Meet the New Staff: Tara and Yohan
Harvest USA is pleased to announce two new staff who have joined our Direct Ministry Team in the past two months!
Hello! My name is Tara Hallman, and I’m a Women’s Ministry staff member. My husband, Jake, and I are blessed to have three sons. Zeke is 23 and getting married in June to our future daughter-in-law, Raylee. Brett is a senior in high school, and Tice is in 8th grade. I first became aware of the ministry at Harvest USA through my husband, who read Sexual Sanity for Men with a men’s group several years ago. Then, while on campus at Westminster Theological Seminary, I attended a lunch with Ellen Dykas and other Harvest USA staff, where they talked about a Women’s Ministry internship and shared about the ministry at Harvest USA. My heart has been to serve women who have been affected by sexual brokenness in their marriages, so I was disappointed when the internship did not work out that year, but I trusted God’s plan. The following year, I reached out to Ellen again, and, this time, I was thrilled to be chosen for the internship. As an intern, I have had the opportunity to learn from Ellen and the Women’s Ministry staff, observe their approach to caring for women who are struggling, and join them in bringing the truth and the hope of the gospel into each woman’s story. I love the collaboration that happens in the Women’s Ministry, as well as the opportunity for both one-on-one and group discipleship. I am looking forward to having the privilege of walking with women, meeting them in their suffering, and watching them grow in understanding themselves and God in the light of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hello! My full name is Yohan Rafael Huh Prudente de Oliveira, and I’ve joined the Men’s Ministry team. I bear both my father’s last name (“Prudente de Oliveira,” meaning “prudent olive tree” in Portuguese) and my mother’s last name (“Huh,” meaning “to permit” or “to decree” in Korean). My family has a Polish-Jew and South-Korean background. My parents met in South Korea and were commissioned as missionaries for church planting ministry in São Paulo-Brazil. I also have a younger sister who works as a graphic designer. Their godliness brought me near to the cross of Christ.
I learned about Harvest USA for the first time through Ms. Ellen Dykas, Director of Women’s Ministry. I witnessed her influence and ministry while attending my current church, New Life Dresher. I also remember when I was faced with challenging questions about sexual brokenness in the youth group I serve, which encouraged me to seek biblical answers inside and outside of seminary. When I joined Harvest USA as an intern, three primary things led me to apply for the Men’s Ministry Staff position:
- The unwavering support of my wife;
- The prayerful response from my church; and
- The overwhelming financial aid received for my education.
These affirmed my external calling and strengthened my internal calling for gospel ministry. As a staff member, I am looking forward to the primary goal of meeting the lost (Luke 19:10) and bringing them back to life in Jesus Christ, whose matchless name I praise, love, and seek with all my heart (Jeremiah 29:13).
