Hailing from Michigan and North Carolina, God blessed Chris with favor in his business career. By the age of 28 he had managed thousands of people with a well known Fortune 50 Company. In 2001 God spoke to him to “move on” and commit his life to full-time discipleship within missions. Since then Chris has championed young spiritual leaders in over 25 nations.

Kara grew up in YWAM as a Kings Kid. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Urban Studies and a Masters Certificate in Nonprofit Management from VCU. She is a key community leader in the East End of Richmond Virginia..

In 2006 Chris and Kara were married. Chris became the Director of YWAM VA (now YWAM: Commonwealth Ministries) in 2008 expressing the vision to “Passionately Follow God & Champion Young People.” Together they love to release young spiritual leaders and to pioneer cutting edge ministries with their children Isaac, Hannah Grace, and Jonathan.

Since 2019, Chris’ leadership of YWAMVA has served as an umbrella for the leadership and campuses in both Richmond, Virginia Beach, Lynchburg and City Lights (a hybrid family focused campus)