Chuck Weygandt

Project Coordinator

Lutheran Hour Ministry Advancement Officer, married for 30 years to the amazing Lynne, 2 adult married children, and 2 grandsons. He is 52 years old, and lives in Paso Robles, CA. In 2007, Chuck was part of a Global Work and Witness team that helped to restore a Lutheran Hospital in Bratislava, Slovakia that had been seized by the Communists during the Cold War. The experience changed him and led him to seek India.  Because the work in India is far from finished, Chuck is also leading the second trip this August.

Dana Baker

Dana just got done with her freshman year at Cal Poly-SLO and is a Business major. She is from Milpitas, CA and goes to Apostles Lutheran in San Jose, CA. Dana will be taking over the running of the college ministry for Karl Lipscomb at Zion Lutheran in San Luis Obispo, CA when Karl graduates from Cal Poly. This will be Dana’s first mission trip outside of the United States and she is really excited to see how God will use her in an unfamiliar place.

Pastor Steve Barckholtz

Pastor Barckholtz and his family have just relocated from Elko, Nevada, to Hailey, Idaho, where Steve has accepted the Call to serve as Pastor at Valley of Peace Lutheran Church.

Last year's trip to India was Steve's first mission adventure beyond the borders of the United States.  Since two weeks in India sounds better than unpacking boxes from their recent move, Steve can't wait to go back to Chennai.

In reality, Steve's motivation for going back is the same as last year--"For the past couple of years I have been preaching...teaching... urging...our congregation to get more involved in our community and world. When this opportunity came across my desk out of the blue, it seemed God was saying, 'Quit talking! Get your own can in gear!' After trying to hide behind excuses of inconvenience and timing for a couple of weeks, I decided I better seize the chance to lead by doing."

Steve and Wendy have been married 17 years and have a 6-year-old son, Zane, and an 18-month-old daughter, Mallory.

Pastor Gary Bell

Pastor Gary Bell has been the pastor of Benicia Lutheran Church since 1999. In 1988, his first call was as half-time Missionary at Large for the Deaf in the Minnesota North District and half-time pastor for Faith Lutheran Church of Maple, Wisconsin. In 1995, he was called to be pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado. While he was in Colorado, he served as a vacancy pastor for the deaf for about a year.

Pastor Gary and his wife, Sherry, have been married since 1975. They have three grown children, Sarah, Melinda, and Aaron. Aaron is currently on his vicarage in Watertown Wisconsin.  Melinda and her fiancé, Chris, will be married on June 27, 2009. Sarah and her husband Wymond just had a baby boy in late May.

Pastor Bell is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry in Christian Outreach degree. He has completed all of the classes and is in search of a subject for his dissertation----Christian outreach in India sounds like a pretty good subject.

Glen Butler

The President of the LHM-CNH District, Glen is married to Hui-Yop from Korea. Glen has been working hard to promote this trip, and Lutheran Hour Ministries, since taking his position last year. Glen is a member of Trinity Lutheran, and lives in Paso Robles.

John Foottit

John has been employed as an electronics technician for the United States Postal Service for over 15 years after serving in the Navy as a data systems technician for 25 years.  He lives in Vallejo and is a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Napa.  He has been married 30 years to his helpmate Pamela and has two grown children, John III and Heidi-Beth.  Since being asked to serve as a congregational representative, he has served in several C-N-H District LLL positions including Vice-President, President, and now Secretary.  He also operates the C-N-H District LHM web site, and has been blessed to attend every International LLL Convention since 1988  This will be his first time in India but visited neighboring Pakistan while in the Navy.  After this trip, John is looking forward to a second retirement in 2010 and attending the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, with Rev. Ken Klaus.

Kathryn Lee

The last-minute addition to the team, Kathryn is a foreign English teacher living on Youngdo Island, Busan, in South Korea. She is 26 years old, and will have completed one year in Korea this August 21. Before moving to Busan, Kathryn was a Communications major at Boise State University in Idaho and completed her Bachelor's in Dec. 2007. She has renewed my contract and will be remaining in South Korea for another year. Kathryn has also considered returning to school to pursue a Master's in International Communication, or possibly taking on mission work. Of India, Kathryn says, "I am so unbelievably greatful for this opportunity to do God's work and touch the lives of others."

Todd Puckett

Todd transferred to Cal Poly almost two years ago as a Civil Engineering student. He quickly found a church home at Zion Lutheran in San Luis Obispo which has a growing and increasingly active college group. His home town is north of Sacramento where he attends church at St. Mark's Lutheran Church. Since this church is holding a piano recital soon, he needs to start taking practice seriously ;)  Todd has not yet traveled out of the 48 states, so going to Chennai – definitely not in Kansas – is very exciting.

Pastor Dan Rowe

The Senior Pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Paso Robles, Pastor Rowe is 54, married to Jean, and has 4 children and 1 grandson. Pastor Rowe first went to India with Mission India in early 2006 for 2 weeks, and returned to India again in early 2007 where he extended his trip to spend a week at the LHM Christian Media Centre. This trip was his idea!

Drew Rowe

Drew is the 6’ 2” hulking high school senior son of Pastor Rowe. Drew has been on a couple of mission trips to help build houses in Mexico. He lives with his family in Paso Robles. Drew enjoys arguing with his sister and destroying Josh in Halo 2.

Josh Weygandt

Media Coordinator

Josh is the Media tech and Videographer for our trip. He works at Trinity, Paso Robles as the Youth Director and Digital Ministries Director, and spends the majority of his time running his insurance and financial services business. Married nearly 5 years to the lovely Dana.  Josh saw an opportunity to use his skills and talents to raise awareness for India before, after, and during the mission trips and is excited to return.

You can see Josh's work on the 2007 Mexico Video.