{"id":2,"date":"2008-11-24T10:03:24","date_gmt":"2008-11-24T15:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/prayer\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-04-11T13:04:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T13:04:36","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/about","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

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About Us<\/h1>\n

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Investing in Senegal since 2000<\/p>\n

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Corey<\/h2>\n

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I was pulled towards cross-cultural work as a middle-schooler. D<\/span>uring my time at Wheaton College I was fortunate to work and study in Tanzania for six months. This was my first overseas experience. Learning another language, accompanying Tanzanian extension workers far up into the mountains on their visits to families participating in projects, and living with a Tanzanian family at times pushed me beyond my abilities, but it also confirmed my future in service outside of my home culture. I returned to Wheaton knowing that I would return to Africa, and that I needed a good wife to be able to last any length of time at it!<\/span><\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Our Story Section” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#efe9e4″ background_color_gradient_direction=”0deg” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”0″ make_equal=”on” admin_label=”Our Story Area” module_class=” et_pb_row_fullwidth” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#1e1d1c” width=”100%” width_tablet=”100%” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|desktop” max_width=”100%” max_width_tablet=”100%” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|desktop” min_height=”1052px” custom_margin=”|auto|-23px|auto||” custom_padding=”0px||2px|||” make_fullwidth=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”5%|5%|5%|5%” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title” _builder_version=”4.16″ text_font=”||||||||” header_font=”||||||||” header_2_font=”Poppins|600|||||||” header_2_font_size=”36px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” background_layout=”dark” max_width=”750px” animation_style=”fold” animation_direction=”left” animation_intensity_fold=”10%” animation_starting_opacity=”100%” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n

Katie<\/h2>\n

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My desire to live and work cross-culturally started when I was in the 8th grade. As I began studying French that year, I found that I loved hearing about other cultures and learning a new language.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In tenth grade a student from Ghana joined our family for a year and became like a brother to me; that was the beginning of my interest in Africa. So through the gifts and passions I saw in myself, and through people and circumstances, I slowly saw that my future was in French-speaking Africa. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in teaching and serving overseas.<\/p>\n

I went on to be certified as a foreign language teacher at Wheaton College, where I also got my first taste of cross-cultural life and ministry through a short-term experience in Honduras, a semester in France, and finally a semester student teaching at Dakar Academy in Senegal. Corey and I met just before I came to Senegal that first time in 1997, when he was just returning from an internship in Tanzania. We were both looking at a career in cross-cultural work in Africa and quickly decided to pursue this together; we married in 1998.<\/p>\n

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Our family<\/h2>\n

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It was while Katie was student teaching in Dakar in 1997 that she first met some SIM workers. Through that connection, we ended up joining SIM and coming to Senegal. On Jan. 1, 2000 the two of us went to Quebec where Corey spent five months in intensive French language study before we moved to Senegal. We spent our first term in the small city of Thies teaching computer classes in French and studying the Wolof language and culture.<\/p>\n

Our daughter Emma was born there in 2001; she was followed by Molly fourteen months later in 2003. Just six weeks after Molly’s birth we moved to the rural town of Kaffrine. Our third daughter Julia Wheaton was born in 2005. All three girls spent the vast majority of their childhoods in Senegal and speak English, Wolof, and French.<\/p>\n

In April of 2018 we added our two sons by adoption, Jake and Will. They are a great joy to our family and add a lot of laughter and fun!<\/p>\n

During our years in Kaffrine we primarily worked in rural areas in partnership with village leadership in areas as diverse as healthcare infrastructure, preventative health training, veterinarian training, clean water infrastructure, education, literacy, small business creation, and more. We also read the Bible with those interested in knowing more about our faith.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On our return to Senegal in 2023 we left the girls in the USA to pursue university studies and relocated to the capital city of Dakar. We are enjoying being a part of the big city. Katie loves teaching French at the same MK school the boys attend and Corey is working in several projects with SIM that serve to assist communities in healing and growth as well as publishing the Bible in the Wolof language in different formats.<\/p>\n

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Subscribe to the Prayer Log<\/h2>\n

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You can receive updates via email when we post news on our site – just click below and enter your information<\/p>\n

