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meet our staff

Bob Ekblad

ExecutiveDirector

www.bobekblad.com

Bob Ekblad is executive director of Tierra Nueva and The People’s Seminary inBurlington, Washington. A minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), he holds a ThD in Old Testament and is known internationally for his courses and workshops on reading the Bible.  Bob and his wife Gracie minister at Tierra Nueva and at their home-based retreat center New Earth Refuge. They have three children.

 

Gracie Ekblad

Executive Director

Gracie Ekblad, along with Bob, began the work of Tierra Nueva in Honduras in 1982. There, she led Bible studies, ministered, visited, and taught sustainable farming techniques and preventative health education through natural means. Gracie is the assistant director of Tierra Nueva and a minister in the Presbyterian church.

 

Salvio Hernandez

Co-Director of the

Family Support Center

I have been working with Tierra Nueva for 4 years now. I work in the Family support center and my wife and I visit people in their homes to read the Bible with them. In the family support center I help the Hispanic people in the community with everyday problems. I help them fill out housing and work applications. I show them where to pay their bills, give them directions to different resources in the community, or I help them with translating letters they have received that they do not understand. I also help them on other more important problems such as giving rides and accompanying them to court, I also give recommendations to good immigration lawyers, and I also give rides and accompany them to the Mexican Consulate and to immigration services. Besides helping them with these problems we also help them by providing spiritual support. My wife, Victoria, and I visit people who would like have a deeper relationship with God and who would also like to learn more about the bible. So my wife and I read scriptures with them in their homes, we pray with them and we are there for them in their troubles. They all seem eager to learn more about the bible. They really seem to enjoy the visits since they’re work schedules don’t let them go to church as much.  I really enjoy going through this journey in helping others with their problems but most of all in helping them learn more about our heavenly Father. Tierra Nueva has helped me in my times of need and now I’m doing the same in helping others with their needs too.

 

Chris Hoke

Jail and Gang Chaplaincy

UNDERGROUND coffee

chrishoke@gmail.com

Like the migrants we accompany, I arrived here after a long journey north up the West coast, looking for something more. After high school, I left Southern California and my years of upper-middle class church involvement and leadership to live among the poor in inner city East Oakland, attracted to the lifestyle Jesus modeled. Soon I was hooked, after a year building relationships in a homeless shelter, run-down living rooms and street curbs. Yet I only had more questions, which led me to the lecture halls and streets of Berkeley for four years. The more I learned, the hungrier I grew to see the kind of kingdom Jesus offered and the more I wanted to distance myself from the church. Weary of cynicism and empty of faith, I arrived here in Skagit Valley desperate to hear good news. Now, in labor camps, in the jail, and surrounded by the community at Tierra Nueva, I'm discovering good news alongside migrants and inmates, with a new hope in Jesus and his church, with its power of love to kick down the gates of hell all around me.

 

Amy Muia

Director, Women's Jail Chaplaincy and Faith House

I've been at TN since 1999, when I became coordinator of the Bible program in the migrant camps and served on the board. In 1990. I was forever changed by a trip to Central America that awakened me to the realities of oppression, poverty and violence. I found in Tierra Nueva a place where I could serve the most marginalized, where we could study the Scripture together and discover God's heart for the healing and liberation of us all. In 2005, I was deeply changed by a new work of the Holy Spirit at Tierra Nueva. My study and preparation suddenly became filled and empowered. What I love about Tierra Nueva is this unique blend of Word and power--that we can, in the wind of the Spirit, reach the most marginalized in our community and around the world.

 

Mike Neelley

Interim Director, Pastoral Support and Discipleship

During my time at Tierra Nueva I have been going deeper in the leading and power of the Holy Spirit to bring good news to the poor. Through supervising, developing and encouraging our leadership from the margins and the mainstreams in a unified Kingdom vision; through leading our faith communities in intimacy and empowerment with Jesus; and by building bridges with churches and ministries in the region I am participating in bringing the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

 

Elizabeth Turman-Bryant

Hospitality and Accompaniment

I moved to Tierra Nueva in 2003 from Vancouver, where I attended Regent College. While a Regent student, I attended Bob's class, "Breaking the Chains," here at The People's Seminary. I had no idea that two years later I'd find myself moving to Burlington to join TN. I love the ‘holy chaos’ of life at Tierra Nueva. Most nights I go to bed chuckling at the events of the day. I am privileged to be able to live out my passion for hospitality, for making room at the table for a wide variety of folks, and the richness this brings.

