LANE WETTENGEL

Founder / President

Shortly after being saved in 1985, Lane attended Bible school in San Diego, California, where the Lord sparked in him a passion for missions that has only grown over the years. He and his wife, Cindy, served as missionaries for more than ten years in southern Mexico and, before that, for two years on the war torn island of Grenada in the West Indies.

Over the past four decades, Lane has served in places like Cuba, Japan, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Liberia, Turkey, Israel, Chile, and Peru, focussing on Bible teaching, leadership training, feeding the hungry, clean‑water and building projects, and proclaiming the gospel where Christ is not yet known. Apart from being a Missions Pastor and a Church Elder, he has served as a pastor, church planter, Bible school founder and director, missionary, evangelist, and conference speaker.

Lane now oversees Calvary Relief International (CRI), a nonprofit charity reaching the world’s suffering and forgotten in the name of Jesus. 

Married to Cindy since 1981, he is the father of two grown daughters and the grandfather of two grandsons and a granddaughter. He enjoys hiking in the mountains, being with his family, and traveling the world to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

LARRY MOE

Vice President / Treasurer

Larry has been a strong supporter of missions and mercy ministries since early in his Christian walk. He and his wife Lexi have done several short term mission trips, and see themselves primarily as “senders and supporters.” Larry has been a practicing dentist for over 40 years. They live near Twain Harte, California, have four grown children and attend Calvary Chapel Sonora.

PASTOR BRIT GRIM

Secretary

Brit received Christ as his Savior at age 14 and was soon leading his church youth group and a Youth for Christ club before graduating from high school. After coming through a spiritual “desert” season at 25, he has been steadily growing in the Lord ever since.

Professionally, Brit worked as an engineer for 40 years, a career that took him to many parts of the world and into varied leadership roles in design, implementation, training, and software quality assurance. He also served as president and board member of a large local chapter of an international fraternal organization.

An adventure‑lover with a God‑given wanderlust, Brit has seen the Lord use these gifts as he serves in ministry around the world—as a youth leader, Sunday school worker, worship leader, elder, board member, short‑term missionary, Bible teacher, and administrator. Married for more than 50 years to his “awesome bride,” Judy, he credits her with helping him grow as a man, husband, father, and follower of Christ, and he currently serves as an associate pastor at Calvary Chapel San Jose in Northern California.

DANIEL GILSON

CRI Board Member

Danny grew up in a Christian home, trusting Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of 15. Shortly after graduating from high school, he went on his first mission trip to Romania at 18. The Lord used that experience to ignite in him a deep passion for missions and the global church.

That same passion has grown over the years, as he has traveled throughout Europe, Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Americas for both ministry and personal enrichment.

Professionally, Danny worked as an operations manager for a plumbing and heating company before answering the call to full-time ministry at his church. There, he has been involved in daily operations and a variety of ministry roles, including serving as a Bible college administrator, high school administrator, and youth and young adult leader.

Danny recently completed his Biblical Studies at Moody Bible Institute. He resides in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife, Kyla. Together, they enjoy serving in ministry, traveling, hiking, and discovering the best coffee shops wherever they go.

LINDSAY DETRICK

CRI Board Member

Lindsay accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior at the age of six, but at fifteen she began intentionally seeking Him through His Word — and hasn’t stopped since. Her desire is simple: to know Christ more fully and to make Him known to others.

She is passionate about serving in her church and community. Lindsay served for several years at a local Christian school and now serves with CRI. She has traveled with CRI to Kenya on a mission trip — an experience that deepened her love for the unreached and her commitment to the work.

One of her greatest joys is Vacation Bible School — where she connects with students, builds meaningful relationships, and shares the hope of the Gospel face to face.

Lindsay has been married to her husband Ryan since 2010. Together they are blessed with two wonderful children.

Her prayer is that people everywhere would come to know their Creator, place their trust in Him, and embrace the hope found only in Jesus.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16

The people you are about to meet do not work for us – We are working for them.

Every member of our East Africa team has been called by God to reach their people for Christ. Our role at CRI is simply to come alongside them, share their needs with others, and trust the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of generous believers.

As a nonprofit ministry that depends entirely on the support of Christian donors, we exist to help each of these faithful leaders and their teams have everything they need to fulfill the calling that God has placed on their lives.

Your gift of any size goes directly toward:

• Reaching unreached villages with the Gospel
• Training and equipping local pastors and leaders
• Meeting urgent physical needs — food, clean water, and education

GIVE TO CHURCH PLANTING HERE

MIRIAM KIENJEKU GITU

Maasai Tribal Ministry

Miriam Kienjeku Gitu is an educator and a Kenyan missionary serving among the Maasai communities of Southern Kenya. Since 2014, she faithfully served alongside her husband, Pastor Evanson Gitu, in church planting, village outreach, discipleship, and education in remote Maasai areas. After his passing in January 2026, she continued in the ministry they began together, holding firmly to their shared vision of transforming lives through the Gospel. Through her calling as a teacher, she has impacted children and young people from preschool to high school, using education as a bridge for hope, dignity, and transformation, with the Word of God at the centre of all she teaches. This ministry has also brought light to many women in previously oppressed Maasai villages, enabling them to read and study Scripture, strengthening families and restoring hope at the grassroots level.

