Tanya and her 4 sisters were born and raised by their parents in Minnesota. She raised her two sons in Maryland, Japan, and then landing back in Minnesota in 1997. Tanya currently lives in the twin cities area of Minnesota, and part-time in Haiti as the Lord leads. She loves being a grandma to her two grandsons, Levi and Samuel.

Tanya fondly recalls the moment she truly fell in love with Jesus at age 14 while attending a youth program called Student Venture. God planted the seed for missions when she attended life-changing mission trips with this group. After high school Tanya spent seven years working with children of various ages as she ran an enriched in-home daycare for military families in Maryland and Japan, and then for civilians in Minnesota. She then transitioned into the accounting field for about 20 years. Tanya has a passion for volunteering, devoting time packing meals at Feed-My-Starving Children, and with Operation Christmas Box through Samaritan Purse. She also served meals and mentored at shelters. She has volunteered in a variety of roles at her church, Grace fellowship. She loves sharing life with the women’s ministry group, has helped in children’s program, and served on the mission board. God always had a plan to bring her back to the mission field, which resumed in 2015, and she has not turned back. She coordinated short-term mission trips to Haiti until she took a full-time position with KidZ at Heart as the National Training Network Director for Haiti since 2019. She is also the Translations Coordinator, which oversees all the translations of materials needed by KidZ training teams since 2020. She is excited to come alongside the Haitian men and women as the training network grows, bringing the trainings across all of Haiti. To witness the individual relationships, grow with Jesus as the adults lead the children to know and fall deeply in love with Jesus.

When Tanya is not out in the mission field, you will find her exploring nature enjoying God’s beautiful masterpiece; spending hours of quiet soul-care time with the Lord at the water’s edge.