Position: Mechanical Supervisor
Serving: USA 

BIO

Rob is our resident tinkerer – maintaining and repairing the equipment both in the field and from our headquarters. He is the “stage crew” for our personnel – coordinating resources and data for the equipment they use, finding and shipping parts and instructions on how to make minor repairs in the field, and traveling to perform major equipment maintenance in person for more complex repairs. He is confident that God will equip him for any challenge as evidenced by past inspirational solutions in parts of the world without hardware stores.

He took his first short-term mission trip with FIA in 2008, traveling with FIA to Nicaragua, Vanuatu, West Africa and Papua New Guinea. As a diesel mechanic, he has 15 years of experience with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. He has many more years working with other groups repairing a wide range of equipment, from small one-cylinder chain saws to commercial diesel engines in dump trucks to 100-year-old steam traction cranes and rollers. In 2017 Rob began to sense God drawing him more deeply into missions, and in 2020 he and Reba completed the FIA orientation to become full associates with Friends In Action.

Reba continued with her non-ministry job until July 2025 when she made the switch to also become a full-time missionary with Friends In Action. She participated in trips to Nicaragua and Vanuatu starting in 2019 and began to manage the donor database and help in Donor Development as a part-time associate in 2020, relying on FIA volunteers to manage the daily receipting. Now that she is in the office at Headquarters, she continues to manage the donor database as well as the daily receipting and acknowledging donations, and analyzing data for reporting to staff and the FIA Board as needed. She has also seen how God has specifically equipped her through jobs and experiences in the past for the tasks-at-hand. “When I understood that God was calling me to step out in faith as a missionary, how could I not say yes?”

Rob has set a personal goal to challenge others to take part in serving the Lord, encouraging more “Blue Collar Christians” to roll up their sleeves and get involved in spreading the Gospel through the work of Friend In Action, using their God-given talents for His service. “Maybe you’re like me, just a simple wrench-jockey, or a numbers-person like my wife.” says Rob. “We should all use our abilities to serve and glorify God and His Son Jesus Christ!”