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Johnny and Emilly Lee met through doing church ministry together and were married in May of 2024. Johnny grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and Emilly was raised in Healdsburg, California. Both have felt the call to missions since their childhood and teen years and have been pursuing children’s ministries ever since. Emilly has felt the Lord’s leading towards the children of Africa since she was eight years old, and Johnny had a strong desire to work with orphans even before he received Christ as Savior. They have a passion for showing God’s love and grace to the next generation and have a heart for hard-to-reach children overseas.
Emilly received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2022 and completed her student teaching at an NGO school in Blantyre, Malawi. Through her time there, she became connected with STEKA, an adoptive children’s home of over 115 local children under parents God Knows and Helen Maseko. This home was exactly the type of ministry Johnny and Emilly felt led towards, and the following year, Johnny lived with this family and took part in leading Bible camps for children in surrounding areas.
The Lees are now the US representatives for STEKA–STEp Kids Awareness–and love pouring into the children that they have such a heart for. They are involved with teaching and discipling youth, helping the family become self-sustaining through agriculture and construction, and ministering to the children by addressing their emotional, physical, social, and spiritual needs. Johnny and Emilly have a love for learning language, culture, and new ideas from the orphans they serve in Malawi.