Pressroom

This year, we celebrate Henry Watts reaching the milestone of 20 years with EMI!

Henry first served as an intern in 1998. After working in the construction management industry with his structural engineering background, Henry, and his wife Erika - a landscape architect - both joined staff in 2004. In those early years, they often led project trips together. In 2008, they spent 8 months in Jordan where Henry served on a construction site for an EMI-designed project.

Erika left staff in 2009 to stay home with their kids. Those kids – Owen, 17, Claire, 14, and Jordan, 12 – have never known life without EMI! And they got to experience a true taste of EMI mission life in 2014 when the Watts family moved to Kenya for a year where Henry again worked on a construction site for an EMI project – Tenwek Hospital. We’ve been excited to recently welcome back Erika to staff as she started back part-time at EMI USA in 2023.

Henry has held many roles throughout his years at EMI, perhaps most notably serving as the Director of EMI USA since 2017. Henry is a peacemaker and an includer. He makes people feel valued because he actually values them. He has strong convictions about the Vision and Mission of EMI and our unique role to play in world missions. He’s passionate about protecting EMI from drifting away from our Christ-centered roots, while at the same time, he’s been at the center of our desire to grow and change towards better mission practices.

Congratulations and thank you, Henry, for your two decades of service with EMI!

Although Josh Neal came to EMI USA in the usual way one might look for a new job, it was not in the way staff typically join EMI USA. Josh was looking for a new job and heard about the HR Manager position through a friend at church. He quickly learned that EMI is not the typical US employer, and as he has worked with us over the past 10 years, he has adapted to EMI ways and become a stalwart figure in the office. Josh was the first staff member at EMI USA to be fully focused on Human Resources and with years of prior HR experience, he brought knowledge and structure to EMI USA HR during a critical growth period. 

Josh quickly embraced EMI’s discipleship core value and readily engages in and helps lead office devotional times, days of prayer, and mentoring of interns and fellows. It’s apparent that discipleship is an important part of Josh’s world outside of EMI as well and his spiritual maturity is something we value and benefit from. We also greatly appreciate his sense of humor, his laid-back nature, and his ability to adapt. 

When not in the office, Josh can be found performing with a local improv comedy group, building a set for a high school musical, volunteering at his church, or playing games with friends and family. Josh is married to Wendy and has two kids, Connor and Elise. 

We are grateful for Josh and his 10 years of faithful service with EMI USA! 

For the past 10 years, Kevin Keiter has been an important part of EMI USA, currently leading the projects team as a deputy director. His background in mechanical engineering, and having run a branch office in Florida before joining EMI, gives him the experience to serve ministries around the world. Kevin leads with a great balance of vision for the future and compassionate care for those under his leadership. Most importantly, Kevin deeply loves Jesus and loves being part of EMI’s unique role in serving the global church.

EMI benefits doubly from the Keiters in Jenni. Mixing a part-time EMI photography & videography role as a home-school mom started as an experiment. For 10 years now, Jenni has pioneered a pathway for creative professionals to join in EMI’s ministry through her role in the EMI Global Office. Her adventurous spirit, willingness to try new things, and learn new skills & technology have kept Jenni excited to go get the next EMI story. We are so grateful for Jenni's help in sharing what God is doing through the people of EMI.

The Keiter family's love of community and nature has led to many opportunities for our interns and staff to experience the beauty of Colorado. They have hosted many interns and fellows in their home and been an integral part of our office culture. 

Thank you, Kevin and Jenni, for 10 years of service to the ministry of EMI!