lala have four children: three boys (Santatra [23] Sitraka [21] Sandratana [16] and a daughter, Sariaka


REV. BILL AND NANCY WARLICK –

OUTREACH FOUNDATION

Rev. Bill and Nancy Warlick served as Presbyterian missionaries for over 27 years in Africa. Bill is an ordained PC(USA) pastor. Nancy, a trained educator, is especially involved with children affected by the AIDS crisis. In Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), where they lived from 1965 to 1974 and then again from 1984 to 1991, Bill managed the construction of many church buildings and schools in Kinshasa and in the two Kasai regions. He also did a lot of traveling with African pastors. Nancy taught rural pastors and high school students in French. Prayer has also been an important part of her ministry.

They worked as coordinators of the PC(USA) Project of Evangelism and Church Growth in Africa (PECGA) from 1984 until their retirement in August 2002. In their role as mission staff for The Outreach Foundation, they continue to travel to Southern Africa, effectively supporting the work of evangelists and pastors in our partner churches.

Bill is a graduate of Davidson College and Columbia Theological Seminary. He served as organizing pastor for two new Presbyterian congregations: Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Anniston, AL and New Hope Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, TN. Nancy is a graduate of Rhodes College with a teaching certificate from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. Bill and Nancy work as a team and are very effective. Bill has a keen insight and true gift for effectively working in partnership with the local leaders of the churches he visits in Africa. He was distinctively honored by being named an “honorary Chief” in Ghana and Cameroon. Nancy saw the plight of street children in Harare, Zimbabwe and was the catalyst for seeing that a house (Lovemore Home) was purchased in 1995 and a program devised to help get children off the streets into a Christian environ-ment. She spearheads continuing efforts to nurture the children and give them a chance at a better life. The program is different from others in the area in that it aims to not only provide quality individual care to the former street children, but also to work with their families with the hope of returning them to their communities and families.

The Warlicks epitomize the real meaning of the term “partner.” They empower the churches of the region, but they are always sensitive to the claim of Christ on their lives and those to whom they minister. At the 1996 General Assembly in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Warlicks received the Bell-Mackay award, given to our church’s most outstanding mission workers. They were awarded honorary doctorates by Montreat College in 1998. The Outreach Foundation is privileged to be able to pray for, support, and partner with these dedicated servants of our Lord.

REV. MIKE ANDREWS

Mike Andrews is a member of Central Florida Presbytery and was the pastor of Merritt Island Church and has served several congregations in the BIRP area as an Interim Pastor. He has traveled to Africa three times, most recently to Madagascar several years ago. He has a heart for missions and was one of the original organizers of the BIRP Mission conference.

BARBARA SAYLES -

MADAGASCAR MISSION NETWORK

Barbara Sayles has been serving as the Director for Society of St. Andrew, Florida Gleaning Network for ten years. Prior to that she served as a Presbyterian Church Educator & Youth Director for 14 years, which is how she discovered the Society of St. Andrew through volunteering. Her passion for bringing people out of poverty has taken her on short term missions to Central and South America and Europe, and she continues to advocate for the poor and hungry in the US and across the globe through her work with Central Florida Presbytery as Hunger Action Advocate. She received her certification in Non-Profit Leadership/Grant Writing from Rollins College and her Degree in Christian Education from Columbia Theological Seminary. She believes strongly that hunger can be eradicated in America if we all work together to resolve the root cause.


JILL BOLANDER – COHEN

LIFEBOAT PROJECT

Jill Bolander-Cohen is the Founder/Executive Director of the Lifeboat Project, Inc. a Central Florida 501c3 nonprofit, which advocates on behalf of survivors of labor and sex trafficking. She is the co-founder/Vice President of the Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force which follows the guidelines of the Dept. of Justice and HHS, partnering with all law enforcement and NGO’s.

Jill is the Presbyterian Women Chair of Justice and Peace with the Synod of South Atlantic and sits on the Central Florida Presbytery Immigration Task Force. She has twice been a PCUSA delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women at the UN and attended Ecumenical Advocacy Days in DC three times, lobbying the Violence Against Women Act, the Farm Bill/Snap Program and Gun Violence. She gives EAD credit for God planting the seed to her work.

Jill is the Founder/President of the Zonta Club of Greater Orlando, a local chapter of Zonta International. She sits on the Board of Directors of her Rotary International Club. She was recognized as an “Everyday Hero” by Central Florida Bright House Channel 13. Jill is a professional Jazz singer and worship leader, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a cradle Presbyterian and attends Maitland Pres. She was educated at Francis Marion University in South Carolina and resides in Apopka, Florida with her husband, Gary.