About John:

I was born and grew up in Cairo Egypt, and was raised by godly parents. The scriptures were part of our everyday experience, and we had devotions as a family every night. I heard and believed the gospel as a child and made a public profession of faith and was baptized as a young teen.

Our family immigrated to the US when I was a freshman in high school. We made the Chicago area home. I studied Chemistry and Geology at the University of Illinois - Chicago, Geophysics at Colorado School of Mines, and received an executive MBA from Wharton School of business in later years.

I met my wife Rhonda in Denver at a Francis Schaffer conference. We were married in 1982. We have two children: Ashley Girgis Melson who was married a few years ago and is now living in Oklahoma City, and Timothy who is a senior at OU. I am enjoying a fulfilling career in the oil and gas industry. We have lived in seven different locations. After a 26 year career working for two major oil companies in technical and leadership positions, I founded GeoPetra Resources in 2004.

I have served as a deacon in Littleton Bible Chapel, Amarillo Evangelical Fellowship, Midland Bible Church and Lake Pointe Baptist Church in Rockwall. I also served as an elder in Jakarta International Christian Fellowship, where we were one of the four founding families, and WoodsEdge Community Church in the Woodlands, TX. 

Our family first came to IBC in 1997. I had the privilege of heading up the first NJO initiative in 1998. We moved to Houston in December 1999 returning to the Dallas area April 2003. We chose to move to Hackberry Creek for its proximity to IBC. Rhonda and I have been involved in international missions and the prayer ministry at IBC since that time.

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