About

In December of 2012, ServeNow was launched to serve people in need by caring for orphans, widows, underprivileged children and youth as well as equipping the Church for greater fulfillment of its ministry and providing humanitarian assistance where needed.

Mission

The people of this world are still in desperate need of the Good News – whether in word or in deed  – and ServeNow is committed to making a difference, one life at a time.

Here is our mission statement:

Sharing Christ’s passion for the world by serving the most vulnerable through national churches and leaders.

History

ServeNow was started in December 2012 by Lars Dunberg and his daughter Maria Sturt. Their mission was to serve those most in need around the world. ServeNow’s first project was the rebuilding of a toilet facility in Uganda where children were attending school. Since then the ministry has grown significantly, serving over 3 million people in our first five years throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Muslim World. We are equipping the local church and coming alongside them to reach their communities for Christ … and we are just getting started!

Staff and Leadership

Ben Foley
International President
Ben joined ServeNow in January 2015 and become the next president in November 2016.  He is married to Lauren and they have four children. Ben has served as a pastor in New Jersey for six years and is a graduate of Lancaster Bible College with a bachelors in pastoral ministry and a master’s degree in Formational Leadership. He is the author and co-author of several of the ServeNow Basic Series books, Hope Rising: Finding Hope in a Turbulent World, and Everything is Meaningless: Finding Purpose in a World of Despair.
Lars Dunberg
President Emeritus
Lars has been in ministry for more than 50 years, serving as president of British Youth for Christ 1968-1970, president of Living Bibles International 1977-1992 and of International Bible Society 1992-1998. In 1998 he and his wife Doreen founded Global Action and served there until 2012. In 2013 he became the chair of ServeNow and then appointed president in April 2014. Lars has served as a Salvation Army officer in UK and Sweden, and as an ordained minister with the Covenant Church of Sweden. He is the author of some 15 books and author and/or editor in chief for The Basic Things you Need to Know series.
Laura O’Rear
Finance Director and Accountant
Laura has worked at ServeNow since October 2013. She has been in ministry for some 30 years, serving with Global Mapping International. Laura is a widow with several grown children and five grandchildren.
Paul Dunberg
Production Coordinator
Paul served with Global Action from 2001-2013. He joined Mountainbrook Press/ServeNow and worked part-time for both until January 2015 when he went full-time with ServeNow. Paul is married to Marina from Kerch, Crimea.
Kendall Keeler
East Coast Representative
Kendall joined ServeNow in 2020 after years of leadership experience with both for-profit and non-profit organizations, including Black Rock Retreat, Herr’s, Mt. Vernon Church, and Water Street Mission. Kendall graduated from Lancaster Bible College and sat at the feet of “Jesus” as a Sight and Sound actor. Kendall’s career goal is to help groups, individuals and organizations reach their fullest potential through problem-solving, efficiency, creativity, teamwork, and effective communication. This is summarized in his publishing company’s tagline Create-Connect-Inspire through which Kendall recently completed his first book, titled Your Last 24. Kendall believes giving generously helps us become more like God. Kendall has three daughters and a wife to whom he has been married for over 25 years.
Julia Sundstrom
Development Specialist
Julia is a proud Colorado Mesa University alumni, community dreamer, Instagram fanatic, communicator, photographer, and a people person. She believes community builds through shared experiences from the collaborative spirit of problem-solving, connecting over a cup of coffee, bending over backward for each other, and the willingness to listen. She lives by the motto ‘work hard and play harder,’ and plans to change the broader community. Julia graduated from Colorado Mesa University in May 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Strategies & Applications and a minor in Business Entrepreneurship. Throughout her school career, Julia participated in student-led newspapers at Grand Junction High School and CMU. During college, Julia volunteered as a YoungLife leader by mentoring middle school girls and worked as a barista for Kiln Coffee Bar. As the Community Manager and Marketing & Communication Specialist for Proximity, she excelled in her skills like social media management, event programming, member retention, and sales strategy.
Renee Lujan
Finance and Office Assistant

Renee is a Colorado Springs native, growing up in the neighborhood next to the ServeNow office! Her career path led her to Data Processing for Credit Unions where she learned her bookkeeping skills. When her husband started his own business those bookkeeping skills were honed even more. While she applied for part-time work in the ServeNow Finance Department, she likes to say she serves “Where the Need is Greatest” in the office, stuffing envelopes, running errands, and printing documents.

