Constance McDearmon
Chairwoman, Executive Committee
Constance lives in the Northern Neck of Virginia and has three children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She had a successful top-management career with Avon and after retiring, pledged all of her experience to Christ. Constance is active in her church, Light of Christ Anglican in Heathsville as a Eucharistic Minister, Intercessor, Children's Sunday School Teacher, Home Group Leader, and member of the Missions Empowerment Group. She also works with the Good News Club, a division of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) at her local Elementary school as a Group Leader and Mission Story Teacher. Constance is a certified facilitator for Perspectives on the World Christian Movement and worked closely with the Reverend Cannon Tad de Bordenave to bring three classes to the NNK. Her vision for AFM is to share the heart of God as in Acts 1:8:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Rev. Canon George Ivey
Executive Committee
George is the Canon Missioner for the Anglican Diocese of the South and has been involved in world missions for over 40 years in Mexico, Germany, Jamaica, Switzerland, France, Holland, Great Britain, Thailand, and Israel. For the past 22 years, George has been involved with the ministry of DaySpring International which, over the past 35 years, has planted over 5000 churches and founded over 120 schools in India. He and his wife Paulette have been married for over thirty years and have two sons and three grandchildren.
Marjorie Fowler
Secretary
Marjorie and her husband, Ed, a retired priest in the Reformed Episcopal Church, live in Galveston, Texas. After spending 30 years in management positions at public relations/advertising agencies in Houston, Marjorie brought her expertise to a Houston-based agency providing secular support services to church planters working in predominately Muslim countries. She has taken the Perspective on the World Christian Movement, taking mission trips to Kazakhstan and Egypt, used her musical gifts in church as organist and choir director, taught women’s Bible studies, chaired the altar guild, and been involved in urban ministry. Marjorie was also a board member of Healthy Family Initiatives, a Houston child abuse prevention agency, and volunteers in a number of Christian and secular entities.
Jeff Walton
Jeff Walton is the Anglican Program Director for the Institute on Religion & Democracy in Washington, DC where he writes about the worldwide Anglican Communion and its member churches. A transplant from the West Coast, he worked on Capitol Hill for several members of the U.S. Congress before coming to the Institute of Religion and Democracy in 2006, developing a continuing interest in international religious freedom and persecuted religious minorities.
Jeff is an active member of The Falls Church Anglican in Falls Church, Virginia. He first encountered Anglican Frontier Missions through those ministering among unreached people groups in Asia.
Heidi Swanson
Heidi Swanson, is a cradle Episcopalian, raised in the Anglican tradition. She graduated from MacMurray College and has since worked in advertising, marketing and sales. Heidi is actively involved in her church, St. Mark’s in Geneva, Illinois where she most enjoys singing in the choir, welcoming visitors, developing relationships with the children and other members of the parish, working at the soup kitchen, and attending bible study. When seeking the Lord’s guidance, Heidi became drawn to AFM’s mission to bring the Gospel to the unreached when a friend at St. Mark’s became an AFM cross-cultural worker.
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15-16).
Val Bowman
Valerie grew up in a military family and her childhood was spent living in Europe and the Middle East. When she married her husband Bill in 1967, she entered the construction business. Upon retirement, Val began a year of prayer with her parish which brought her to AFM. She connected with AFM through searching for ways to reach out and serve in the world, and this has allowed her to return to the wonderful areas she loved as a child while becoming a partner in prayer. She continues to travel to the Middle East and shares her experiences with other churches in the United States. Valerie also works with refugee women and is a conversation partner with international students. Valerie's two sons and her six lively grandchildren bring much pleasure to life.
The Rev. Matt Foster
Board Member
Matt has been part of Christ the King Anglican (CTK) in Boone, NC since 2008 and on staff as Director of Mission and Ministry since 2016. CTK supports four Cross Cultural Workers (CCWs). He served three years as a Cross Cultural Worker among an ethnic minority in the foothills of the Himalayas. He is a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and worked for nine years with Samaritan’s Purse. In that time he partnered with Christian leaders in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. He also redeveloped global training materials to better equip church partners for outreach and discipleship of children. Matt has coordinated the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course in Boone. Most recently, Matt is a doctoral student at Trinity School for Ministry and he serves as the volunteer Global Mission Initiative leader for the Diocese of Christ Our Hope. Matt and his wife Alison met in Boone and are the proud parents of five children.
Michael Mates
Board Member
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1 Timothy 1:17).
Michael Mates, 78, was converted to Christ in 1967, at St Luke's Episcopal Church in Seattle. He holds degrees in Latin (BA), Greek (MA) and Church History (PhD). His PhD dissertation was written in a security guard shack for doctoral studies at Fuller Seminary. His thesis concerned the survival of the British Church from St. Patrick to Gildas, and explored the impact of troubled times on theology and practice.
Michael worked for 19 years as a political analyst for the U.S. Department of State, in Pakistan, Australia, Romania, Washington D.C., and Moldova, before retiring to Monroe, WA, where he put his education and experience to good use in serving on various school and church boards, and ultimately serving AFM by analyzing geopolitical events and cultural trends affecting CCWs in the field, and by offering training and advice for successful U.S. visa applications to overseas AFM partners.
He loves our Lord and AFM, and is thankful for these opportunities to serve. He writes sonnets and limericks, can speak in several dialects of English, and helps keep his 2.3 acres in trim. Here is his best limerick, "On preaching a Your First Sermon in a Foreign Language":
With Periphrasis, hums, and a pause/ You speak through a layer of gauze/
Then come up with a word/ In an order absurd/ While breaking syntactical laws.
Matt Morgan
Treasurer
