The Rhodea Family

Hi!

We’re glad you visited our home here on the internet, and we hope you make yourself comfortable. But first, a few introductions are in order.      

Kailoni grew up in the mountains of Southern California, where she was blessed with strong Christian parents who home-schooled her during her growing up years. Greg also came from a solid Christian family, and he too was home-schooled all the way through (Peas in a pod, anyone?). While Greg was born in Indiana, and mostly lived in Pennsylvania then Indonesia, he claims to have come from Michigan (Legacy, history, family, etc…). 

From these diverse yet similar backgrounds, God arranged our paths to meet in Chicago during the fall of 2001. We both had followed God’s call on our lives, and had decided to attend Moody Bible Institute to prepare for a life of ministry (As it happens, Kailoni’s maiden name was Moody—she is distantly related to the founder of our school!). Kailoni always had a passion for missions, so she picked Evangelism and Discipleship as her area of study. Greg knew God wanted him to be a preacher, so he focused on Pastoral Studies. We met each other on the very first day of classes when we sat next to each other in the front row of Personal Evangelism 101 (See, sitting in the front row pays off!).      

We got to know each other over the next several years as we worked together every semester with Moody’s open-air evangelism teams. We led outreaches to the streets of Chicago as well as a children’s ministry in nearby Cabrini Green. Eventually our friendship blossomed into romance, and we were engaged on Christmas Eve, 2004.

After graduation in 2005, Greg was offered the position of Associate Minister of Outreach and Involvement at Lake Superior Christian Church, his home church in Marquette, Michigan. After a month and a half in this position, Greg flew out to meet Kailoni in Lake Arrowhead, California where we were married on July 23, 2005. We enjoyed a two-week honeymoon in Maui, and upon our return we learned Kailoni was pregnant (Not a bad turn-around time!).

Our daughter, Chavalah Brooke, was born on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006, right in the middle of when Greg was supposed to be preaching at church (The only time we didn’t want her to come!).

About a year and a half later on January 2, 2008, Josiah Gregory joined us as the newest member of our family. He started life in a very punctual manner, being born exactly on his due date (A feat only 2% of the population can claim!).

Greg learned a lot over the three-and-a-half years he served at his home church, and was involved in many aspects of ministry. However, as the years passed and Greg acted as the church’s backup preacher, Greg grew in the desire to preach full-time as a senior pastor. Because Greg wanted further theological training before taking up that role, we decided to enroll at Dallas Theological Seminary, starting in January of 2009. We have loved our time at seminary, and have learned a lot since our arrival. 

In July of 2010 our family grew again as we welcomed Christopher Paul to the world. He is a little delight, and his big brother and sister absolutely adore him.

Speaking of service, one of the continued desires in Kailoni’s life has been to work oversees on the mission field, particularly in Africa. She grew up hearing stories about missionary life, and always wanted to be a part of what God is doing all across the globe. Through mission conferences at MBI, Greg also increasingly saw the urgency to bring the gospel overseas, and decided that he too wanted to do something about it.      

In June of 2008, we were appointed as Candidates with Africa Inland Mission (AIM), a ministry that both of us had admired for some time. After graduation from seminary, we plan on traveling to Africa for two years for ministry with Africa Inland Mission. We may be involved in either church planting or theological education at some level.  While the challenges of raising support and living oversees are real, we are excited about this chance to see firsthand God’s work in missions, and we believe this will give us a global mindset that will aid our ministry when we return to the USA.     

 In our spare time, we have more hobbies than we could ever possibly have time for. Greg enjoys kiteboarding, writing, reading, playing board games, and brewing the finest in natural soda and root beer. Kailoni has three hobbies: one named Chavalah, one named Josiah, and one named Christopher. Beyond that, she enjoys reading, painting, writing poetry, and taking pictures. Chavalah likes playing with her Polly Pockets, swimming, driving the Sea-Doo, drawing, and listening to stories, and playing with Baby Christopher. Josiah currently likes playing with trucks, “fighting bad guys,” swimming, “hunting for bears,” driving the Sea-Doo, and playing with Christopher. Christopher likes mommy!