Staff
Jodi Lewis
Director
Jodi Lewis is a wife, a mom to three adult children, a licensed registered nurse, and a boots-on-the-ground local church ministry lay leader and volunteer. Through her international adoption and parenting journey, she realized the potential of the local church to impact the global orphan crisis and founded and developed a multi-faceted orphan and vulnerable child ministry at her local Wesleyan church in West Michigan in 2004, which she continues to lead to this day. God has used this unique ministry context to prepare her to lead the rebuilding and implementation of Hephzibah62:4 for a new season of impact, beginning in 2019.
Brittany Cunningham
Administrative Coordinator
Brittany is a Wesleyan pastor who has ministered in West Michigan for over a decade, offering compassion, spiritual guidance and prayer support to individuals and families. She has served in a variety of roles both in the medical field and church and contributed to the development of several prayer ministries. Her family has often been entrusted with the care of children, which has deepened her awareness of the support that vulnerable children and families need. In recent years she has felt a specific calling to serve with Hephzibah62:4 and is excited for the opportunity to work on mission with the team.
Sheri Jennings
Program Coordinator
Sheri and her husband Derric are parents and grandparents with hearts to serve the vulnerable. Sheri has served The Wesleyan Church as a NC East District pastor for over three decades and spent five years serving foster youth and families while engaging churches in her non-profit work. First connecting with Hephzibah Ministries through family mission trips to the former children’s home and later with Hephzibah62:4, Sheri served as a volunteer Hephzibah62:4 Ambassador in NC East before she joined our staff. She is passionate about equipping Wesleyan churches to fulfill the mission of Hephzibah62:4 in their own communities and looks forward to connecting with your church.
Hephzibah62:4 District Ambassadors
Joy Haithcock
South Carolina District Ambassador
Joy and her husband Randy have been involved in foster care and adoption since welcoming their first foster child into their home before their first anniversary. Joy has served as foster parent trainer, and founded and led a foster and adoption agency. When their biological children were in their teens and twenties, they adopted 3 children from foster care. By birth and adoption, they are the proud parents of 7 children and 13 grandchildren. Joy is passionate about the church being involved in loving and nurturing vulnerable children and is excited to be a part of the Hephzibah62:4 team!
Hephzibah62:4 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rev. Dr. Anita Eastlack
Board Chair
Anita Eastlack is the Director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship of the NE District of The Wesleyan Church, and the Lead Pastor of CrossPoint Wesleyan Church in Bethlehem, PA. She was blessed to grow up with foster and adopted siblings and she and her husband, Karl, have the joy of being parents of both adopted and biological children. Through her four decades of local, district and denominational leadership, she has personally witnessed the transformational power when discipleship includes a holistic approach of caring for the least of these.
Janelle Vernon
Board Secretary/Treasurer
Janelle Vernon is Executive Director of the Division of Communication and Administration at The Wesleyan Church. Additional responsibilities include serving as General Secretary and Wesleyan Publishing House publisher. She held the title of Indiana Wesleyan University vice president for Residential Enrollment and Marketing before her 2016 General Conference election. Her career spans private industry, state government and Christian higher education.
Rev. Dr. Ed Love
Board Member
Ed Love is the Executive Director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship for The Wesleyan Church. He has planted two multiplying churches, daughtered multiple church plants, developed a church planting network, and coached, trained and resourced church planters. He received his M.DIV. from Asbury Theological Seminary and obtained his D.MIN. from George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Ed is the author of several books and many many church multiplication resources. Ed and his wife Emily reside in Muncie, IN and have three spunky kids, Jennah, Josiah, and Micah.
Angel Metzger
Board Member
Angel Metzger serves as the Compassion Director at Ransom Church in Sioux Falls, SD. She says attending Ransom transformed her life and knows God called her away from being a “convenient” Christian into one who is in the trenches. Helping to launch and lead the family preservation ministry at Ransom forever changed her – where she has been asked to be obedient to this call in a very tangible way by surrounding families in crisis with caring, compassionate community.
Rev. Arlynn Ellis
Board Member
Arlynn Ellis is the Assistant District Superintendent of the Mountain Plains District of The Wesleyan Church and founder of Acts of Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the least served. Throughout her career she has served in a variety of organizational and church leadership roles and is gifted in creating community impact. Arlynn holds a bachelor’s degree in international business administration and marketing, and master’s degrees in management and business administration.
Pastor Michael Newton
Board Member
Michael Newton is an Associate Evangelist of the Great Lakes Region of The Wesleyan Church and serves as the Lead Pastor of The Well Ministries of Detroit. Michael and his wife, Chanel, are the visionaries and founders of The Main Ingredient, a fresh expression that teaches underrepresented youth culinary and entrepreneurship. While serving in this capacity, Michael has the opportunity for incarnational discipleship, teaching the youth how to live out their faith and share their faith to the people in their sphere of influence.
Rev. Jennifer White
Board Member
Jennifer White is the Assistant Pastor at Solid Rock Wesleyan Church in Newfoundland, Canada, answering God’s call to ministry with a special focus on inclusion in the special needs community. Her spare time is shared with her husband, Chris, caring for their busy home where at any given time you might find a foster child (or three!), an international student or some of the children who lovingly call them aunt and uncle. Jennifer is passionate about building relationships and finding new and creative ways to show people in her community the love of Jesus, including the vulnerable and marginalized.
Rev. Phyllis Isaac
Board Member
Phyllis Isaac is a Co-Lead Pastor at First Wesleyan Church in Jersey City, NJ. She holds a MSW and served the children of New Jersey for over three decades, supporting family stability, foster care, and adoption. She currently serves child welfare professionals as a Peer Counselor through Rutgers University Department of Behavioral Health and serves the Northeast District of The Wesleyan Church as the Director of Pastoral Care. Phyllis is the mother of one adult son, Philip Micah. Her passion toward children and families was ignited and continues to be fueled by James 1:27.