LOST & FOUND

My wife, Elizabeth, and I established A Child's Hope International, a nonprofit corporation, in 2008. Although I retired at the end of 2001, this organization in 2026 remains a vibrant nonprofit with a proven record of credibility, transparency, and effectiveness.

Elizabeth's and my faith stories are different. She came to Christ as a teenager in the 1960s at a church youth retreat. Although I was raised in the Roman Catholic faith, my story was more turbulent — I was an agnostic for many years of my adult life. I earned three degrees in electronic engineering, held twelve patents, spoke at international conferences, wrote numerous journal articles, and published a book on digital communications. I mention this only to set the baseline for understanding how I was "lost."

Jokingly (though probably quite seriously), several people have cursed my pioneering work developing voice mail systems that are so prevalent today. I climbed the corporate ladder, becoming a vice president for a large, well-known American company at just 37 years old. The more successful I became, the more frequent my attacks on the veracity of the Bible. Fueling that arrogance was pride, power, prominence, prestige — and money. As many know firsthand, the drive for success can be a destructive force, and it was for me as well. Custom-built houses, chauffeur-driven limousines, and international travel did not produce peace — only more confusion and disappointment.

Although wealthy and successful by worldly standards, I felt a growing emptiness in my life. As I strove for even more promotion and power, I became an angrier person. I viewed Christianity as a crutch for weak people and cursed those who tried to reason with me. In 1990, through a strange and fortunate set of circumstances, I stopped running from the "Hound of Heaven" and gave my life to Jesus Christ. I went from being lost to found — not by a human search-and-rescue party, but by the Creator and Savior of the world. Over the next several years, I learned what the Bible said about life and the pursuit of happiness, and as a result, worldly success became less important to me.

In 1995, Elizabeth, Nicole, and Melissa traveled with me on a mission trip to a former communist training camp in Russia that was being used for orphaned children. Little did we know then that the heartache of the orphan would eventually become our life's work. The following year, I resigned from my corporate position, then went on to earn a master's degree from seminary, and served as a pastor at churches in Connecticut and Ohio.

Today, even in retirement, I still enjoy talking with others — not about success, but about significance. I am eager to ask the tough questions, especially with those who, like I once was, are lost and running from God. This inventor, engineer, corporate VP, and pastor experienced the amazing forgiveness of God, and I want others to know that they can too.

My message is always the same: with gentleness and respect, I encourage people to ask me to give the reason for the hope that I have. And I readily admit that I am far from perfect — just found and forgiven.