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About Us Investing in Senegal since 2000CoreyI was pulled towards cross-cultural work as a middle-schooler. During my time at Wheaton College I was fortunate to work and study in Tanzania for six months. This was my first overseas experience. Learning another language, accompanying Tanzanian extension workers far up into the mountains on their visits to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5342,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n

Corey and Katie have five kids and almost twenty years' experience working with the Wolof of Senegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/rUw1X75mCXo\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n[tabs slidertype=\"left tabs\"] [tabcontainer] [tabtext]Corey[\/tabtext] [tabtext]Katie[\/tabtext] [tabtext]Our Family[\/tabtext] [\/tabcontainer]\n\n[tabcontent]\n\n[tab]\n\n[singlepic id=294 w=300 h=240 float=right]I was called to cross-cultural Christian work as a middle-schooler. I had grown up around the Bible and knew the stories, but when God spoke to me during a worship service He became real to me and I knew He wanted me to cross barriers to take the good news about Jesus to people who had not heard about him before.\n\nDuring my time at Wheaton College I was fortunate to work and study in Tanzania for six months. This was my first overseas experience. Learning another language, accompanying Tanzanian extension workers far up into the mountains, and living with a Tanzanian family at times pushed me beyond my abilities, but it also confirmed my call to service outside of my home culture. I returned to Wheaton knowing that I would return to Africa, and that I needed a good wife to be able to last any length of time at it!\n\n \n\n[\/tab]\n\n[tab]\n\nGod started stirring in me a desire to live and work cross-culturally when I was in the 8th grade. As I began studying French that year, I found that I loved hearing about other cultures and learning a new language. Around the same time I heard God calling me to commit myself to being a serious disciple of Jesus. I received a strong biblical education at The Master\u2019s School in Connecticut where I studied for ten years and was mentored by my parents and other godly adults, both at school and at our home church, The Barn (Covenant Presbyterian Church). [singlepic id=296 w=320 h=240 float=right]In 10th grade a student from Ghana joined our family for a year and became like a brother to me; that was the beginning of my interest in Africa. So through the gifts and passions He created in me, and through people and circumstances, God slowly made it clear that He was calling me to work in French-speaking Africa. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in teaching and serving the Lord overseas.\n\nI went on to be certified as a foreign language teacher at Wheaton College, where I also got my first taste of cross-cultural life and ministry through a short-term experience in Honduras, a semester in France, and finally a semester student teaching at Dakar Academy in Senegal. Corey and I met just before I came to Senegal that first time in \u201897, when he was just returning from an internship in Tanzania. We were both looking at a career in cross-cultural work in Africa and quickly decided to pursue this together; we married in 1998.\n\n[\/tab]\n\n[tab]\n\"\"<\/a>It was while Katie was student teaching in Dakar in 1997 that she first met some SIM workers. Through that connection, we ended up joining SIM and coming to Senegal. On Jan. 1, 2000 the two of us went to Quebec where Corey spent five months in intensive French language study before we moved to Senegal. We spent our first term in the small city of Thi\u00e8s teaching computer classes in French and studying the Wolof language and culture.\n\nOur daughter Emma was born there in 2001; she was followed by Molly fourteen months later in 2003. Just six weeks after Molly\u2019s birth we moved to the rural area of Senegal called Kaffrine where we have served since. Our third daughter Julia Wheaton was born in 2005. All three girls have spent the vast majority of their childhoods in Senegal and speak English, Wolof, and French.\n\nIn April of 2018 we added our two sons by adoption, Jake and Will. They are a great joy to our family and add a lot of laughter and fun!\n\n[\/tab]\n\n \n\n[\/tabcontent] [\/tabs]\n\n\n\n[two_third]\"sim<\/a>We are members of an international, interdenominational, evangelical organization called SIM<\/a>. SIM was begun in 1893 as the Soudan Interior Mission but as groups working in other places merged together the name became simply SIM. We currently have more than 4,000 active workers serving in more than 60 countries among many diverse people groups in Africa, Asia, and South America. SIM workers serve in a wide variety of career fields and are international themselves, representing more than 60 nationalities!\n\nWe are thankful to be part of SIM!\n\n[\/two_third]\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PnGvI-2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":108,"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231087,"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/231087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coreyandkatie.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}