Shari grew up in rural Missouri and traveled to Guatemala for the first time on a mission trip in college.
Jose grew up all over Guatemala City. We met while working together at an orphanage in 2002. We were married and have been serving together since 2006.

We served together in a mountainous rural area of Guatemala in the town of Chichicastenango from 2004 until 2018. During that time our 3 biological children were born. We also opened our home and helped raise 5 more children during some of those years.

In 2018 we moved to Guatemala City and have been serving as a family through our local church. We are also certified as a foster family through the government here in Guatemala. Since 2019, we have fostered 4 babies, one at a time. .

It can feel at times like a roller coaster having children come in and out of our family; but as we continue to ask our kids if they are up for it, we continue to get “Yes”" and God continues to sustain us even with big changes. Just writing the names of our family at the top of this page can feel confusing because we have included so many more children than are represented in this photo. But Christ is the center, and He knows that a foster family is not a cookie cutter kind of thing, That’s ok.