In the fall of 1962, in a Protestant church in northern New Jersey, Phil received a supernatural call into the ministry. Not having the knowledge of such occurrences happening in today’s world, and being enamored with teenage life, he spent the next 12½ years running from it in one form or another. In April of 1975, a man, his wife, and daughter invited Phil to their house and told him about the love that God had for him and for all of mankind. Phil discovered that God’s Word (the Bible) was God’s personal letter to His creation, an owner’s manual to live by. That night, he turned his life over to the lordship of Jesus Christ, recognizing that God the Father had, has, and always will have his best interests at heart. Besides renewing the call of God on his life, it led to meeting his wife and marrying in the fall of 1977. Since that time, he has devoted himself to a relationship with God, learning to walk by faith and not by sight and sharing that with others, including most of 38 years as the children’s minister at the Fellowship of Faith in Oakland, Iowa.

Phil and Jan's desire is to share their wisdom, experience, and resources with the local church, children’s workers, and parents. Phil and Jan's ministry is strengthening the local church by helping children to understand and appropriate the Word of God into their lives. Phil teaches children about faith and teaches children's ministers how to teach faith to children. He instructs parents how to teach children by helping parents to understand what the Bible says about parenting. He accomplishes this through teacher workshops, parenting seminars, and kids’ crusades.