About Us

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Remember the Poor is staffed and run entirely by volunteers.

Interested in volunteering? We’re almost always “hiring”!!  E-mail Cindy May.

Banner Photos

The photo on the left was taken when we (Frank and Cindy) were in Gulu, Uganda–an area of “The Invisible Children”.  The photo on the right was taken in Jinja, Uganda by John Mugabi.  The man in the photo is a friend, Charles, with his 6 recently orphaned nieces and nephews, who are now sponsored.

Board Members of Remember the Poor:

• Cindy May
• Frank May
• Andrea Thiele
• Rob Brooks
• Rowena Freelend
• Tom Gender
• Brad Keogh
• Philip Mouw

Who We Are

All of the individuals below volunteer their time to help with our ministries.  Kisii and Gulu Ministries are originated in their countries and are run by indigenous people.  We on the US side serve in support roles.

Frank and Cindy May- U.S. Directors of Administration. E-mail us

Frank and Cindy communicate with donors and with the sister-school (NCS), and oversee the U.S. side of the ministry.

We began partnering in ministry with John Mugabi in 1996. He was a young man of 19 years old, attending Bible School and leading a fledgling prison evangelism ministry. Cindy’s dad, Bill Phillips, began traveling to Uganda in 1994, and met John on one of his first trips there. He was impressed with John’s maturity, sincerity and faithfulness.

We were married in 1991 and hope someday to add children to our family through adoption.  For now, we are loving many little “chocolate drops”– as our family likes to refer to the children in Africa–from a distance.  We currently live in Phoenix, AZ.

We have been profoundly influenced by Randy Alcorn’s books on money—both The Treasure Principle and Money, Possessions & Eternity.

Mid-way through 2009, we read an article in Christianity Today about David Platt, pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL.  We watched “the most powerful sermon in the history of the Southern Baptist Pastor’s Convention,” and then delved into His sermon-series, RADICAL and Faith Works, which are gripping, compelling, challenging and anything but boring.  David Platt unapologetically speaks truth. We believe these video series are a must-see for every Christian.  You will see links to the sermon series at the top of the side bar at right.

Our prayer and hope for ourselves and for the body of Christ in the West is that we would delight in and worship God alone–not our personal comfort, enjoyment, entertainment, financial security, etc.  Our delayed obedience or disobedience in keeping so many resources for ourselves is costly for those in both physical and spiritual need around the world.

Bryan and Andrea Thiele- Director of Operations- E-Mail Andrea 

Bryan and I have 9 wonderful children, 4 “home-grown” (biological), and 5 adopted from China, Russia and Ethiopia.  Perhaps two things have impacted our lives the most:  The Worldwide Perspectives Class, and a Steven Curtis Chapman concert.  It was at his concert one night that I heard him talk about adoption and a seed of desire was sewn in my heart.  Now, 8 years later, we have adopted 5 children.  The Worldwide Perspectives (Pathways) Class is one that has transformed our understanding of our mission here in this world.  We attended the class, and then led it for several years.  It was at this class that we met Frank and Cindy and became fast friends.  We have partnered with Remember the Poor for several years, overseeing the partnership with the ministry in Kisii, Kenya, and in 2011, the board asked me to serve as their new Director of Operations.  It is one of my greatest pleasures in life to serve in this capacity.

Read the Thiele’s blog here.

Jenell Te Velde- Bookkeeper  E-mail Jenell

Steve and I have lived all of our lives in the Pacific Northwest, and are currently in Bellingham, Washington.  We were married in 1996, and have two children ages 8 and 5.  Our family attends Sonlight Community CRC in Lynden, Wa.  We enjoy camping in the many parks of the area and being near, or on, the ocean.  We were introduced to the work in Nkumba by Dan Smythe (on staff with GTN) who married us! We feel very excited and blessed to be a part of this ministry.

Elissa Hill- WebSite Manager  E-mail Elissa 

Darryl and I have been married since May 2002 and we have a passion for orphans. You see, around the world more than 143 million children struggle for life every day. Whether its little girls searching the garbage dump in Uganda to find scraps of food or little boys begging on the streets of Kenya–these are children who don’t know where their next meal will come from, much less their next kind word or decent pair of shoes. Our prayer is to help them any way the Lord leads. Including adopting a few ourselves. We have two biological children and two adopted from the country of Bulgaria. We plan on continuing the work of our Lord through this ministry and are blessed to be a part of Remember The Poor.