Board of Directors
US Board Members
Brian Bittke - Brian Bittke has been involved in Open Arms International since 2006 and has served on the board since 2007. He comes from a professional background in the food industry. His home church is Willamette Christian, where he has fellowshipped for ten years. Brian and his wife Cathy have four children, ten grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
Ray Cotton - Ray Cotton was the lead pastor of New Hope Community Church in Portland, Oregon for 15 years. He served as senior pastor of Central Community Church in Wichita, Kansas for 19 years before coming to Portland in 1993. Ray has served on the board of Anderson University & Seminary in Indiana for 15 years, the board of Warner Pacific College, and the board of Town Center Bank, which he helped launch in 1997. Ray joined the board of Open Arms International in September 2008. He has been married to his wife, Janet, for 33 years, and they have two beautiful children, Andria and Jonathan.
David Gallagher, Founder & CEO - David Gallagher has served on the board of Open Arms International since its inception in November, 2003. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Portland State University, an Associate of Arts degree from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas, and a Bachelor of Theology degree from LIFE Bible College in San Dimas, California. He and his wife Rachel have many, many children – all the orphans that they care for in Africa.
Rachel White Gallagher, Founder & President - Rachel Gallagher is a compassionate registered nurse who has carried healing in her hands through a variety of medical and evangelistic experiences, including work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India. A graduate of Oral Roberts University, Rachel has worked as a staff and charge nurse in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units of three leading U.S. children's hospitals. She is fulfilling her life-long dream of caring for the dying and destitute of the world. Rachel is President of Open Arms International and has served on the Board since 2010.
Rob Humphrey, Chairman - Rob Humphrey has served on the Board of Open Arms International since September 2006 and has been the Board Chairman since January 2007. He was a team member on Open Arms International mission trips in Hoima, Uganda, and also in Burgas, Bulgaria. He is the owner of Faster Permits, a consulting firm with headquarters near Portland, Oregon, founded in 1988. Faster Permits specializes in obtaining governmental approvals for large commercial construction projects. In May 2008, Rob spent six weeks in Eldoret Kenya obtaining government approvals for the Open Arms Village. Rob served in the United States Air Force from 1988-1994 and has three children.
Victoria Mendenall - Victoria Mendenhall has been involved with Open Arms International since 2006 and joined the board in the spring of 2008. She was a team member on the first Soul Safari trip in 2007 to Kenya and Israel. Victoria has worked as a residential real estate broker for more than a decade. She and her husband, David, have three married children, seven grandchildren, and call Grace Chapel in Wilsonville, Oregon, their home church.
Doug Moshofsky - Dough Moshofsky, a CFP, is a financial adviser with Smith Barney in downtown Portland, Oregon. He majored in finance at the University of Washington, and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Oregon. Community service is important to Doug, and he serves on the OAI Kitchen Cabinet in addition to his board member duties. Doug and his wife of 25 years, Julie, live in Beaverton with their four children. Having played collegiate water polo for the Huskies, Doug rises early to swim before market hours and competes in the MAC spring decathlon.
Rev. Jerry Shonk - Jerry Shonk has been on the Board of Open Arms International since 2003, and he has served on various boards in the Portland area for several years. He was a team member on the first Open Arms International mission trip in Eldoret, Kenya. He pastored the Foursquare Church in Wilsonville, Oregon, for six years and is now an associate pastor at the River Oaks Foursquare Church in Sellwood, Oregon. He looks forward to future trips to Kenya.
Brad Wolverton - Brad Wolverton has been on the board of Open Arms International since spring of 2008. He has a Master of Business Administration from Oregon State University and operates JBK Properties, a family-owned property management firm. He has been on mission trips to Russia and Thailand, and he served with Open Arms International in Eldoret, Kenya in July 2008. Brad and his wife, Kris, have been members of Beaverton Foursquare Church for nearly 30 years, and they have three children.