Daniel and Heidi are the founders and directors of Open Arms. They were married in August of 2005. They met while she served for about two years at the orphanage where Daniel grew up. After Daniel turned 18 he stayed at the orphanage and worked in construction. As they served together at the orphanage they knew God would one day move them on to start another ministry.

God brought these lives together and they know they have been called to “help the poor and the lost.” “We know God brought us together for a purpose; we share the same passion and we both know that it is not what we can do for God, but what God can do through us.”

Their hearts’ desire is to show these children Christ’s love and salvation and to show the parents how much God values the family unit.

Because Daniel grew up in an orphanage since he was 7 years old, he has lived with feelings of abandonment and being unloved. Instead of holding the bitterness and hurt inside, he has decided to try to make a difference by building a facility to keep children who should not be in an orphanage out of one, and the kids who run the streets while their parents are at work, off the streets. Together, they want to touch the lives of children and families by providing a no-cost daycare.

They truly live daily by faith, and they have seen God’s mercy and faithfulness endure. They started working on the construction of the facility in April of 2005 and began with only $1 (dollar). Less than a year later, they opened the daycare to the children of the community. They currently take care of 50 children and have helped numerous families stay together.

In addition to running the daycare, they have a monthly mother’s class to teach important life skills to the many moms of the daycare children, a dad’s group, and 6 small group Bible studies in the community with 65 women in attendance. They are currently working on a dental/medical/and optical facility to care for the many needs of the daycare kids and families as well as the community.