Gena has been married to Andrew for 11 years. They have two children.
From 2009 - 2013, Andrew and Gena were missionaries in northern Mexico where they started a coffee shop ministry, El Búho (The Owl). The shop still serves the local and international population near Potrero Chico, a climbing hot spot outside of Monterrey.
During their time in Mexico, Gena began her graduate studies in international development through Eastern University. She graduated with her masters in the spring of 2014. After Mexico, she worked at a crisis center, wrote her first book, and did content creation for a web accessibility company that directs businesses and government agencies in making their websites more accessible to people with disabilities. She now works as an instructional design specialist at a nonprofit that equips local churches with a theology of holistic development.
Gena has written for several Christian publications, and published her first book, A Smoldering Wick: Igniting Missions Work with Sustainable Practices in 2016. Her book, Separated by the Border: A birth mother, a foster mother, and a migrant child's 3,000-mile journey unpacks the story of reuniting her Honduran foster daughter with her family after separation at the US border. Gena's most recent book, Alisa & The Coronavirus, is a self-published interactive children's book based on conversations she and her family had, especially those with her 4-year-old on how to deal with emotions surrounding life changes affected by the virus.
From 2009 - 2013, Andrew and Gena were missionaries in northern Mexico where they started a coffee shop ministry, El Búho (The Owl). The shop still serves the local and international population near Potrero Chico, a climbing hot spot outside of Monterrey.
During their time in Mexico, Gena began her graduate studies in international development through Eastern University. She graduated with her masters in the spring of 2014. After Mexico, she worked at a crisis center, wrote her first book, and did content creation for a web accessibility company that directs businesses and government agencies in making their websites more accessible to people with disabilities. She now works as an instructional design specialist at a nonprofit that equips local churches with a theology of holistic development.
Gena has written for several Christian publications, and published her first book, A Smoldering Wick: Igniting Missions Work with Sustainable Practices in 2016. Her book, Separated by the Border: A birth mother, a foster mother, and a migrant child's 3,000-mile journey unpacks the story of reuniting her Honduran foster daughter with her family after separation at the US border. Gena's most recent book, Alisa & The Coronavirus, is a self-published interactive children's book based on conversations she and her family had, especially those with her 4-year-old on how to deal with emotions surrounding life changes affected by the virus.