Meet the Team
Who We Are
Treasurer / CAO
A. Gomez
Ms. Gomez was raised in Northern California. As a child she was exposed to travel to Canada, Mexico, Russia, & Finland. As a young adult she was a student in the Up With People International program, which deepened her love for cross-cultural experiences & communications. Ms. Gomez received a BA in Spanish Literature in 2003 from UC Santa Cruz, a year and a half of which she spent in full immersion at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Her return back to California was the most trying time, then finding herself feeling alone, desperate, and eventually trapped in sin, which resulted in becoming a battered single parent. In 2006 she turned her life over to Christ & was baptized in Monterey Church - California. Ms. Gomez was exposed to ministry models which included short-term international missions & child sponsorship in Bolivia & Burkina Faso through Compassion International, and explored international Christian ministries that address Christian persecution.
In 2016, Ms. Gomez received her Master of Social Work degree from California State University, Monterey Bay & gave 11 years of service to public child welfare & foster care / adoption services. In 2023, Ms. Gomez earned her LCSW for clinical practice in California. In 2017, God called Ms. Gomez to West Africa for the first time where she was exposed to Christian education & children's ministries in Burkina Faso & Ghana. Since 2019, Ms. Gomez has been serving in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Forensic Social Work and Correctional Mental Health. In 2025, Ms. Gomez married a lovely Burkinabe man, and felt God's voice calling to incorporate with the international Church of God of Prophecy (COGOP), and she serves administratively and in ministry translation (Spanish) at her church home in Marina, CA.
President
T. Koala
Mr. Koala was born and raised in a Christian family of Burkinabe parentage in the West African Republic of Cote d'Ivoire. After high school, Mr. Koala returned to his family's homeland of Burkina Faso & received a BA in Linguistics from the University of Ouagadougou.
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In 1998, as a teenager, Mr. Koala fell seriously sick with an unknown illness that began to rob his body of energy and nutrition. Medicines seemed to do nothing to help. Fear began to surround him & his loved ones, as he gradually became weaker, that he was going to die. His aunt took him to a church that prayed over the illness that was attacking his body. Thereafter, Mr. Koala heard God speak to him, "I am here & you will not die," as he tasted the sweetness of the Holy Spirit in his mouth. His illness began to lift & he knew that his life had been saved for Jesus's purpose.
After his graduation, Mr. Koala began serving with Compassion Internation children's ministries as a French / English interpreter / translator. Through his work in translating letters & communications between children & their sponsors, Mr. Koala's passion for the needs of children, their education & their well-being, began to develop. As a patriotic Burkinabe person, he received revelation that the future of his country was in the great responsibility to care for its children. Mr. Koala also speaks the native Burkinabe languages of Moore & Dioula.
As a talented & dedicated businessman, Mr. Koala is currently a regional sales manager for Wave money transfer services. He is currently dedicated to providing trans-lingual ministry services at the International Evangelism Center - Interior African Mission. He, his wife, and baby daughter currently reside in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
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Secretary
I. Koala
The Koala brothers were both born in Ivory Coast to a Christian Burkinabe family. As a teenager, Mr. Koala returned to his motherland in Burkina Faso to finish high school. Although, this came with many challenges, especially financially. My ability to graduate from high school was at risk. However, God was merciful towards me, and made a way through the founder of the school in order for me to continue my studies free of charge. By God's grace, I finished and passed by baccaulaureate exams in 2006. In the same year, I gave my life to the one who had given so much to me, and I took the step to be baptized. The following year, I began my university studies at the University of Burkina Faso (now known as University Joseph Ki Zerbo), but my financial struggles were far from over. Again, and again, God came through for me and provided until I received my bachelors degree in Pedagogy. Currently, I am a primary and secondary school teacher in Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso (In the northern central region of the country). My passions are sharing knowledge, wisdom, and ministry with children and playing soccer. I currently attend and serve at the International Evangelism Center of the North, Ouahigouya.​​ Apart from speaking French and English, Mr. Koala also speaks the native languages of Moore and Dioula.
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