Hands of Hope, USA

Board of Directors

Glen grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota with his three sisters.  He has always loved playing sports 4 in high school and basketball and baseball in college.  Glen taught and coached in the East Side Union High School District in San Jose, California from 1966-1978. He and his family joined OC International in 1978 and served for 7 years, with terms in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. He served at Los Gatos Christian Church from 1985-88 heading up the college ministry and overseeing the youth department.  He has also been on 18 Sports Ambassadors basketball teams sharing Christ in 20 different countries.  He served at San Jose Christian College from 1988-99 as Campus Pastor, Athletic Director, Professor, and basketball coach. He has organized and led over 50 different short-term mission trips.  Glen is also President of Hands of Hope an organization that ministers to AIDS orphans mostly in Africa.  Currently HOH has 16 residential orphan homes through local churches, 10 preschools and bridging schools as well as feeding over 2,000 children daily.  Glen came on staff at Valley Church in Cupertino over 28 years ago as senior pastor.  He continues to pastor there although he currently spends 6-7 weeks in Zimbabwe with Hands of Hope.  He became a Christ follower 52 years ago when the Lord Jesus caused him to become born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, golf and almost any kind of sport.

Glen has been married to his wife Patty for 61 years. They have two adult children, Kelley and Glen Michael.

Joe Proctor retired in 1996 after a career in the semiconductor and defense industries following service is the United States Air Force as a Weather Officer. He met his wife, Mary Sue, while in the Air Force and they have two children and eight grandchildren. Both Joe and Mary Sue were involved in youth ministry in their local church while their family was growing up and came to deeply understand the truth of Jesus’s teaching "Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”. 

In 2000 they joined Glen and Patty Miller and a few others in praying for the children in Zimbabwe, who were becoming orphans due to the AIDs pandemic. Joe felt called by God into what became the Hands of Hope ministry on a trip to Zimbabwe in 2001 with Glen and two others. He has served on the Hands of Hope Board since that time and is also the Treasurer. He also is a member of the Hands of Hope Trust board in Zimbabwe. Being involved in showing Jesus’s Love to these precious children and seeing them respond to that Love has been both exciting and fulfilling. Being a part of Hands of Hope has put him right at the nexus of one place where God is working to bring Eternal Hope.

Being retired, Joe enjoys traveling with Mary Sue in their RV and to other interesting locations both domestically and internationally. He also enjoys fishing and doing things with his grandchildren.

Rich was born in Brooklyn and grew up on the eastern part of Long Island. Rich attended Catholic school through eighth grade, but it was while attending college that he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior through the Ministry of Athletes in Action. Being an athlete and an All-American provided Rich with the first opportunities to bring glory to God in whatever he was doing. 

Rich met his wife Beth at college, and they have been married for 43 years and blessed with three children. After college Rich attended Grad School and received his MBA which began his journey as an entrepreneur, CEO, Venture Capitalist and now mentor to many start-ups. Rich remained committed to using his success in business to bring glory to God in every opportunity possible. Rich created a series of business lectures called Excellence by Choice which he has given at Business Schools and on-line that fuses together his 40 years as a business leader and scripture that brings to life the Wisdom of The Bible.

During his visit to Zimbabwe, Rich witnessed the feeding programs and ministry of Hands of Hope in the Homes for the children. This experience left an imprint on his heart as he witnessed firsthand the amazing ministry of Hands of Hope.

Bio details coming soon

Vach was born into a journalist’s family, and spent formative years in several countries (Kenya, Egypt, and Lebanon) before returning to India in 1972.  After an undergraduate education in India, he moved to the US for post-graduate studies, and completed his PhD in Computer Science at University of California, San Diego.

Vach has worked at IBM in the fields of networking and security and is currently Vice President of Engineering in Mobile Technology at Nokia.  He was awarded a Bell Labs Fellow in 2010 for his contributions to networking.

Vach was born into a Hindu Brahmin family, but came to know about Jesus while living in Lebanon.  Ignoring His call, he continued an agnostic life, not wanting to risk the displeasure of his family.  However, circumstances forced him to question what life offered.  Reading the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation was an eye-opener, to both the love and forbearance of God and the coming judgment.  In university, Vach committed his life to Christ.  At the same time, he took several philosophy classes, both Hindu and secular, while attending Bible Study, mentally comparing, and contrasting the approaches of various thinkers with the teachings of the Bible.

Vach has a passion for technology, education, and their uses in lifting up people, especially youth.  It is with this in mind that he and his wife, Jacintha (a PhD and former engineer, and currently a high school physics teacher), support Hands of Hope in their endeavor to provide shelter, food, and opportunities for spiritual and academic growth to children who have endured hardship and broken family environments.

