Our Founder
David Peterka
David founded the non-profit organization “When The Saints” in November 2011. David’s passion is to bring awareness to the issues of extreme poverty and social injustices in our world, and to help teach churches the roles they can play to end them.
In the fall of 2011, he graduated from St. Louis Christian College with a Christian Ministries degree emphasizing Intercultural and Urban missions.
David’s background includes widespread traveling and mission work throughout poverty stricken areas around the globe.
Our Board
Darrel Clark - President
Darrell has been married to Jennifer Urban Clark for 13 years. They have three children: Anthony, and twin girls, Makayla and Mackenzie. My wife and I are training our children to follow the teachings of Christ. Darrel is thankful that his children have all accepted Christ as their Lord & Savior!
Darrel’s family relocated to Missouri in June of 2014. God has granted him the opportunity to work with men who are struggling with sexual addictions.
Jeremy Krueger - Board Member
Jeremy works as a sales engineer and is a good friend of David's from Mid-Cities Church. He has been to Malawi twice with When the Saints, once in 2015 and again in 2020.
His role is managing the monthly donor database and assisting with mission trips to Malawi. He's honored to be a part of Jesus' redemptive work in Malawi!
Lindsey Womack — Treasurer
Lindsey Womack joined the WTS family in 2014 when she volunteered to be a member of the financial committee. With a CPA license and her passion for loving and fighting for the marginalized, she found a spot where her talents and tenacious spirit could be fully embraced.
In 2020 Lindsey's journey with WTS continued as she became a member of the WTS Board. In 2022 she then moved on to become the treasurer of the board. She is greatly humbled and excited to be part of this adventure and all the wonderful work Jesus is doing through WTS.
Cathy Hartke - Secretary
Cathy Hartke has had the honor of working with When the Saints for over a decade. Her passion for helping the mistreated and abused, especially the children, is what got her interested in this ministry and what continues to inspire her.
Cathy is a retired public school teacher and now spends her time baking cookies, crafting and being involved with her church.
Marilyn Slavich - Vice President
Marilyn Slavich is a wife and mother of two boys studying to enter the ministry. She is a CPA and has an MBA in Finance from Indiana University.
She is an adjunct professor at SLCC and also works for a private venture capital firm. She has worked in ministry for many years and is passionate about helping the poor and oppressed.
Kayla Hatcher — Board Member
Kayla Hatcher previously studied semi-arid agriculture for small-scale farmers at ECHO inc. in Southwest Florida, and is thrilled to be working in conjunction with When the Saints.
Her background in photography, ESL, and permaculture culminates in the beauty of the land as a space for uniting divided communities.
Department Heads
Roselyn Hamisi
Roselyn Hamisi is our head trauma counselor at WtS. She joined the WtS family in December 2015 when we welcomed the first four girls into the safe home.
Being part of the WtS team in this mission to end sexual violence and helping the wounded is both nursing her passion to see girls recover and also positively transforming her own life.
With experience in counseling psychology and christian counseling, she is a vital part of our team.
Akim Banda
Akim Banda is our Men’s Ministry Facilitator. He is a gem of a man. He drops his coffee grounds straight into his cup and doesn’t even bother filtering them out!
Akim has overcome some of his own sexual integrity issues that he openly shares about. He now has a passion to help usher other men into sexual integrity as well. His vision for this is to preach the Gospel and disciple men so that they walk in sexual integrity from a place of being rooted and grounded in Christ’s love.
Akim has studied a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and his dream is to one day pastor a church.
Virginia Moyo
Virginia Moyo joined the WtS family in Malawi in 2014 as our stores clerk while the safe home was under construction. With a bachelors degree in Ministry, her hard work and commitment are also an asset to us.
She is currently working as our Secretary and doing a wonderful job. She has a welcoming heart and a big smile. We are excited to have her. She is very thankful for the amazing transformation that God is doing and bringing to the broken hearted that WtS serves. She loves being a part of bringing joy and hope to the hopeless.
Jane Zalangwa
Jane Zalangwa joined WtS in December of 2015 as a house mother. She always works with passion as she shows motherly love to the children. She is loved by the girls and is the head of house mothers and caretakers department.
The staff selected her to be one the conflict resolution leaders. She has been referred to as the “Spiritual mother of Mponela (our city)” and we are so blessed to have her as part of our team!
Macloud Gondwe
Macloud Gondwe is the head of our Social Work department. He has studied theology and has a great understanding of construction. Ge joined WtS in 2018 and Served as a Projects Officer for those two years. In addition, he was then promoted to Social Work in 2020. He helps to lead our morning staff devotions and the Monday bible study.
Macloud was elected as a member of the conflict resolution team by the staff. He has a zeal and passion to protect the girls from violence. Macloud is humbled and excited to be part of WtS and all the good work that Jesus is doing through it.
Chipiliro Roan
Chipiliro Roan is the head of our Guards Department. He does a fantastic job in helping to oversee all of our guards to ensure there is safety and security on our campuses. You can’t miss his enthusiastic salute each time he opens the gate for you at When the Saints!
Malawian Board
Bronex Kathyola
Bronex is the president of our Malawian board. He has been serving faithfully and sacrificially since 2014.
He is a husband and father of three children. On his Malawi National Examination he got a perfect score in Math which has led him to work as an accountant for a variety of major organizations.
Hastings Blessings Banda
Hastings Blessings Banda has been a Malawian committee member for WtS since 2016. He is a Supply Chain Management specialist by profession and has also been called into a Pastoral assignment.
Hastings is married to Alinafe and together they have two daughters and one son. Hastings always counts it a great privilege and an honor to be part of the team that is committed to the vision and mission for which WtS stands for.
Chola Chomba
Chola Chomba has served as a commitee member of WtS since its early days. Having a passion to see girls and women empowered to be what God has destined them to be, it has been a joy to see WtS grow.
From having the first girl come into the safe home to now having many girls. It’s so exciting to see God's plan unfold; to set girls free and lift them up to fulfill their purpose on earth. It has also be wonderful stepping into ministry with the men in order to help them walk in sexual integrity.
Emmie Ngwira
Emmie is a wife and a mother to two daughters. She is a woman in pursuit of God’s heart and an excited witness to His work amongst his people.
She enjoys visual arts (interior design, painting and quilting), gardening and spending quality time with family and friends.