The Asia Area Ministry Team functions as a team. They are in regular contact sharing experiences to better serve the people of Asia. This contact is facilitated by yearly meetings and by a Staff structure that represents the team. Regional level staff include:
Tom & Melva Post (team leader)
Tom is currently the team leader for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee in Asia, focusing on Bangladesh, India, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia.
Tom and his wife, Melva, have 6 children. Melva is originally from the coutry of Belize, in Central America. Melva and Tom recently moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand to be closer to the Asian countries and staff with whom Tom is working. Tom grew up in the Trinity Christian Reformed Church of Grandville, MI, and their present home church is the Neland Avenue Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, MI.
Tom has worked for the Peace Corps in Belize, in bilingual education with the Grand Rapids Public Schools and for CRWRC in Honduras, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, and Kenya. He has served as field director for Mexico and Belize, Central America Zone Director, as team leader for East & Southern Africa, and as developer of partnerships for business development in Kenya (Partners for Christian Development). Melva has worked as a nurse, teacher, and mom in various countries.
Tom has his BA in biology and secondary education from Calvin College, his MA in Bilingual Education from Grand Valley State Colleges, his MSc. in Agronomy and Certificates in Latin American Studies and Tropical Agriculture from the University of Florida, and his Ph.D. in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia. Melva has her BSc in nursing from Grand Valley State Univ.
Address:
Tom and Melva Post
244/64 Lanna Pinery Home Village
Nong Kwai, Hang Dong District
Chiang Mai, 50230 Thailand
EMAIL:
postt@crcna.org
Read the Post's latest newsletter (April 2007)
Previous newsletters:
March07 | Oct07.pdf | Dec07.pdf
Deb Schout (Justice Education Coordinator)
Deb was raised at Hillcrest CRC in Hudsonville, MI. When she felt she was being called to Asia, she asked what part, if any, Hillcrest was willing to play in her going. They basically responded by saying, "if you'll go, we will pay for it" and have now kept that commitment for 5 years.
Prior to coming to Asia, Deb worked in the Mississippi Delta for 10 years (not consecutively); in Muskegon Heights, MI while she attended Western Theological Seminary for 3 years; and in Belize, Central America for CRWRC for 2 years. Her other educational background includes a bachelors in Religious Education from Reformed Bible College (now Kuyper College), registered nursing training from Butterworth Hospital School of Nursing, pediatric nurse practitioner training from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and a Masters in Public Heath from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Deb serves CRWRC as the Regional Justice Education Coordinator for Asia. She is also employeed by Interserve US, which is an international interdenominational mission board. She works as the Human Resource Development Director for LAMB Project, a rural health and development project in rural Bangladesh. As a result, she is the administrator for a 50 -bed residential training center for health workers, and also for an English Medium School where they currently have grades preschool through grade 7. CRWRC contracts with LAMB for some of Dev's time for their Justice Education activities.
EMAIL: debs@lambproject.org
