Team U.S.A.

Everett and Carolee Jones, Chairpersons

Everett is retired as an architect and Carolee is a retired RN. They have four children and 18 grandchildren.

Everett and Carolee have been involved with MTTF since the year 2000 and have made numerous trips to Kenya. Both have used their life skills while there. Their heart is for the Kenyan vulnerable children. Each visit reminds them how loving and joyful the Kenyans are. They are blessed to have had this opportunity. They currently serve as the Chairpersons of the U.S.A. Board for Mission to the Fatherless. They are active in a local church, serving as elders and assisting in the homeless ministry.

Lisa Leemans

Lisa has an engineering and business background with over 20 years of broad-based supply chain management experience in both manufacturing and financial services. She is active in her church, teaching parish school religion and serving as Eucharistic Minister. She also serves on the local Young Life Committee, a youth ministry she has been involved with since she was 16. Lisa has traveled to Kenya, Scotland and Ethiopia with Young Life Expeditions supporting outreach summer camps for teens.

Lisa’s first mission trip to Kenya was in 2003 where she first met Herb and Virginia Veith and the children of Mission To The Fatherless in Kakamega and Oyugis. Lisa joined the MTTF Board in 2015.

Randy Nickel

Randy has served in various roles with the mission of Young Life for 31 years, several of those years were training the staff of Young life in Kenya. After Young Life Randy served at a few local churches and is today working with Navigators’ International Student Ministry. Randy is married to Martha and they have four children and three grandchildren.

Randy first visited Mission To The Fatherless in 2001. After a few more trips to Kenya, the Nickels adopted Joy, an infant whose birth mother was a teenager who had been living on the streets in Kakamega and then taken in by MTTF. In 2007 Randy spent six months in Kenya training potential staff for Kenya Young Life and helping with MTTF. Randy began to serve on the Mission To The Fatherless Board shortly after his first trip to the orphanages.

John Porter

John’s career is in Health Care Administration. He is responsible for all support services, facilities, construction and renovation, and real estate transactions for Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, Florida. John has taught 7th and 8th grade boys for the past 28 years in small groups at their church. He and his wife Ginger have four adult children and five grandchildren.

John became aware of MTTF through his working relationship with Everett Jones. He first began to support the mission financially and then traveled to Kenya twice to experience the homes firsthand. John has been a member of the U.S.A. Board for since 2015.

Jim and Cindy Whiteman

Jim is the headmaster of Westside Christian Academy. Cindy has held various positions working with children and international students. Currently, her outreach focus is mostly encouraging our Kenyan “sons and daughters.” They are both involved in the international student ministry in their home church. Jim and Cindy have three grown children and one precious granddaughter.

They became involved with MTTF in 2010 when asked to sponsor two teenagers. In 2011 they were given the opportunity to visit the MTTF children’s homes in Kenya were hooked, wanting to help as much as we could. They organized the MTTF sponsorship program and joined the Board in 2012.

Mike and Susan Young

Mike recently retired from his position as Area Sales Manager for an electrical manufacturer. Susan is an administrative assistant for a Christian financial services organization. They live in Bay Village and have two children and two grandchildren.

Mike and Susan have been on the U.S. Board since 2019.