T.J. and Christa Kimmel both had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home.  Christa was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Martha and James Relaford and was saved at the age of five when her mother led her to the Lord. In the fourth grade, she surrendered to full-time Christian service during Vacation Bible School.  As she entered junior high, her family moved to Peoria, Illinois, where they became very active members of the Bay View Baptist Church. She chose to attend Hyles-Anderson College in Crown Point, Indiana, where she majored in secondary education with homemaking and music as her fields and an emphasis on missions. From junior high to college, she was active in many ministries of the church and developed a strong burden for the unreached people and countries of the world.

T.J. was born to Thomas and Cathy Kimmel in Hammond, Indiana, where they attended the First Baptist Church. It was there, on a big day called "Second Pentecost Sunday," that he realized his need for salvation; and at nine years old, he kneeled with his father on the steps at the back of the church and accepted Christ as his Saviour. In junior high T.J. felt called to the mission field during a youth revival at Hammond Baptist Schools; however, it wasn’t until his sophomore year at Hyles-Anderson College that he surrendered.  He immediately changed his major to missions and began focusing on the country to which God had called him, Jamaica. T.J. was also very involved in the activities and ministries of First Baptist Church, including starting and building a nursing home bus route, which had high days of over eighty residents. He and Christa both graduated from Hyles-Anderson College in May of 2004.

T.J. took three survey trips to the country of Jamaica, and Christa has made the trip once before moving to Jamaica in January of 2006.  On his second trip there, T.J. was able to preach four times, which included preaching to a crowd of more than 300 teenagers.  Christa also had the opportunity to teach the Bible to grade schoolers during their morning session.  By the grace of God, T.J. and Christa were able to see nearly 500 people saved through preaching and personal soul winning on survey trips to Jamaica.