Two Organizations. One Mission:

Bob worked for over 30 years as a lawyer, specializing in intellectual property litigation, before retiring at the end of 2023. Born and raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, he is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and Harvard Law School. He and his wife, Audrey, have three grown children—Ethan, Sarah and Aleksandr. He is an ordained Elder in the Allentown Presbyterian Church in New Jersey,
Bob has been with VIP since its founding and travels to Malawi at least every other year. Bob is energized by the progress we are making and the changes he sees on every visit. And, he is humbled by the faith, hope, friendship, and love he sees and feels every time he is on the ground in Malawi. He is honored to serve as the President of VIP. Bob became a grandfather just before retiring and loves to spend his time visiting family, fly fishing, and golfing.

Tim Schuler started keeping bees as a young boy with his dad and brother. Tim graduated in 1982 from Delaware Valley College with a BS in Animal Husbandry. He began his career helping to manage a large cattle and hog feedlot in central NJ. In 1986 He began working for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) as an Animal Health Technician and for a short time served as a bee inspector. In 1991 Tim started Schuler’s Bees, managing 300 colonies of honey bees providing pollination services to South Jersey farmers and producing honey in Warren County, NJ. From 2007 to 2019 he held the position of State Apiarist with the NJDA Division of Plant Industry. He continues to teach beekeeping to Beekeepers, non-beekeepers, Rutgers university undergraduates and subsistence farmers in poor countries.

He has traveled to Malawi many times to study, teach, and promote beekeeping.

Gayle is a partner at SeatonHill Partners and provides CFO advisory services to clients across a wide variety of industries. Previously, she held the position of Chief Financial Officer for Kalkomey Enterprises, One Technologies, the Dallas Zoo, and Match.com. She received her MBA from UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management. Her philanthropic work includes serving as Board Chair for A Small Miracle Foundation and the Richardson Symphony Orchestra, and is deeply involved in her church, Canyon Creek Presbyterian. She and her husband Phil live in Richardson, Texas, with their two dogs, Chance and Trixie. They have two grown children, Nicole and John.

Gayle and her family visited Malawi for the first time in 2013 and again in 2017. After witnessing firsthand the incredible work being done by Villages in Partnership, and their powerful and effective partnership with the village chiefs, local churches, and the villagers themselves, she was eager to throw her full support behind the VIP mission. She looks forward to returning to Malawi again to see firsthand the miraculous progress being made.

Joe is an ordained elder in the Allentown Presbyterian Church in New Jersey and Chairman of Worldwide Logistics Group, a global logistics company. Born in Baltimore, he is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University where he received a BA in economics. He and his wife Anita have a blended family of 7 adult children and 7 grandchildren. After more than 40 years of business travel around the world, seeing poverty in many forms and places, Joe was inspired when he learned about VIP and its mission. He is honored to be asked to serve on the board of VIP.

Liz received her BA in Psychology from LaSalle University and MS in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a mother of four, an entrepreneur and a visionary leader. Her expertise is start-up ministries and mission enterprises. She has been a stay-at-home mom, classroom teacher, consultant to classroom teachers, community developer, youth ministry director, and now serves as Executive Director of Villages in Partnership. Her passion to serve the poor began at a young age and led to the decision to live in Malawi for one year. She travels to Malawi several times a year, leading teams and guiding the work of VIP. While in Malawi she enjoys living in the village and reaching across cultural barriers where she encounters the Kingdom of God.

Since 1997, Stephen has served as the Senior Pastor of Allentown Presbyterian Church, New Jersey and is the co-founder of VIP. He is the chaplain of VIP, but his primary role is supporting the Executive Director. Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, he graduated from Cornell University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Columbia Theological Seminary. Stephen and Liz have four children: Jem, Clay, Terra, and Jordan and two grand-children.

Betsy has held senior executive responsibilities in the areas of finance, operations, administration and mergers and acquisitions. She was the managing general partner of a number of limited partnerships formed to acquire, operate and sell underperforming and undervalued media properties. At its height, the companies she ran owned 60 radio stations, 12 television stations, several technical journals and business publications and was the 25th largest cable system in the country with more than 650,000 subscribers. Betsy is currently providing consulting services to c-level management with respect to operations, litigation strategy and management, capital raising and readying companies for both private and public sale. Betsy is excited to be able to work alongside those who share her faith and make an impact on the lives of her brothers and sisters in Malawi. Betsy graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Economics and Political Science.

Annie has worked as a Human Resource professional since 2019 and recently transitioned to a Senior Program Management role for Amazon Logistics. Throughout Annie’s life, she has seen her mother, Lucy Goeke–as well as her aunt Liz Heinzel-Nelson–impact the lives of countless people in Malawi. Annie joined her mother on her first medical mission trip in 2016 and has since returned to Malawi for a total of five medical mission trips, supporting the Khanda outreach clinic on each trip. On the first trip, everything Annie saw her parents and Liz work through came to life. Watching Annie’s mother and Liz interact with the Malawians and the lasting impact that Villages in Partnership had on the communities in the Sakata region was a life-changing experience for her. Annie is honored to serve on the board of Villages in Partnership to share her passion, skills, and faith to support the continued mission and vision of Villages in Partnership. She lives in Virginia with her husband, Brian.

Dave has been involved in agriculture his entire life. He grew up working on the family vegetable farm, was the Farm Production Manager for an Ag-Biotechnology Company after graduating from college, and is currently the Assistant Director at the Rutgers University EcoComplex. At Rutgers’ clean energy research and commercialization center, he focuses on sustainable energy production and utilization for farms. Dave holds a BS in Horticulture, and an MS in Plant Science, from Rutgers University. He is Chairman of the Rutgers Agrivoltaic Program. He also works on controlled environment agriculture, hydroponics, aquaponics, biogas production, and cover crops for soil health. Dave, his wife Lisa, and their two sons operate Specca Farms, a 250-acre u-pick and direct market farm in Burlington County, New Jersey. Dave is a member of the Jacksonville, New Jersey Presbyterian Church.

