The Basics:

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I have lived in the Seattle, WA area for 31 years.  No matter where I travel, I always love returning home to this amazingly beautiful place.  It is here that I met my wife of 10 years (Ranelle) and enjoy time with my 2 year-old son, Jacob.

Ministry Background:

During the end of my time in undergrad at Seattle Pacific University,eager to begin leading young people, I took a position as a youth pastor and continued to do youth ministry while I finished my M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary.  As a result I have been in youth ministry for 12 years, 8 of them serving as a youth pastor.  My current ministry, with Youth Missions International, began with its formation in March of 2007.  Currently, I am the President of the organization.

For those of you who don’t know, Youth Missions International is a mission training organization that empowers young people to continually live and share their faith in Christ in the global communities they serve.  We do that through mission and evangelism training, trips, and local youth-led outreaches in partnership with churches.

Since its inception in 2007, I have had the tremendous privilege of traveling throughout Latin America, Europe, and Asia in order to further what the organization is doing abroad.  In addition, I have taught and spoken at conferences and led trainings for youth and college students in the U.S. so that more young people have the tools and passion to share their faith in Jesus Christ with others.

Juca Cerpe, YMI Brasil’s National Director (white shirt on the left) and our YMI-sponsored futsal (mini-soccer) team played a team from Athletes in Action near Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2008.