{"id":437,"date":"2025-01-12T16:21:40","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T16:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/?page_id=437"},"modified":"2025-01-12T16:47:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T16:47:45","slug":"pr-jeff-kern-bio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/pr-jeff-kern-bio\/","title":{"rendered":"Pr. Jeff Kern&#8217;s Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Born in Brazil to missionary parents, Pr. Jeff Kern\u2019s upbringing was shaped by diverse cultural and geographic experiences, including time in the Amazon and the Cape Verde Islands. His commitment to ministry began early, pursuing theological studies in 1993 and serving as a student missionary in Angola the following year. His service extended with ADRA Angola, where he contributed for two additional years before relocating to the United States to engage in ministry on Long Island, New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Resuming his theological education, Pr. Jeff graduated in 2007 and returned to Brazil to serve in the Amazon region. During his tenure, he ministered for two years before being appointed as the Director of ADRA Amazon. In this role, he spearheaded initiatives such as the revival of the\u00a0<em>Luzeiro<\/em>\u00a0missionary boat project. He also served as the Communication Director for the Central Amazon Conference, where he established the first Adventist radio program in the Amazon region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2010, Pr. Jeff transitioned to international service as Country Director for ADRA, leading operations in countries such as Rwanda, Brazil, and Sudan. His expertise in planning, development, and operational efficiency became hallmarks of his leadership. Alongside his administrative roles, Jeff\u2019s pastoral journey has taken him across the Amazon, Rwanda, and Northern New England in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pr. Jeff holds a Bachelor\u2019s degree in Theology from Peruvian Union University and a Master\u2019s degree in Administration and International Development from Andrews University. He was ordained to ministry in 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 1997, Pr. Jeff has been married to Yvonne Ruiz, an accomplished educator with a Master\u2019s degree in Educational Psychology. Together, they have three children: Jeffrey, William, and Ivana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-nk-awb nk-awb nk-awb-fullheight nk-awb-content-valign-center has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-nk-awb-is-layout-constrained\"><div class=\"nk-awb-wrap\" data-awb-type=\"image\" data-awb-parallax=\"scroll\" data-awb-parallax-speed=\"0.5\" data-awb-parallax-mobile=\"true\" data-awb-image-background-size=\"cover\" data-awb-image-background-position=\"41% 47%\"><div class=\"nk-awb-inner\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-scaled.jpeg\" class=\"wp-image-442 jarallax-img\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-600x450.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-1200x900.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-500x375.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-800x600.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-1280x960.jpeg 1280w, https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/IMG_6592-1-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"nk-awb-wrap-content\"><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Born in Brazil to missionary parents, Pr. Jeff Kern\u2019s upbringing was shaped by diverse cultural and geographic experiences, including time in the Amazon and the Cape Verde Islands. His commitment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-437","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_media_urls":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/437\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lw-sda.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}