Vach enjoys sports, reading, cryptic crosswords, and games. His old bones can never resist playing with kids, especially during VBS in Zimbabwe, where he has served in short mission trips several times. He has traveled widely and enjoys understanding the history of the places he has visited.

Christine was born and raised in Zimbabwe, where she met Jesus at the age of 14. She spent a year in the San Francisco Bay Area as a foreign exchange student as a high school senior where she met Curt. Christine emigrated to California to marry Curt 14 years later. They have two adult daughters, Kate and Shani and a granddaughter. Their own marital journey led them into marriage ministry in their local church in 2002 in which they are still active.

Christine has a deep passion for introducing others to ongoing service and mission, both local and international. She leads teams serving those experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area as well as annual short-term missions to Zimbabwe, partnering with Hands of Hope. God’s presence and power become particularly tangible when serving orphans alongside the wonderful Hands of Hope staff and volunteers.

As a retired Nuclear Medicine physician and Fuller Seminary graduate, Christine now has more time for gardening, hiking, reading, and travel, courtesy of Curt’s valuable benefits as a retired airline pilot. She is delighted to be part of the Hands of Hope (USA) board and serves mainly in the rapidly developing area of education support.

Nate was born in Michigan and raised in a Christian home there.  He made a decision to follow Jesus at a young age, however, went through a rebellious time during his teen years.  By God’s grace, he stayed active with his church youth group, and at a High School retreat, felt led to re-dedicate his life to Christ.  It seemed like an obvious choice – God knows what is best for our lives, why wouldn’t we want to seek and follow His will for us?

He and his wife, Diane, have been teaching Sunday School for over 20 years.  They have spent most of their time with the four and five year old class.  They believe this is a very important time for these kids, when they first start to understand that Jesus loves them.

Nate and Diane consider themselves fortunate to have traveled to Zimbabwe multiple times, in order to participate in Vacation Bible School programs for groups of kids there, working in the areas of crafts and puppets.  Nate and Diane have both been blessed by the children, as well as the rest of the incredible Hands Of Hope team on the ground there.

Nate and Diane have two young-adult children, who have also been able to accompany a VBS team to Zimbabwe.  For his day-job, he is a software guy working on encryption for the latest business collaboration technologies.  He is also thankful to be able to use some of his technology experience to work on this Hands of Hope website.

He cannot imagine many better ways to invest his time and talent in furthering God’s kingdom, and thus, he is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Hands of Hope board.

Glen Michael was born in the Bay Area, and came to trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ at a young age. During his elementary and junior high school years, his parents were missionaries overseas, which gave him not only an appreciation of other cultures but an awareness of how the gospel can impact lives. He returned for high school in the U.S., then went on to earn a B.S. degree in Biology from San Jose State University and a doctorate in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Loma Linda University.

Following his graduate studies, Glen worked in the medical communications industry as a science writer and content director. He later altered course to a career in public health microbiology, beginning as a trainee and advancing through benchwork to management roles. He currently serves as the Laboratory Director for the County of San Luis Obispo Public Health Laboratory, which maintains certifications in clinical, water, and shellfish testing.

Interspersed in his vocational years, he has participated in various service projects ranging from Habitat for Humanity to First Fruits Farm. The Lord has taught and continues to teach him life lessons including surrender, dependence, and a reverence for God’s word. A foundational verse for him is Hebrews 12:2. Glen has had the opportunity to visit Zimbabwe on three occasions—as a member of a short-term evangelism program, as a dirt digger when building earthen homes for orphans at Goshen farm, and on a project to develop a database for the children in Hands of Hope residential homes.

Debbie grew up in Asia and did not know the one true God until a simple invitation to church in middle school changed everything. As she heard the gospel for the first time, she came to know the forgiveness, hope, and salvation found in Jesus Christ. That encounter marked a new direction in her life. In Christ, Debbie discovered her true identity and security, and she began to recognize God’s loving presence and faithfulness in every season of her life.

Debbie later studied in the US, where she met her husband and made it her home. She is a wife and the mother of three grown children.

When she was younger, Debbie was open to doing almost anything, except teaching children. By God’s grace, He gently changed her heart, cultivating in her a deep love for both the gospel and for children.  More than three decades later, she continues to teach with joy, reaching young hearts for His Kingdom.

Over the years, Debbie has had the privilege of visiting Zimbabwe several times. Each visit has deepened her conviction and confirmed God’s heart for the children who are precious in His sight.