Staff
Bob & Gracie Ekblad
(Senior Leaders)
Bob and Gracie Ekblad are the Founders and Senior Leaders of Tierra Nueva. They pastor and teach locally and internationally, bridging divergent worlds inside and outside of the Church. Their calling is to help recruit, equip, and empower people to communicate good news about God’s love that combines Word, Spirit, and Street perspectives at the service of people on the margins.
Click here to support the Ekblads’ ministry at Tierra Nueva.
Matt Malyon
(Jail Chaplain - Part-Time)
Matt is a chaplain in the Skagit County Community Justice Center, and a Reader in the Greek Orthodox Church. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and is the founding Director of Underground Writing, a literature-based creative writing program serving incarcerated, migrant, addiction recovery, and other at-risk communities in northern Washington through literacy and personal transformation.
Mike Neelley
(Executive Director)
As Executive Director, Mike “pastors the pastors” in all levels of leadership through staff development, discipleship, and executive leadership. Mike also helps lead our faith community in worship, teaching, and prayer ministry; and partners with various staff in their areas of calling. Mike is passionate about all people encountering God's goodness and experiencing healing, restoration, transformation and empowerment. READ MORE.
Andrew Lewis
(Pastoral Advocate)
Andrew joined Tierra Nueva in 2019 upon completing his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. He serves in the Jail Ministry and Worshiping Community. Andrew first came to know Tierra Nueva growing up in Western Washington. While doing ministry in Latin America (Guatemala and Brazil), the idea of working with Tierra Nueva became stronger and clearer and he is stoked to finally be a servant in the community.
READ MORE.
Salvio Hernandez and Victoria Morales
(Directors of Family Support Center, Migrant Family Advocacy)
Salvio and Victoria work in the Family Support Center offering accompaniment, legal advocacy, translation, assistance and home visitations. They love going to people's homes to read the Bible, praying for--and with--others and praising God. They love to see God transform lives through God's Word.
Click here to support Salvio and Victoria’s ministry at Tierra Nueva.
Julio
(Pastor, Doorkeeper, Family Support Center)
Julio is a pastor and the doorkeeper at Tierra Nueva. He leads the daily morning Gospel and evening Psalms reading at the building. He also serves in our Family Support Center, welcoming and assisting families who come through our doors. A former gang member, his passion is working with gang members and people in recovery.
Elise Krawczyk
(Staff accountant with Carmen's Bookkeeping)
Elise is the bookkeeper at Tierra Nueva. Both Elise and Carmen from Carmen’s Bookkeeping have grown up in Skagit Valley and have enjoyed watching the ministry, love and outreach that Tierra Nueva offers to this community.