He has traveled to Malawi many times and sees the VIP Training Farm as an opportunity for Malawian agricultural experts to teach new methods of producing nutritious food in a sustainable and economical way.

Terra lives in Denver, CO with her husband, Grayson. She works as a program manager for the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership where she works alongside various grassroots, reentry nonprofits to provide capacity building and grant management.

Terra has been with VIP since its founding when she lived in Malawi with her family for a year in 2008 when she was 13. She considers this the ‘year that changed everything’. She could not unsee the poverty from her time there and has returned to Malawi several times. She has assisted in the planning of the Water Walk for many years and is serving as the co-char for the Development Committee. She is excited to continue supporting VIP in a more formal way by joining the board.

Tom was born and raised in Southern NJ. He attended Rutgers University and graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served 8 years in the Army. He obtained an MBA from Drexel University and began working at Dynatec in June of 1978.

Tom is married to Judy who he is sure was sent to him by our Lord.

Tom sees Christ at work in and through VIP and he came to the conclusion that Christ was asking me to join Him in this work

Scott is the President and Founder of Digital Video Communications, Inc., a privately held business in Massachusetts, specializing in digital video product development. He has developed Emmy Award-winning digital video systems used by CATV operators throughout the country, providing a local advertising platform for local businesses to get access to national cable channels (ESPN, CNN, etc.) in their local markets. The company has installed over 30,000 channels of local advertising capability for cable operators, including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and others.

In addition, he has developed and produced advertising equipment for elevators of Class A office towers in major financial centers, partnering with Captivate Network, Inc. The company has installed over 10,000 elevator display systems nationwide. Scott brings over 30 years of technical and entrepreneurial expertise, building a tech small business from the ground up, including legal, financial, operations, sales, business development, and electronic product design
skills.

Scott received a Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Masters of Science in Engineering from Northeastern University. Scott is the father of 2 sons, Grayson Adams (30) of Denver, who is engaged to Terra Heinzel-Nelson, and Tyler Adams (32) of Brooklyn NY. Scott participated in a Medical Mission/Friendship trip to Malawi in 2024. Scott has been a member of the United Methodist Church.

Jim Garst brings over 22 years of experience at TransUnion, where he currently leads the global Data Governance team. His extensive background in data management and governance has equipped him with a deep understanding of the complexities and importance of data integrity and security on a global scale.

Beyond his professional achievements, Jim is an active and dedicated member of Christ Church of Oak Brook. He volunteers his time on the hospitality team and works closely with the middle school youth group, demonstrating his commitment to community service and youth mentorship.

Jim is married to Jennie Garst, a former VIP board member, and together they have two children, Lincoln (13) and Charlotte (16). His family values and strong community ties are central to his life.

Jim’s passion for global outreach is evident through his involvement with Villages in Partnership (VIP). He has participated in two friendship trips to Malawi, in 2017 and 2019, where he contributed to various initiatives and built lasting relationships. As a member of the survey working group, Jim continues to support VIP’s mission. He also enjoys long rides in Land Rovers with his VIP travel buddy, Tom Marrero, reflecting his adventurous spirit and love for exploration.

Jim’s blend of professional expertise, community involvement, and global outreach experience makes him a valuable asset to the VIP board.

Angela is a fundraising consultant and volunteer for various educational organizations. Angela co-founded and served as Executive Director for the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation, a program that identifies over 100 Chicago students with financial need for high school scholarships each year.

In addition to mission work in Malawi, Angela has also served in Taiwan, Bangkok, Nepal, Kenya, and the Dominican Republic.  

Angela is a Board Member of Unique Learner Unite, an organization dedicated to providing access to quality education for all children. Angela was also Finance Director for the last Chicago mayoral campaign raising over 23 million dollars. 

Angela enjoys spending time with her husband and their six children. Angela and her family attend Christ Church of Oak Brook, Illinois.

Lucy lives in Charlottesville, VA and has worked as a nurse and a Nurse Practitioner for the past 36 years. She currently works as a home care nurse practitioner. Lucy is Liz’s younger sister, a mother to 4 children, a wife, daughter, and friend. She has worked in many areas and served many different populations. None of that prepared her for the experiences she had when she first traveled to Malawi with her daughter, who is also a nurse.

She has returned many times with her children and husband to work as a Nurse Practitioner in the clinics, lead medical trips and foster the health improvements of these remote villages. Every year she learns so much from the practitioners, nurses, VIP staff and villagers about life. She feels honored to help foster growth and health in the communities VIP serves.

Randa Nelson lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband.  They have three grown children, whom they enjoy spending time with, as well as camping and dinners with friends. Randa serves as the Local Outreach Director for her church, where she passionately invests in caring for God’s children within her local community.

Randa’s involvement with VIP began in 2010, when she embarked on her first international trip. She found her heart and life profoundly shaped by what she encountered. Since then, she has remained deeply committed to the mission, championing VIP’s work among friends, peers, and community partners. She has been to Malawi five times, including co-leading one trip, and has served on the board over a 12-year time span. She continues to be involved with committees and fundraisers. 

With a steadfast belief that God calls us to care for His children both locally and across the world, Randa brings heartfelt dedication, advocacy experience, and a global perspective to her role. She is honored to rejoin the board and looks forward to supporting and expanding VIP’s influence wherever God leads.