Meet our board of directors
Greg and jeanette Summerville
CEO & Board Member
Bob and Nancy Royster
President & Board Member
El Progreso, Jutiapa, Guatemala
Greg is a General Contractor and Jeanette is an RN. They have 8 children, all of whom they home-schooled, and 15 grandchildren. They founded the ministry in 2010 and incorporated in 2011 because they quickly realized that with a multitude of counselors there is safety (Proverbs 11:14).
God has used them throughout their 42 years of marriage to teach children the word of God. Jeanette uses her skills in art to illustrate Bible story booklets which help the Deaf learn the stories, since most cannot read. Greg loves to teach the boys carpentry and welding.
Their Sundays are busy with Jeanette teaching the children's Sunday School classes and Greg helping Jonathan with the preaching.
Ridgetop, TN
Bob is a retired teacher, minister, and technical writer who lives with his wife Nancy in Santa Clarita, California. They have two married daughters, both families live in Southern California, and three grandchildren. They have known the Summerville's since their days together in church in the early 1980s. Bob was vice-president of Fortress Ministries in Tennessee for several years, handling the finances for the ministry to
young, unwed mothers. He currently serves as President of the GDM board and as an elder at his church.
Nancy was a Developmental Reading Instructor at Volunteer Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee for 12 years. She also founded and was President of Fortress Ministries in Greenbrier, Tennessee. She enjoys teaching Bible classes for women's and children's ministries.
Carl Ehmann
Treasurer
Kathy Reese
Board Member
Monkey Island, OK
Lake Arrowhead, CA
Kathy graduated from Azusa Pacific University in California with a Master’s Degree and finished with licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. She met Greg and Jeanette when she and her husband Bill sold them the piece of property next door. They have been close friends ever since. Kathy and Bill now live in Northeast Oklahoma.
Carl, who received Christ as his Savior in 1972, has practiced law for more than forty years, mostly in the mountain town of Lake Arrowhead with his wife Kathy. He met Greg and Jeanette at Twin Peaks Community Church, which he has attended for many years; TPCC is the sending church for Greg and Jeanette. Carl has been on the Board of Guatemala Deaf Ministries, Inc. since its inception in 2011.
Nicole
Thorn
Board Member
Forest, VA
Nicole Thorn holds her Certificate of Interpreting (CI), and her Certificate of Transliteration (CT) from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), a BA in Sociology from Hartwick College, an MA from New York University in Deaf Education/Rehabilitation, an MA from Liberty University in Human Services: Marriage and Family with a focus on Deafness, and a doctorate degree (EdD) in Community Care and Counseling. With over 30 years of experience as both a teacher of the Deaf and a professional interpreter, Dr. Thorn founded the the current American Sign Language and Interpreting Bachelor degree program at Liberty University. She is passionate about using education to help individuals discover their own potential, encouraging healthy relationships, and supporting families. With her husband Ken, she enjoys time on her farm in central Virginia.