Melany Jackson
Assistant to the President

Melany is a Midwest girl, born and raised in Illinois. She has been involved in vocational ministry for most of her adult life, serving 8 years in Christian radio, 15 years doing transitional worship and evangelism for churches, and 9 years of poverty/compassion ministry. This included launching and growing a new ministry for our friends without an address called C-U at Home and authoring a memoir about this experience, titled More Than Enough. She earned her Master of Divinity from Midwestern Seminary in 2008 and moved to Colorado Springs in 2017. She enjoys leading a motorcycle ministry and regular lap swimming. Melany followed God’s call to join the ServeNow team as Assistant to the President in 2022 and loves helping Ben expand his executive bandwidth. Her life verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:24 – The One who has called you is completely dependable. If He said it, He’ll do it!

Curtis Wilson
Midwest Development Representative

Curtis joined ServeNow in the fall of 2022. He brings years of international missions experience from serving as a generosity advisor for families, churches, foundations, and businesses that seek to make an impact for the Kingdom. His passion is to see people and churches fulfill God’s call to be cheerful givers. Blessed to be a husband to Kristine and father to Eli, both of which love outdoor activities and serving God however they are called. Avid Ohio State Buckeye and Pittsburgh Steeler fan who loves to hunt, fish, and tinker on classic antique cars.

Brad Reynolds
Southeast Development Representative

Brad Reynolds is passionate about living out Matthew 25:31-46 and seeing lives changed by Christ! With over 20+ years of experience, Brad comes to ServeNow with a diverse background in the church and nonprofit arena. He is an instrumental leader in church growth, mission projects, and fundraising. As Superintendent of E4N Network, Brad oversaw 200 ministers. Prior Brad worked as a Senior Pastor, who partnered diligently with multiple church plants and even established a few others. Brad’s ministry began with Urban Outreach in his hometown of Roanoke, VA, where he preached and ministered to those in need. This included partnering and volunteering with the local homeless outreach, the Samaritan Inn. Brad and his wife Susan have three grown children, who all devotedly serve in ministry together. His children excel with many of today’s top Christian contemporary worship artists. Schedule an appointment with Brad: https://calendly.com/connectwithbrad.

