The Karums

As the son of missionaries, Joel was born in Thailand and grew up seeing the evidence of sex trafficking first hand. He began to sense God calling him to Southeast Asia when he was in High School. But it was 18 years before the Lord released him into that call. During that time the Lord has been refining and equipping him for service. Joel attended New Tribes Bible Institute and University of Tennessee and has spent 13 years in a number of different leadership roles at DaySpring Cards.

Amy holds a degree in Psychology with a minor in Family Studies, but her most important life experience has been in raising our 5 children: Kalyn (12), Andrew (10), Nathaniel (7), Bennett (3), and Anna(1). As the daughter of a pastor, Amy has been on mission trips to a number of foreign countries. It wasn’t until recently, however, that she began to feel called to full time overseas missions.

Joel and Amy met when she and her family visited missionaries in Thailand in 1992. We began a very long-distance relationship through letters. In 1994 Joel moved to St Louis and we began our dating relationship. In July of 1996 we were married.

We sensed God’s call to Southeast Asia after a recent sex trafficking fact finding trip Joel made to Thailand. Upon returning we both sensed that God was calling us to move to Thailand and partner with Him to set captives free! We brought this before our children and sought the Lord together as a family. The vote was a unanimous, “GO!” We consider our children to be key parts of our ministry and believe that God has called us as a family to minister to the fatherless.