 

Nick Turman-Bryant

Honduras Special Projects

I first came to TN looking for something to do for the summer, a place to live and learn from people who had experience working in Central America and with migrant farmworker families in the Skagit Valley. But I guess I got hooked. Or maybe I've fallen in love.  Whatever it is, I'm still here, and I have this increasingly unabashed affection for the place, for the quirky community in which I find myself, for the time I get to spend with the people that come in, and for the opportunity to drink deeply from the wealth of thought, experience, and love that I've found here. If you're ever in the area and thirsty, I hope you'll come by for a drink.

 

Bethany Dearborn

Family Support Center

TN's unique combination of Word, Spirit, and Street worked out among Mexican migrant farmworkers drew me here in the Summer of 2008, as a part of an internship for University of Washington's Masters in Social Work program. I am participating in His coming Kingdom through engaging in holistic advocacy, discipleship & accompaniment of those who are marginalized by society because of language, income, and experience of violence; as well as collaborating, mobilizing and educating grassroots community efforts that address unjust and inadequate systems.   I have been directing our Family Support Center since January 2010, participating in the women's jail chaplain team, part of the leadership council, and coming alongside families as they navigate life in the US.  

David Westerlund

Office Administrator

I first came to a Tierra Nueva in the Fall of 2006 during a difficult time in my life. I came to a healing service and I was met by a community of folks who were serious about forgiveness, healing, and empowerment. This summer I started as the Office Administrator where I use my skills in systems thinking and process flow to help us continue to become a healthy organization seeking to live out our calling to advocate for the voiceless here in Skagit County.  I also have provided support for Zach and the coffee project as well as helping other men reflect on their role as fathers.

Holly Braun

Staff, New Earth Farm

Zach Joy - Underground Coffee Project

Victoria Hernandez -- migrant camp ministry

Ryan Mathis - men's jail ministry

Art McKinnon - 1st year apprentice

Phyllis Mills - 1st year apprentice

Curtis Mills - 1st year Apprentice

Carmen Bruner -- Accountant

Volunteer Advocates coming soon....

tierra nueva honduras promoters

Ángel Davíd Calix

Head Coordinator for Asociación Tierra Nueva, Davíd lives in the neighboring community of Mal Paso. When he's not checking in with the other promoters or connecting with Tierra Nueva-Burlington, Davíd has been the head soccer coach for the young men in his village.

Jorge (Jorgito) Calix

Davíd older brother, Jorgito, also lives in Mal Paso and serves as the supervisor of accounting for TN-Honduras. Formerly a leader in land recuperation, Jorgito is a talented musician and likes working with livestock. He currently visits the communities of Mal Paso, San Francisco La Peiña, and Minas de Oro.

Miguel Castro

One of the younger promoters from Minas de Oro, Miguel is also a retired teacher. When he is not visiting the communities of Camalotal 1, Montecitos, and Tablón, Miguel serves as a pastor for a small, evangelical church named Sena de Luz.

Eulogio (Ramiro) Dominguez

Treasurer for TN-Honduras, Ramiro enjoys nothing more than spending a day working on his little plot of land. He specializes in composting, coffee, and small-business stores, and is also a competent administrator. He visits the communities of Bijao, Pataste, and Chacara with his wife, Elia.

Elia Dominguez

Secretary of TN-Honduras, Elia specializes in preventative health, including diet, nutrition, and anything having to do with soy. She also has helped organize a small cooperative of women manufacturing baby carriers for sale as a small business. In addition to the communities she visits with her husband, Ramiro, Elia meets and leads bible studies with the women in Las Delicias.

Jorge Mejia

Although the eldest of the TN-Honduras staff, Jorge has come from the most humble circumstances. Trapped for years in a debt-cycle of indentured servitude, Jorge's work with Tierra Nueva has literally turned his life around. Not only has he become a successful and respected farmer in his community, but he has also gained confidence as a promoter of small-scale horticulture. He currently visits the communities of Minas de San Antonio, Igarito, and Iran.

Celio Mejia

Before working with Tierra Nueva, Celio served in the military. As a result, he is very punctual in his visits to Camalotal 2, Minas de Plata, and Carbonera. He also excels at teaching soil and water conservation to the small-scale farmers he visits.

Eda Zuniga

Wife of Celio and sister of Paco, Eda has was known for her volunteer development work long before she began to work with Tierra Nueva. She specializes in natural medicine and has organized a small cooperative of women to manufacture baby carriers for sale as a micro-business. She visits Camalotal 2, Minas de Plata, and Carbonera with Celio.

Francisco (Paco) Zuniga

President of Asociación Tierra Nueva, Paco is an accomplished farmer and livestock owner. Before connecting with Tierra Nueva, he worked as an informal primary school teacher. He now teaches sustainable agriculture and small-scale horticulture to farmers in Rio Colorado, Coralitos, and Huertas.