Staff
Jodi Lewis
Director
Jodi Lewis and her husband Jamie are the proud parents of three grown children through international adoption. Their adoption journey and realization for the potential of the local church ignited a passion that resulted in her giving up her career as a registered nurse in 2004. Lewis founded and developed a multi-faceted Wesleyan church ministry in Michigan which focuses on awareness, care and support of orphans and vulnerable children. She was hired to lead the revisioned Hephzibah62:4 in March of 2019.
Anika Ojeda
Administrative Assistant
Anika Ojeda was born in Germany and moved to the United States with her family as a child in 1999. She has always been passionate about serving God and people, and after High School she moved to Chile to work with missionaries at an orphanage. There she learned that the most effective ministry unit is the local church and that the church often isn’t equipped to serve vulnerable children. She studied at Hillsong International Leadership College in Australia and graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Ministry in 2014. Through the twists and turns of life, God has led Anika to Hephzibah62:4 and she has served as the Administrative Assistant since November 2020.
CeCe DeBat
Program Coordinator
Cennera “CeCe” DeBat grew up in Indiana, earned a BS in Marketing from Indiana Wesleyan University, then relocated to Michigan and married her husband, Brady. God has stirred a fire and passion in her heart for vulnerable children and families through a variety of life, work and ministry experiences. She believes that the call to make Jesus Christ known and to serve vulnerable children and families has been given primarily to local churches. She is honored to work with Hephzibah62:4 and is excited to see how God uses the body of Christ to bring hope to the hopeless and light to the darkness!
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!
Sheri Jennings
North Carolina East District Ambassador
Sheri has served as a pastor in NC East churches for over 30 years. She and her husband Derric are parents and grandparents with hearts for missions. First connecting with Hephzibah through family mission trips, God recently sparked a new passion that Sheri realized was aligned with the new Hephzibah62:4 mission and vision. In 2021 she left her full-time pastoral role to equip churches to fill the unmet needs of local foster care systems, through her work at a regional foster care agency and as a Hephzibah62:4 Ambassador. Sheri strongly believes if every church engages in serving the vulnerable, there will be MORE THAN ENOUGH to meet the needs in each county.
Hephzibah62:4 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rev. Dr. Anita Eastlack
Board Chair
Anita Eastlack is the Director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship of the Northeast District of The Wesleyan Church, and the Lead Pastor of CrossPoint Wesleyan Church in Bethlehem, PA. She was blessed to grow up in a family with foster and adopted siblings. She and her husband, Karl, have the joy of being parents of both adopted and biological children. Through Anita’s 35+ years of local, district and denominational leadership, she has personally witnessed the transformational power when discipleship includes the 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.
Angel Metzger
Board Member
Angel Metzger resides in South Dakota and is the Compassion Director at Ransom Church. She says attending Ransom has transformed her life. She knows God has called her away from being a “convenient” Christian into one that’s in the trenches. Helping to launch and now lead the Family Preservation ministry at Ransom has 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 a caring, compassionate community.
Rev. Arlynn Ellis
Board Member
Arlynn Ellis is the founder of Acts of Hope, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the least served. She worked as a Director of Family Wellness and Facilities Expansion for Methodist Healthcare Ministries, VP of Operations at SA Youth. She has provided support to several nonprofits and enjoys leading community impact efforts. Arlynn holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration and Marketing, a Master’s in Management, a Master’s in Business Administration and is an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church.
Pastor Michael Newton
Board Member
Michael Newton is an associate Evangelist of the Great Lakes Region of the Wesleyan Church and serves as the interim lead pastor of Mosaic Church 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
Rev. Phyllis Isaac
Board Member
Phyllis Isaac is the Assistant Pastor of Outreach at First Wesleyan Church in Jersey City, NJ. Rev. Isaac has a master’s degree in social work and served the children of New Jersey for over three decades, contributing to transformative initiatives that supported 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 TWC as a DBA member and as the Director of Pastoral Care. Rev. Isaac 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.
Rev. Dr. Ed Love
Board Member
Ed Love is the Executive Director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship for The Wesleyan Church. Ed has planted two multiplying churches, daughtered multiple church plants, developed a church planting network, and has provided coaching, training, and resources for church planters. Ed also teaches church multiplication related courses at Wesley Seminary and Asbury Seminary. He received his M.DIV. from Asbury Theological Seminary and obtained his D.MIN. from George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Ed is the author of Revive, Pioneers, Fear Not, Reclaiming Hope, Turn, and many other church multiplication resources. Ed and his wife Emily reside in Muncie, IN with their three spunky kids, Jennah, Josiah, and Micah.