Meet Our Team
Jon Taylor
Executive Director, ICF ACC, CMI Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, CLP Lead Trainer, FCE Trainer; B.A. Business Administration and Biblical Studies
After taking part in CMI’s first Professional Coach training in 2009, Jon’s passion to see transformation in people’s lives was set ablaze when he saw the power of coaching to help people get unstuck, grow and thrive. His missions experiences include Zimbabwe with his family as a child and leading multiple short-term trips to Guinea, Kenya, and Mexico. He comes to us with a rich background in pastoral ministry and accepted the call to become CMI’s executive director in 2018. He and his wife June live in Arizona where they love to ride bikes together. They also live near their 2 adult sons and new granddaughter.
Aaron Karr
CMI Systems Coordinator, MMFT, BBA Economics
Aaron Karr serves as CMI’s Systems Coordinator. He lived cross-culturally for 2 years in Vietnam, working in the areas of education and leadership. After returning to USA to seek further education and training, he worked for several fruitful years in private practice as a licensed therapist. These experiences have given him a passion to serve those who serve others. He lives in Tennessee with his wife and daughter, where he enjoys cooking, reading, and motorcycling.
Gwen Flaming
ICF PCC, Training Services, CMI Master Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, TTT Trainer, FCE Lead Trainer, CPT Lead Trainer, CLP Lead Trainer, Institute for Life Coach Training – Life Coach Certification, BS Biblical Studies
Gwen Flaming comes to us with 40+ years of service in overseas ministry, including living in Monaco, Bonaire, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. She has an understanding of many of the challenges faced by Christian workers serving in cross-cultural settings and continues to use her giftings and training as a coach to walk alongside workers serving in Asia and the Pacific. Gwen’s strong desire is to see missionaries finish well in what God has called them to do. Her passion is to be a catalyst and facilitator for life change and replication through training, coaching, and mentoring. Gwen has served as a CMI coach and trainer for the past 9 years. Gwen and her husband Vic have been married 43 years, and have a hobby farm in rural Nebraska.
Tim Austin
ICF PCC, ICF Mentor Coach, CMI Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, BA Church Leadership, MA Christian Education & World Christianity
Tim enjoyed 20 years of cross-cultural living, in the countries of Tajikistan and Turkey, mostly involved in church-based and NGO ministry. Tim is a graduate of CMI’s 2012 Professional Coach Training. He began coaching global workers while still living abroad, supporting and developing individuals and teams and knows first-hand the many sets of challenges which expats face. From major transitions, cultural adaptation and language learning, to the daily struggles of living out one’s purpose in a different context. Tim finds joy in coming alongside and helping people maximize opportunities for growth while living and serving abroad. Within CMI, he has found a place to live out his purpose and calling as a Coach and Trainer.
John Koch
ICF PCC, CSA Accredited Coaching Supervisor, GTCI Certified Team Coaching Practitioner, CMI Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, CMI FCE Trainer, MBTI Step I Practitioner, Graduate Diploma in Theology, Ministry and Mission, Dipl.-Ing. (FH)
John’s passion is to open new perspectives that inspire us to be ourselves for greater value. He partners with people and organizations in reflective dialogues to live out his passion. John completed the full CMI Global Training Program in 2018. His current work has evolved from different expressions of finding his own identity and purpose. Theological studies have opened a deeper understanding in the areas of humanity and spirituality in the context of his journey with God. Connecting and journeying with people with authenticity and empathy have been shaped from working in a counseling centre. This is rounded off with his love for making the connections in complex systems that have been formed in his various leadership roles in global business and engineering that have brought him to different corners in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. John, his wife and children live in Zurich, Switzerland.
Averyl Aeria
ICF ACC, CMI Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, FCE Trainer, CCQ Lead Trainer
Raised in Singapore, Averyl has served in cross-cultural ministry for 35+ years focusing her time in the area of leadership development and coaching. After completing her Professional Coach Training in 2017 she began coaching and serving on various CMI training teams. She is especially passionate to see people reach their full potential and to be healthy, transformed, contributing members of their community with the ability to lead and influence others. Averyl resides in Bangkok, Thailand where she loves challenging physical activities such as walking half marathons and spending time at beaches with close friends.
Dagmar Geiger
ICF ACC, CMI Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, FCE Trainer, CCQ Trainer
With over 24 years of cross-cultural experience in Thailand and Spain, Dagmar believes in the process of coaching as a way to empower people and to provide support by being a partner in a journey taken together. She desires to see lives transformed and people reaching their full potential. Coaching has made a big impact on her life and now she gets to come alongside and see it impact the lives of others. She began partnering with CMI as a coach and trainer in 2017. Any given day you will find her creating with her hands, either cooking, woodworking, crafting, sewing or teaching those skills to create spaces of restoration in Switzerland where she now lives.
L. Cory Lemke
CMI Coach, CCQ Lead Trainer; PhD Leadership Development, BS InterCultural Studies, MA Leadership Development
Cory’s passion is to see cross-cultural workers excelling in their area of expertise, thriving in their relationships, and staying on the field as long as they are called. He was involved in missions for over 20 years. Many of those years were invested in Ukraine, providing training in leadership development and church planting. Cory is a graduate of CMI’s 2010 Professional Coach Training. In 2014 he joined the CMI community as a Coach and Trainer. Cory currently pastors a church in Oregon and utilizes coaching in all aspects of life. For fun, Cory and his wife Janice have a Russian Banya (a wood-heated dry sauna) that he built during the covid season. They have two adult daughters and have been blessed with 7 grandchildren.