Board Members

Tony Lombardi
Tony joined the Board in September 2018 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board. Tony is a former Global Chief Information Officer and Shared Services Executive, recently retired from The Andersons, Inc. in Maumee, OH, and previously at Armstrong World Industries in Lancaster, PA. He has developed and led multi-sourced teams supporting staff in the US, Europe, China, India, and Australia. Tony is currently a CIO-level consultant, helping companies assess and improve their technologies and leadership. He has been a follower of Jesus since 1987, has served on multiple church leadership & youth centerboards & served in numerous ministry areas. He is also currently on the board of Mosaic Ministries (Toledo, OH), which offers aid and education to enable families to lift themselves out of poverty. He and his wife Edna live in Quarryville, PA, and have three married daughters who have blessed them with five grandchildren!
Allison Parker
Allison joined the board in 2019, and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board.  She is an attorney who has worked in human rights and international development for 15 years, particularly on strategies to fight human trafficking. Allison is married to David, who was a missionary kid in Uganda and Kenya, and lives with him and their young daughter near Washington, DC.
Robert Shaffer
Rob joined the board in 2015. He is married to his wife Vickie and has three sons. Rob is president of Air-Squared, a manufacturer of oil-free scroll solutions for the compressor, vacuum pump, and expander industry. He has also had a distinguished career as an engineer. Rob loves to climb the 14 footers of Colorado!
Fred Sharpe
Fred joined the Board in March 2014, and served as chairmen for three years. Fred is a Healthcare and Business Executive with experience in all aspects of business leadership and organizational development. Fred has served as president, chief dental officer, senior officer and regional dental director for several managed care insurance and dental companies. Fred holds a Master of Arts, Cross-Cultural Ministries from Dallas Theological Seminary, A J.D, from William Mitchell College of Law, and a D.D.S from Northwestern University Dental School-Chicago. Fred is married to Sherrie Ross. They are proud parents of three dachshunds.
Kyle Pewitt
Kyle joined the Board in March 2013 and is in his second term. Kyle Pewitt is the Chief Financial Officer of Solara Surgical, Dallas. He has over 20 years of executive leadership experience in operations and organizational transformation, as well as financial management. In addition to healthcare, his experience encompasses logistics, financial management and non-profit, including Executive Pastor of a large church in the Oklahoma City area. He graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting. He also received an MBA in International Business Management from Oklahoma Baptist.
Ellen Sousa
Ellen is originally from Brazil and comes from a family where her dad and grandfather were both pastors. Her family moved to the US in 1992 for safety reasons after they suffered a kidnapping attempt. After graduating from seminary at Christ for the Nations, Ellen also became a Real Estate agent and subsequently a Real Estate Broker. In 2014, her and her husband felt called to start a Brazilian speaking church in Orlando, Florida, where they both continue to serve. Ellen and her husband Eliald have two teenage sons.
Daniel O’Rear
Daniel joined the Board in March 2019. He is the Executive Director of the Myron Stratton Foundation, the oldest private foundation in Colorado. Prior to arriving at his current position, Daniel spent 22 years at Goodwill Industries serving as Chief Financial Officer and later as President of the Goodwill Industrial Services Corp. Daniel has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado and is a CPA. Daniel resides in Colorado Springs with his wife Sandy. They have three children and one grand-daughter all living in Colorado.
Kristen Manz
Though new to the Board in 2019, Kristen and her family have been involved with Serve Now since it’s inception. They are committed to the humanitarian and pastoral training projects that are impacting the most vulnerable regions of the globe. Kristen is a Realtor in SW Houston and is married to Steve Manz. The couple are newly inducted “Empty-Nesters” with 3 college aged children, and 2 labrador retrievers. Kristen and Steve are members of River Pointe Church; they love baseball, travel, and spending time with family and friends.
Lydia Munene

Lydia Munene serves as Vice President, Africa for Biblica – The International Bible Society where she provides oversight of Biblica work in Africa. She is married to Rev Jotham Munene who serves as a Pastor with Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) and they have two daughters aged 20 and 15. Lydia and her family currently live in Mombasa, Kenya, having relocated from Nairobi in 2019 to start a new church plant – CITAM Mombasa. Lydia is passionate about discipleship, particularly for Africa’s children and youth and is involved in School outreaches and Sunday School ministry.

Mike Romero

Michael Romero joined the ServeNow board in January of 2022. He currently serves as the President of Heritage Trust and lives in Oklahoma City with his wife Laura and their four children. Mike came to Heritage from the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma, where he served as vice president, trust counsel from 2001 until 2016, when he was promoted to senior vice president, chief development officer. Mike also frequently speaks to groups on the topics of estate planning and charitable planned giving. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he teaches courses in estate planning and administration, and business law. In addition, he is an active member of Council Road Baptist Church. Mike earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma Baptist University and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. In his free time, he enjoys watching his kids play sports, reading a good book or exploring the Oklahoma terrain on a hike.

Statement of Faith

  • We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
  • We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • We believe in the deity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule as Head of the Church and in His personal return in power and glory.
  • We believe that for salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. We believe in the present ministry of the person of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life, and to overcome the attacks of the Evil One, Satan.
  • We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
  • We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, with equality across race, gender, and class differences.

Financial Transparency

We are committed to being transparent about our financials. To view financial reports from this year and years passed, please visit our Accountability page.

We Are Accountable to Those We Serve and Our Donors.

Our accountability to our donors is one of our highest priorities. Our goal is to use the funds entrusted to us as wise stewards. To do this requires continued monitoring and annual audits of our fund distribution. ServeNow is also a member in good standing with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), Guide Star and Excellence in Giving (EIG).