Jenny Torgerson

Mission work has always been part of my life. At the tender age of 3 months I flew to Laos with my parents, who were then first-time missionaries with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. For the next ten years they planted churches while I and my siblings grew up and attended Dalat School in Penang, Malaysia. The Vietnam War closed Laos to us in 1975 while we were on furlough, so we returned to Thailand to work with Hmong refugees. However, health problems brought our family permanently back to the U.S. at the end of 1979. 

At the age of 16 I pledged to follow God into mission work, but for many years He had other plans for me. I spent 25 years working at a cancer research center writing grants and managing budgets. Thus it was quite a surprise to be recruited as the full-time Director of Children’s Ministry at my church. But God made it clear this was my long-awaited call to ministry, and in it I found my passion to work with kids. 

While finishing an MA in Children and Family Ministry, I was introduced to the 1for50 Movement, whose vision is to see every child in every community have someone to reach, disciple and empower them to become Kingdom Champions. Today my work with the 1for50 global leadership team beautifully marries my passion for missionary work with my love for children, and it allows me to continue using my administrative skills as a project manager and editor. It is such a joy to be able to work with amazing children’s ministry leaders from around the world while still teaching kids in my church at home.