Meet Our Family
Daniel and Heather Hendy are missionaries with a shared passion for reaching children with the love of Jesus, strengthening local churches, and serving wherever God opens doors. Through children's ministry, missions, practical service, and creative outreach, they desire to see lives transformed by the Gospel around the world. Alongside their four children, they are committed to following God's call, equipping the next generation, and partnering with churches and individuals to make an eternal impact.
Daniel Hendy
My name is Daniel Hendy, and I gave my life to Jesus at a very early age. My testimony began in a simple but life-changing way. While standing in a schoolyard, a student walked up to me and asked if I wanted Jesus in my heart. I said yes, prayed with him, and although I did not experience overwhelming emotions in that moment, I knew I had done something important. That simple encounter became the beginning of my relationship with God.
Not long after, I began volunteering in children’s ministry. One of my earliest memories was helping in a two-year-old classroom during children’s church. I loved helping calm kids down, making them laugh, and having fun!
During middle school, I started visiting a nursing home every Monday to play chess with a disabled man. Around that same time, I became involved in unicycling, juggling, and performance ministry. I began using those skills at nursing homes, retirement centers, and community events to and my church encourage and connect with people.
A major turning point in my life came when my high school bus driver signed me up for a three-day weekend retreat. At the end of one of the services, the leaders invited anyone to come forward if they felt they had something to share. When I stepped up, the lord just put the words in my mouth. I told everyone that God told me he has given me gifts like unicycling, juggling, and performing, and that “I would use those gifts to reach kids for Jesus All around the world”. At the time, I did not fully understand the significance of that moment, but it was the beginning of recognizing God’s call on my life.
From then on, I stayed deeply involved in children’s ministry. I volunteered during Parents’ Night Out events, served at kids camps and Vacation Bible School programs, and looked for every opportunity to invest in children and families.
Eventually, I married my wife, Heather Hendy, and together we went on our first mission trip to Ukraine. That trip was especially meaningful because it was the first time I truly got to use the gifts God had given me to minister to children internationally. We volunteered in the Childrens department and eventually left home so that I could attended Rhema Bible Training College. While there, we volunteered in the children’s department and grew in both ministry and practical service.
We originally considered entering the third-year world missions program, but during that time a pastor in Tennessee contacted us and asked if we would serve as children’s pastors at their church. We accepted and faithfully served there for eight years.
During those years, I worked full-time in maintenance, cleaning, and church support roles while Heather and I served in children’s ministry. I also returned to Ukraine on three additional mission trips, continuing to grow in our burden for international ministry.
Eventually, the Lord stirred our hearts again toward International missions, and we returned to complete the third-year world missions program at Rhema. Our desire was to prepare as a family to travel and minister around the world with our four children.
After graduating, Heather and I founded UNI for Jesus Inc. The ministry focused on encouraging children, supporting churches and ministries, and practically serving wherever God opens doors. Since then, we have continued walking out the call God placed on our lives years ago.
Our ministry approach is very practical. Alongside ministry work, I earned my CDL so I could help support our church by volunteering as a bus driver when needed. I continue to serve regularly in Rhema’s children’s ministry.
Currently, I work full-time while Heather and I continue scheduling ministry trips throughout the year. We are believing God to continually enlarge our capacity to serve people, strengthen ministries, and reach children around the world with the love of Jesus.
Heather Hendy
In ministry, have you ever heard the acronym PK? That stands for “Pastor’s Kid.” I’ve always called myself a CPK — a “Children’s Pastor’s Kid.” I was raised in Cleveland, Tennessee, attending a church led by a Rhema pastor. My parents, also Rhema graduates, served as the children’s pastors. I accepted Jesus as my Savior at a young age and was filled with the Holy Spirit by age six.
As soon as I was old enough, I began helping alongside my parents in children’s ministry. Over the years, I served in the nursery, co-led preschool classes as a teenager, and eventually became deeply involved in elementary summer kids camps. I started as a teen helper at age 13 and later served as a counselor into adulthood. Seeing children grow in the Lord was incredibly rewarding, and I knew I wanted to spend my life ministering to kids.
In 2004, at age 16, I went on my first mission trip to the Donetsk region of Ukraine, and it forever changed my life. We visited nearly two orphanages a day, and through that experience God gave me a clear sense of purpose: children’s ministry and missions.
Throughout my teenage years, I spent my summers serving at kids camps, attending youth camps, and returning to Ukraine on mission trips. By age 19, I had traveled to Ukraine three times.
After graduating high school in 2006, I moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to attend Rhema Bible Training Center. Although I originally planned to enter the missions program, the Lord directed me toward the Children’s Ministry program instead. I graduated from RBTC in 2008 and returned to Tennessee.
Daniel and I were married in March 2009, and in 2010 we took our first mission trip to Ukraine together. The following year, we moved back to Oklahoma for Daniel to attend Rhema. Our daughter Kamryn was born in 2012, and Daniel graduated from the Children’s Ministry program in 2013. Once again, we considered attending Rhema’s third-year missions program, but instead we were offered the opportunity to serve as Children’s Pastors at our home church, Cleveland Christian Fellowship, in Tennessee.
For the next eight years, we faithfully served in children’s ministry while raising our growing family. During that time, Daniel worked full-time at the church in maintenance, cleaning, and church support roles. One of the most special full-circle moments for me was getting to lead the same style of kids camps I had once attended and served in as a teenager. What began years earlier assisting my parents as a teen helper had now become an opportunity to lead and pour into the next generation alongside our team.
During those years, Daniel also returned to Ukraine for an additional three mission trips. Although I missed being able to go, I knew my assignment in that season was caring for our children and supporting our family. The Lord blessed us with three more beautiful children: Zackary in 2014, Skyler in 2016, and Shiloh in 2018. Even while raising our family, the call to international ministry never left my heart.
In the fall of 2020, I attended the Kindle the Flame women’s conference at Rhema, and I returned home knowing it was time for our family to move back to Oklahoma. On January 1st, 2021, we relocated to Broken Arrow and finally applied for Rhema’s third-year missions program. Our desire was to prepare as a family to travel and minister around the world together.
In 2022, our family traveled to the jungles of Guatemala for a five-week internship to complete Rhema’s Missions program. After graduating, Daniel and I founded UNI for Jesus, Inc., a ministry focused on ministering to children, supporting churches and ministries, and serving wherever God opens doors.
Today, Daniel works full-time while I homeschool our four children. We are actively involved in the children’s ministry at Rhema Bible Church and continue scheduling ministry trips throughout the year. Our prayer is that God would continually enlarge our capacity to serve people, strengthen ministries, and reach children around the world with the love of Jesus.
