Joanna Thelander

Joanna Thelander graduated from Purdue University in 1995 with a BS in Civil Engineering.  In 2006, she and her husband, Keir, along with their young children, Luke and Sarah, moved from Cleveland, OH, to Bongolo Hospital, Gabon where guided for 10-years of service as medical missionaries.  During their 10-year missionary service, Keir, a general surgeon, trained and discipled African doctors in the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) residency program.   Among other varied responsibilities, Joanna homeschooled their children and oversaw the visitor ministry – regularly introducing short-term medical missionaries to life in the jungles of Africa. In 2016, Joanna and family relocated to Cleveland, OH, as Keir had taken a new position with PAACS as the Executive Vice President. Joanna’s passion for connecting people to the work of the Lord and missions that was so fruitful in Gabon, continues in Cleveland, OH where she serves as Volunteer Coordinator at Grace Church.  She desires to see more believers serving locally and internationally to experience a new side of the amazing God we serve!  Interfacing with the international community, music, people and writing poems, are just a few of the other activities Joanna engages in regularly. Joanna frequently works to recruit medical missionaries to serve in PAACS hospitals for both short-term and long-term service.