She has been instrumental in establishing elementary and high school initiatives in Maasailand, helping to bring Christ-centred education to children who previously had little or no access to schooling. Her heart is to raise a generation grounded in faith, knowledge, and purpose. Her own education was made possible through the faithful support of Calvary Relief International, which enabled her to earn a degree in English and Literature from Daystar University. Over the years, CRI has also continued to support her family and ministry work, sustaining outreach, education, and discipleship across the region.

In Loving Memory of Pastor Evanson Gitu (1956–2026). His faith, love for God, and devotion to the Maasai people continues to live on through this work.

To God be all the glory.

PASTOR STEVEN ERENG

Turkana & Samburu Tribal Ministry – Northern Kenya

Pastor Steven Ereng is a Turkana tribesman, and his wife Christine is Samburu. God, in His mercy, is using this faithful couple to bring the love and message of Christ to three historically warring tribes in the remote bush of northern Kenya. Together, they live among the Pokot, Samburu, and Turkana peoples, planting churches, raising up local leaders, feeding the hungry, providing medical assistance, and lending a helping hand wherever the need arises. Christine holds a bachelor’s degree in community development and has been a valued and capable partner throughout the ministry.

Under Steven’s leadership, the work in northern Kenya has grown remarkably. Bible schools have been established in three tribal languages, and more than 100-churches have been planted and are being cared for across this remote region. Steven also supports the education of tribal orphans and displaced children, many of whom have been given a safe place to live, eat, and learn through CRI’s church plant facilities. He oversees CRI’s 22‑acre School of Ministry and working farm in northern Kenya—a vital base for training pastors, discipling emerging leaders, and teaching sustainable agriculture to strengthen local communities.

Steven and Christine are no strangers to suffering. They have lost friends, family members, and two precious babies to tribal conflict, starvation, and treatable illness. Yet they press on with joy and faithfulness, pouring out their lives so that their people might know the eternal hope of Jesus Christ.

PASTOR JEAN PIERRE NTAHIMPEREYE

Burundi Church Planting / Outreach to the Batwa Tribes and Congolese Refugees

Pastor Jean Pierre “JP” Ntahimpereye and his wife, Albine, serve the Lord in French‑speaking Bujumbura, Burundi. He graduated Bible College in Uganda. Over the years, JP has planted more than fourteen churches across Burundi and continues to oversee their spiritual growth and development. He also founded and directs a CRI sponsored School of Ministry that trains current and future pastors to rightly handle the Word of God.

JP’s churches are intentionally evangelistic, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ in “The Most Impoverished” and suffering nation on the planet.

In addition to his church‑planting work, JP has developed a dedicated team that ministers frequently among the Batwa (Pygmy) communities of eastern Congo, bringing relief, discipleship, and the hope of the gospel to some of the most marginalized people on earth. More recently, as war has driven tens of thousands from their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, JP has also extended his ministry into refugee camps, caring for displaced families who are fleeing the ongoing conflict.

PASTOR MICHAEL IRANZI

Pokot Tribal Ministry, Western Kenya

Michael Iranzi is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, married to Jackie, a Rwandan. Together, they serve in Kenya as full-time missionaries with a shared passion for making disciples who make disciples.

From 2016 to 2024, Michael served alongside various Calvary Chapel churches across East Africa—including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya—focusing on disciple-making.

In 2024, the Lord called Michael and Jackie to Western Kenya, where they began directing an 18-month intensive discipleship and pastoral training, School of Ministry.

In August 2025, Michael became the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Kitale, Kenya. His ministry has since expanded to reaching the Pokot Tribal regions with the Gospel. 

The mission is to partner with existing churches to establish Bible training centers and to plant new churches in areas where none currently exist.

PASTOR SOLOMON LEPARAKUO

Maasai Tribal Ministry, Southern Kenya

Pastor Solomon Leparakuo is a dedicated minister of the gospel serving in Kajiado West, Southern Kenya. He began his pastoral work in 2013 and, after encountering the Calvary Relief International Missions Team, he enrolled in the Calvary School of Ministry in 2022. He graduated in 2024 after completing two years of theological training.

He has since established several Calvary Chapel churches, along with numerous Bible study fellowships in surrounding villages. His assistant, Pastor Titus, is currently undergoing training at the same Calvary School of Ministry sponsored by CRI. Together, they carry out extensive village-to-village outreach, faithfully sharing the Gospel across remote Maasai communities.

Pastor Solomon’s ministry extends beyond preaching. It includes support for education through preschool initiatives, active involvement in women’s empowerment, participation in food distribution programs, and mentoring men to strengthen family relationships. These efforts have contributed to greater family harmony and significant church growth throughout the region.

He and his wife, Esther, are blessed with six children, many having come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

We sincerely thank Calvary Relief International for their support, especially through the School of Ministry and the provision of motorbikes, which have greatly enhanced mobility and outreach effectiveness. This support has enabled the Gospel to reach more communities and has contributed to the continued growth of the church, all to the glory of God.