Monika Avakian
Designer; Illustrator
Monka has served in international missions based primarily out of Germany, South Africa, and Hawaii for over 30 years as a designer and illustrator. She is a graduate of CMI’s foundational coaching course. Monika believes that good questions can stimulate growth, joy, and confidence in oneself. Coaching is a wonderful way to blow a bit of air under one’s wings in preparation for the next hurdle. She is deeply convinced that coaching is a loving and respectful way to help people find their own passion and purpose. Monika is married cross-culturally and enjoys diversity. She has served on the CMI communications team since 2016.
Patty
CMI Master Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, FCE Lead Trainer, CPT Lead Trainer, CLP Training Team M.Ed. Educational Administration
Patty served in Asia for 24 years, raising a family while also deeply involved in the ongoing ministry there. She served as a Member Care Director, member of their Country Leadership Team, and National Training and Development Director. Patty is a graduate of CMI’s first Professional Coach training in 2009. She believes deeply in the work and values of CMI, bringing with her many years of experience, gifting as a coach and trainer since 2011. Her passion is to see people who live and lead equipped, trained, and coached so they can also give wholeheartedly in hard places in the world. Patty and her husband Sam are currently living in Tennessee where they enjoy their children and grandson.
Randy Boughton
ICF ACC, CMI Coach, CMI Mentor Coach, FCE Trainer,, BS Organizational Leadership & Management, Masters Business Management (MBA), MA Christian Education
Randy’s first encounter with coaching was in 2007, as he was transitioning into a new season of life after completing a career in the United States Navy. Both he and his wife earned their certification as Transformational Leadership Coaches in 2008, and used coaching skills in their roles as pastors and leaders in local churches. In 2016, Randy and his family were deployed by their church to northern Thailand to help serve orphans, at risk children, and provide leadership training within the local Thai church. Desiring to better serve indigenous people groups and fellow missionaries in a cross-cultural setting, Randy completed the full CMI Global Training Program in 2019. Randy’s desire is to help people realize and achieve their full potential in Christ, and to live it out with excellence in their own unique area of assignment. Randy lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand with his wife and their three youngest children. He also has five adult children, currently living in the USA. Caring for and nurturing his family is one of Randy’s highest values.
Ruth
ICF ACC, CMI Coach,CMI Mentor Coach, FCE Trainer, BA International Studies, BA Biblical Studies
Ruth has been serving in Asia for the past 25 years. She started her coaching journey with CMI in 2015, and enjoys coming alongside people of many nations to encourage growth and greater effectiveness. Originally from Chicago, she is married cross-culturally and has two teenage children.
Samuel Abalo
ICF ACC, CMI Coach, FCE Trainer BSc in Administration; BA in Theology, Masters in Leadership
Sam is a natural encourager who loves the Lord and is passionate about the things of the Holy Spirit and his family. He has a desire to see young people, missionaries, and leaders thrive as they seek to fulfill their God-given purpose. He uses coaching and mentoring on local and global platforms to fulfill his purpose. Coaching has been affirming and transformational in his life, helping him make some adjustments to his relationships to bring the best out of others in a challenging and compassionate way. Along with all that Sam brings to CMI, he serves as the Senior Pastor of Living Word Worship Centre, a church that he and his team planted together with other believers in 1995. Over the years Living Word Worship Center has seen the multiplication of churches come from this church. Sam is originally from Ghana but has lived for the last 27 years with his wife Enid in Australia, they have three adult children and two grandsons.
Terry Lee
CLP Training Team; Certified Encounter Coach with Leadership MetaFormation Institute
Bringing with her two decades of experience in the corporate and university arena, Terry has been serving to mobilize missions for over 45 years. Terry’s passion is to come alongside cross-cultural leaders and leaders in transition. She does this by training and equipping them to live, lead, and coach from the heart; identifying and reaching their goals, and providing perspective and encouragement to meet and overcome obstacles. Terry is a graduate of CMI’s 2014 Professional Coach Training. She enjoys biking, hiking, reading, zip-lining over coffee fields for fun. She now lives in Arizona near most of her adult children and their families.
Our Board
Heather Hicks
Chair
Reconciled World TCT Operations; Americas Regional Coordinator
“Coaching is a powerful way to see others grow, move beyond barriers and excel in their God-given calling. I’ve experienced it first hand in my ministry work. CMI provides the highest quality training and coaching for cross-cultural Kingdom-focused workers and it is a joy and honor to be part of all God is doing in and through CMI!”
Daphne Lubera
Treasurer
Universal Optic Service; Co-Owner
“I love that CMI empowers missionaries, leaders, and organizations around the world with Christ-centered missions coaching. I believe coaching is a valuable tool in helping people transform their own lives and the lives of those they serve. I am honored to be a part of this kingdom-minded ministry.”
Gary St. John
Board Member
Retired since August 2020, after 44 years of service in financial management and leadership roles primarily in nonprofit organizations.
“As to its mission, I have been most attracted to CMI for its focus on developing and supporting people within their particular calling to influence and impact. In serving CMI as a Board Member, I find great satisfaction in working with others to effectively leverage and steward people and financial resources to achieve tremendous ministry outcomes.”
Brian Humbles
Vice-Chair
Atlas Copco; Business Development Manager
“CMI’s impact is immeasurable, as leaders and missions workers across the globe are strengthened, encouraged, listened to, and valued. I’m so glad to serve those who give so much in service to others through coaching!”
Tom Simmons
Secretary
Rector, St. Peter’s Church
“Having received coach training through CMI in 2011, I found the heart, mindset, and skills of Christian coaching very helpful at home, with friends, in pastoral care, and in leading others in the congregation.”
Jon Taylor
Executive Director