Wendy- Founder/Executive Director
Through my degrees and certifications in psychology, social work, trauma and inner healing prayer, I am passionate about seeing women strengthened in faith, healed into wholeness and set free into their identity and purpose (Isaiah 61).
Compassion drives my heart to partner with Jesus to help restore women’s lives and teach them to transition from the old to new life in Jesus.(Ephesians. 4:22-24). I love equipping women through teaching and coaching. What a joy to walk together and share in the discovery and hope of the goodness of God.
In our multifaceted ministry I am also passionate about mobilizing others to travel cross culturally through mission trips. I’ve been doing this since 2014 when God called me to start S.E.E.D. of Hope Global. Broadening worldviews and having a front row seat to personal transformation are a few of my favorite things.
I am married to Rob. We have five children and I am Gigi to Jaxon. We pastor a local church and our favorite thing to do together is teaching others about freedom in Christ and watching captives be set free to be who God created them to be.
Christina Thelen- Board Member
My passion for mission trips stems from my years at Ada Bible Church in youth ministry. I led countless domestic trips with middle and high-school students over the years. In 2013 I went to the Dominican Republic with Wendy to look for ministries to partner with on youth and adult missions. I immediately fell in love with the country and its people. I’ve been leading trips back to the area ever since.
Having spent significant time there I have developed strong relationships with our church partners and now every trip I take there feels like I’m coming home. I’m passionate about bringing teams to the area for two reasons: the work they can do with the local church and the work the local church does within our teams. You can’t visit any of our partners without being changed yourself. One of my favorite things is seeing the change in people at the end of a trip and watching them bring that change back home.
My goal is to create lasting change in the Dominican Republic by consistently sharing the message of hope and salvation that can only be found through Jesus Christ. The way we share that message changes regularly – it can be through feeding programs, teaching, children’s ministry and service projects (just to name a few).
Outside of SEED endeavors, I own an event management company and manage corporate events. In my free time, I love to travel with my husband Craig. I am also mom to Melanie and Eliza, and “Mimi” to Penny.
Tricia Nelson- Board Member
I grew up playing any sport with a ball (beating all the boys), playing my flute at church, and going to the beach. I enjoyed a career in International Marketing and Product Management holding degrees in International Business and German and traveling the world. I have spent many years teaching and coaching teens, and I love their energy and enthusiasm for life.
Michael, my husband of twenty eight years, and I have six very active almost adult children, two of which were adopted from Ethiopia at ages five and six. We enjoy running, traveling, and spending time in nature.
I have a passion for leading women to Jesus to trade the pain, guilt, shame and condemnation of their past for the life-giving healing power of Jesus Christ. I desire to see women transformed in mind, body and soul by the power of the Holy Spirit to become the likeness of Christ; emerging as healed, refreshed, confident, hopeful, and emboldened women.
For the past ten years I have led and served in missions traveling to the Dominican Republic and Uganda to provide for physical and spiritual needs, to bring hope, and to introduce our savior as a Father that loves deeply, cares about His childrens’ needs, and has good things prepared for us. Because I was immeasurably blessed by serving alongside my own children for ten years, I love offering opportunities for parents and teens to serve together and hear God’s calling to a lifetime of service wherever God leads them.