Charles & Emily Coonce

Hello! We are Charles and Emily Coonce.

Emily grew up beneath the wide skies of Colorado, just outside Denver, while I hail from the dusty fields of Southern Illinois. Our paths crossed at Ozark Christian College, where a shared passion for ministry first brought us together.

Our journey into cross-cultural ministry began with a summer spent in the rugged youth camps of Russia—a unique and adventurous way to spend our honeymoon! From there, we moved to Germany for seven months as undergrad interns, immersing ourselves in full-time mission work. It was in Germany that our eyes were opened to a reality we had never been told: the West is in desperate need of ministry.

During that time, we connected with a couple from England who were developing a missionary residency program in the U.K. Their vision resonated deeply with us, offering the perfect bridge between our internship experience and our long-term calling. So, we took a leap of faith and spent a year in Birmingham, England, preparing for the road ahead.

With hearts set on long-term impact, we returned to Germany in search of our place in the mission field. That place, we discovered, is Pforzheim—a city in southern Germany that has now become home.

Every step of that seven-year journey that brought us to Pforzheim was guided by a single word: intentionality.

We are running marathons, not sprints.