When were you diagnosed with diabetes?
     I was diagnosed in 1974, when I was 13 years old. I still remember having to run to the woods between every innings at my little league baseball games. Luckily my parents realized what was going on after a while and took me for a glucose tolerance test at the local hospital. Which today seems to ridiculous because we had our own meters. After the results I was carried into the car almost unconscious and rushed to Joslin Clinic in Boston. Those early days of my diabetes have fond memories as I was in the Joslin training program for a week. I learned a lot and it was comforting to know I wasn't the only one with diabetes.

How did diabetes impact your involvement with the U.S. Ski Team?
     I always played sports in high school; ran cross country in the fall (with one of those flat long Jolly Rancher candies stuck in my socks), and ran track in the spring after the ski season. My family skied every weekend, first in at Camelback in Pennsylvania and then later at Killington, Vermont. So, I just learned to cope with keeping food with me all the time. Especially before competitions I had to check my blood sugars and watch if I went too low. I was an early spokesperson for the Glucometer when it first came out and that really helped my control. In reality my diabetes opened up several doors for sponsorship by companies such as Eli Lilly, Estee Foods, and BD. So, it turned out to be a blessing for me.

You went from athlete to missionary. How did that change happen?
     I had had success at the junior level and was totally focused on skiing; unfortunately I also was a teenager looking for acceptance and happiness in some of the "wrong" areas of life. I went from Massachusetts to Oregon to attend the University of Oregon (GO DUCKS!) when a friend explained to me what it really meant to be a Christian. It was then that I turned my life to Christ, just one week before classes started at U of O.

     It was then that God totally changed the direction I was going in my life. In my human nature, I expected that I would be reasonably successful in business, but NEVER did I expect to be a father of four beautiful children, or that I would ever consider ever leaving my executive marketing job at Spalding Sports Worldwide and go to Bible College. Never mind moving to Africa. However, God plays funny tricks on you when you think you have it all figured out.....

     In the fall of 1999, we responded to the call of God to attend Bible College and leave a "promising "career to follow the "promises "of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our time in Baltimore at Maryland Bible College & Seminary and the headquarters of Greater Grace World Outreach has truly been a joy. It is so great to be a part of a worldwide church with a vision to reach the lost. As I entered Bible College I soon found myself humbled to be the "old man" in the class, but I pray my wisdom gained through experience can help others. Gifted in administrative skills and carrying a business marketing background first brought me the vision for the many.

     Looking at Susan one evening I said, "You know what missions majors do when they graduate? Don't you?" We both knew the answer. It was then that I began to continue in earnest my desire to become involved in the work in Africa. I began to travel to Africa with our missions director and the fall of 2002 we moved to Ghana to fulfill my calling to be "useful and available" to God wherever He calls us.


Why did you decide to go to Africa? What are your goals while you're there?
     Simply stated we are "Church Planters" with a desire to bring the Gospel of Grace to the "Twin Cities" of Takoradi -Sekondi and the Western Region of Ghana. The method we have is consistent with that which Greater Grace World Outreach has uses to start more then 150 churches in 19 countries in Africa:

Evangelize on the streets and door to door. (Mark 16: 15, Acts 20:20),
Start a church. (Acts 11:26)
Start a Bible College. (Matthew 28:19-20 )
Disciple local men and women.
Ordain local leaders as pastors to continue the work. (Acts 3:3)
Ultimately "work yourself out of a job" and continue the process in another region where God has called you. (John 20:21 )

     We are not on an "assignment" for a specific time period, but rather our missionary life is just that a life.... and a lifestyle of serving.

What is different about taking care of diabetes in Africa than in the United States?
     Much of the care is the same. You still exercise, eat, and sleep. It is just that you deal with the heat factor which can be very tiring, especially in the heat of the afternoons where it can top 100 on a regular basis.

     The biggest problem is when I get sick. As we have been here a few years we no longer take preventative medicine for malaria, which means we can get it at any time despite sleeping under mosquito nets. Malaria can be a killer if you don't treat the symptoms early. I have had it a handful of times. It is lifesaving the worst flu of your life. Without being too graphic after excessive vomiting and other loss of fluids you find yourself week and useless. My wife will check my sugars and for me if I am not really conscious and often I disconnect the pump to prevent me from going low. If I go too low then I have to be rushed to a local hospital to get an IV to bring my sugar level up and it is something I haven't had to do here yet and don't want to. The hospital care here is "third world", so you find yourself being your own doctor often. Thanks to a book called "Where There Is No Doctor" and a Merck manual we have solved many of our ailments. Susan sister is doctor in the USA and she gets our occasional panic calls. We are also grateful that we work closely with Johns Hopkins travel clinic in Baltimore and they have been a real asset to us.

How do you take care of your supplies?
     I do have medical insurance for missionaries, which is very expensive because of the work we are doing. But, it does cover me when I travel to the US which we try and do once a year. It is there I get years worth of supplies and pack them back on the airplane. This was especially difficult this past summer because of the security problems so we had to pack 25 bottles of Novolog scattered between all our luggage just to get them into Ghana.

     Diabetes, especially type II, is becoming epidemic here so test strips are available it is just that they are very expensive, so it is better to get all my supplies in the USA.

Does being on a pump make things easier or harder?
     Much easier! I don't have to be injecting in odd unsanitary conditions because of the pump, so it is much after form that area. Although our average temperature in January - March is about 100 degrees Fahrenheit I have not had any problems with my Novolog or One Touch UltraSmart meter.

     My Animas 1250 is a joy to use and makes things a lot easier than my previous Disetronic HTron. I have yet to program all the local foods into the pump.

     I have designed a special case to wear most pumps so that it is invisible from others, see www.invisapump.com, which is very important here because of people stealing phones and running off. It would be quite a sight to see me running down the street as a thief tries to steal my pump only to find me attached!

How do you count carbohydrates in African food? Did you have a lot of trouble figuring that out?
     We eat much less processed food and unless the food IDs packaged and imported from the West there is no information labels such as carbos etc. So it is what we call here "try try" method. How much carbos are in a ball of Banku; 80 grams. Kwake is about 85 carbos, fried plantings with beans about the same and so on.

What are your goals for the future?
     Our mindset as missionary is that we are living in Africa for the rest of our lives. I believe that if you put a time limit on your commitment it does not show those you are training to continue the work a feeling that you are committed to them. This is our life; we have all our possessions in the USA in a 5 X 5 ft. storage unit and an old minivan. So we have little to go back to materially, but we are part of a great church that is there to help us whenever we need it.

Who is your inspiration?
     My inspiration as a missionary is to plant churches and start Bible Colleges in this region of Ghana. I believe this will NOT be done by myself, but rather those who God raises up to be trained in our Bible College and called to re-produce what we are doing here in other cities like: Takwa, Elubu, Axim, Sekondi, Cape Coast, Elmina, Makaseem, Oboausi.. etc.