Our Leadership Team

At YWAM Richmond, we are committed to community. Our staff of 50+ take seriously the YWAM value of creating intentional community. We are from many nations all driven by the desire to Know God and Make Him Known!

Our staff are highly involved in both community life on campus as well as serving in various areas of the city. Staff are involved with many areas in the city, whether it’s working with at the local community center, working with the Civic Association, Richmond Ropes, food bank distribution, teaching English to refugees in the city, and much more!

As a staff we are also very committed to the nations. Every year, we send teams all over the world to share the love of the Jesus in the nations. Recently, we have been sending teams to Brazil, Bolivia, Tanzania, Kenya, Chile, Philippines, Japan and more.

We are always looking for people to join our team at YWAM Richmond! Please fill out this simple application and someone from our team will be contacting you shortly.

Chris Zinchuck

Base Director

Hailing from Michigan and North Carolina, God showered Chris with favor in his business career. By the age of 28 he had managed thousands of people with a well known Fortune 500 Company. In 2001 God spoke to him to “leave it all” and commit his life to full-time missions. Since then Chris has championed young spiritual leaders in over 20 nations.

Kara grew up in YWAM. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Urban Studies and a Masters Certificate in Nonprofit Management from VCU. She is a key community leader in the East End of Richmond Virginia and develops YWAM staff as the Personnel Director for our staff team.

In 2006 Chris and Kara were married. Chris became the Director of YWAM VA in 2008 expressing the vision to “Passionately Follow God & Champion Young People.” Together they love to pastor young spiritual leaders and to pioneer cutting edge ministries with their son Isaac and daughter Hannah Grace.

Jesse Carmichael

Outreach & Ministries Leader

Jesse Carmichael grew up in coastal Virginia in Hampton. He finished college with degrees in Outdoor Education and Environmental Studies. In 2012, Jesse came to volunteer with the ropes course and do the Discipleship Training School and has been here ever since. Jesse has a passion and a gifting for teaching and equipping young people to fulfill the Great Commission. God has laid the inner cities of the United States and the nation of Brazil on his heart to pray for and minister to.

Madeline Carmichael is from the Seattle area in Washington state. In 2012, she came to do a Discipleship Training School here in Richmond, VA and came on staff with Jesse after they were married in 2013. Since then, she has been serving here with a passion and a desire for visual arts and seeing people, mainly women and girls, come into the knowledge of who God designed them to be and how He has equipped them individually to do great things.

The Carmichaels are happy to serve the Lord in missions in Richmond and globally with the vision of helping people grab a hold of all that God has for them.

Daejong Lee

Leadership Council Member

Since 1998, Daejong and Soomi have done DTS, FCM (Foundations for Counseling Ministry), ABC (Addictive Behavior Counseling school) in YWAM, South Korea. Daejong has done MP(Mission Perspective), SOISW(School of Intercession, Spiritual Warfare and Worship) and Soomi has done FAF(Fine Arts Foundations) in UofN, JeJu, South Korea. After school, they served DTS as staff and have led FCM and ABC until 2012. They went to New Zealand for an year, Europe and also, often China and more than 20 countries to mission fields to serve there with other group of people. They have two sons, named Hyun(17) and Yoon(14).
Six years ago, the Lees came to YWAM Virginia to work for ministry of Member Care and Worship. Their main focused ministry in mission is to work in people’s lives, especially those in brokenness and suffering in their heart and lives. Their vision is to bring healing in those people’s lives and want to give more of Jesus’ love and care. Continuously, They want to bring healing and restoration in all Nations through Counseling ministry and Art Therapy.

Leonei Ciriaco

Leadership Council Member

Leonei and Cilane Ciriaco have been married for 16 years and are the parents of three beautiful children: Dandara, Yasmin and Benjamin. They have been serving in missions for more than 18 years with YWAM. They have staffed several bases in Brazil including: Contagem MG, Aracaju Se, and from there started to plant a missionary base in Santana in Amapá, where they then took the leadership of Jocum in that state. After eight years of building foundation in Brazil, God has challenged them to embrace their cross-cultural call overseas in the US and, one day, China.

Leadership training and Bible training is the Ciriacos passion and calling, as well as planting, growing and strengthening the local church. At our base in Richmond, Va, they have faithfully served in Administration, the Discipleship Bible School, and Leadership Council, inspiring our community with their commitment to the Gospel and setting a godly example of family for our staff.

18 years ago God planted in their hearts an overwhelming love for the nation of China, and since then they have prayed and sought God in how to serve that nation with the Gospel. After years of praying and planning, they sense it is time to set foot in the land, and for the last five years have been preparing and equipping themselves for their first trip there. Leonei and Cilane believe it is their purpose is to serve that nation for at least 10 years with quality Bible teaching.

Fauger Baptista

Leadership Council Member

Fauger and Ana have been married since 2001 and serving together with YWAM since 2003. Fauger did his DTS in Contagem – Brazil , in 1999. Ana also did her DTS in Contagem – Brazil ,in 2000. They served together in Adelaide – Australia from 2003-2009. After that they helped Pionner YWAM Curacao in the Caribbean and lived there for almost a year. During that time they were asked to Re-pioneer YWAM US Virgin Islands where they served as base directors from 2012 to 2016. Fauger and Ana are both from Curitiba Brazil. They have 2 kids, Nicholas, born in 2008 in Australia and Olivia, born in 2013 in St.Croix USVI.

Ministry wise, Fauger has served YWAM in the area of worship/prayer, evangelism, teaching, counseling and maintenance.Ana has served YWAM in the area of arts(dancing), leading small groups, accounting, prayer/intercession, evangelism and counseling.

They joined YWAMVA February 2017 and their passion is to see families and individuals engaging in a deeper and healthy relationship with God through Worship/Prayer/Healing and Counseling.They also love pioneering new visions, help and guide young people to find their calling, dreams and purpose. And also serving full hearten in any area of need.