My name is Lee Stevens. I am from Gaines, Michigan, USA. I am 66 years old and retired after spending 25 years with an automotive parts supplier. My job was director of quality, which ment it was my responsibility to be sure we had systems in place to prevent the shipment of defective parts. In the winter I normally go to Arizona and spend the winter in the desert to avoid the snow and ice.

I was married for 43 years to a wonderful woman, Doris Jean. She passed on to be with the Lord in June of 2009. We have two children, Randy and Candie. Randy lives in Michigan with his wife Brenda and two children, Alex and Patrick. They live in the country on ten acres with a river running through it. Randy raises exotic chickens for a hobby.

My daughter Candie is married to Terry who is her second husband. She has three children from her first marriage, Allyssa, Joey and Jacob. They live in Virginia in the Allegheny mountians. I have one great grandchild, Brayleigh Jean, who was born in September 2010.

I am a member of the Durand, Michigan Church of the Nazarene pastored by Mike and Rachel McCarty who spent most of their lives as missionaries in Thailand and Indonesia. I retired in 2000 and during the time my wife and I had together, we traveled and did mission work as her health allowed. We spent time in Mississippi after hurricane Katrina. At other times we assisted with youth projects like One Heart Many Hands at the Nazarene General Assembly in Indianopolis. I was introduced to Work and Witness (W&W) when our church (Coldwater, Michigan Church of the Nazarene, at that time) joined a group from Piqua Ohio and went to Honduras to help start a second level for the church there.

After my wife passed away I felt the call of the Lord to do his work. I started by joining Work and Witness teams that needed extra help. I am kind of a handyman so I looked for teams doing construction projects. Through W&W I ended up in Peru, Chilie, Haiti, South Africa in 2010. Then working through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries I applied for a maintenance job at the Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Mt. Hagen, Papua New Guinea (PNG). I was accepted and started the paperwork in October 2010. After lots of challenges I finally got the paperwork completed and submitted to PNG. In December I was given the opportunity to go to the Nazarene Theological College in Brisbane, Australia and wait for my permits to go to PNG. All permits were approved in early February and I am off to PNG on my next great adventure.