Charles & Debra Chivers
Special Touch Executive Directors
Charlie & Debbie founded Special Touch Ministry in 1982. Since that time, the Chivers have dedicated their lives as full-time appointed missionaries working with people with disabilities. Throughout the year, they speak at various churches around the nation encouraging them to join Special Touch Ministry in ministering to people with disabilities. Charlie heads up the National Office as the Executive Director of Special Touch Ministry, Inc. and directs the National Center for Ministry to People with Disabilities for the Assemblies of God. In addition they coordinate the annual Wisconsin Summer Get Away, a retreat/vacation experience for people with disabilities.

Contact Information:
715-258-2713 (phone)
director@specialtouch.org (Charlie – email)
debchivers@specialtouch.org (Debbie – email)

Thomas & Angelia Carpenter
STREAM Directors
Rev. Thomas Carpenter has been associated with Special Touch Ministry since 1999. What started out as an invitation to be a chapel speaker has sparked a desire to make everyone aware of the great talents and gifts God has given to extraordinary people who happen to have a disability. He travels with his wife Angelia, and children Jenel, Alexa, and Buck proclaiming hope and encouragement to those who have a disability and their families.

In the summer of 2007, the Lord spoke to Thomas’ heart about the need for Emergency intervention for those who have newly entered the world of disability. After sharing his vision with the National Leadership Team in December of 2007, he was asked to come on board at the National level and implement the STREAM Concept. STREAM is an acronym for Special Touch Ready Emergency Assistance Mission.

STREAM is a three-fold mission aimed at aiding in the process of securing the right agencies and physicians to best help our guests and their families, to network with others who are going and have been through the same difficulties, and to create an accessible place for living to those who need it. STREAM is a referral ministry and all request need to come through the Ministry Office of Special Touch and STREAM.

Contact Information:
870-799-9656 (phone)
tcarpenter@specialtouch.org (email)

Joseph & Ann Trementozzi
Special Touch Missionaries & National Representatives
Rev. Joe and Ann Trementozzi have been involved in international missions work for over twelve years and were Founders and Directors of their own Disability Ministry before becoming a part of Special Touch Ministry and part of it’s Leadership Team. Joe and Ann have been honored by being fully appointed as Assemblies of God U.S. Missionaries. As National Missionaries with the Assemblies of God and Special Touch, Joe and Ann speak in churches of various denominations and in other venues across the country creating awareness within the church at large that people with disabilities and their families need to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Joe and Ann are the proud parents to Bernie, Matthew, and Beth Ann. Their daughter Beth Ann, who has special needs, created a desire within them to share the love of Christ to people with disabilities and their families.

In addition to being National Missionaries and National Special Touch Chapter Directors, they also hold the position of Directors of Family Support Ministries, which is a division within Special Touch Ministry that has four departments:
1. Individual and Family Service
2. Advocacy
3. Counseling
4. Pastoral Care/Chaplaincy

Currently the Trementozzi family live in Palm Bay, Florida.

References, etc, are available upon request.

Contact Information:
321-723-2188 (Florida Office)
321-480-9806 (Joe’s cell)
321-543-8729 (Ann’s cell)

href="mailto:trementozzi@specialtouch.org">trementozzi@specialtouch.org (email)

Carl & Angie Hespe
Special Touch Executive Assistant & Representative
Since resigning their teaching positions, Carl and Angie have joined the staff of Special Touch as full-time Missionary Representatives. They travel the country speaking in various churches, encouraging them to join Special Touch Ministry in ministering to people with disabilities. They also oversee the “Tech Truck”, a support vehicle used to help facilitate and provide technical support and equipment for the Special Touch Summer Get Aways across the country. Their greatest desire is to see all people reach their full potential in God, especially those with disabilities. They currently live with their 2 sons, Caleb and Zachary, in Waupaca, Wisconsin.

• Interview with Lifespring [mp3]
• Reference Letter from Rev. David McLean
• Reference Letter from Rev. Josh Nagel

Contact Information:
715-256-2648 (home)
920-915-3291 (Carl – cell)
chespe@specialtouch.org (email)

Bradley Mattrisch
Special Touch National Coordinator of Support Ministries

As a result of a delay in breathing for 26 minutes at birth, he has Cerebral Palsy. Brad has been involved with the Special Touch Summer Get Away Program since the summer of 1982. At the first Get Away, he sensed God calling him to help people understand the Bible.

Brad later earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Management Computer Systems as well as a Bachelors of Arts degree Bible & Theology. After graduation, he participated in several ministry activities with his church and Special Touch. Brad was given the opportunity to learned about church planting as well as speak and teach. After working for several years in Information Technology with a large consulting company, he decided to make his ministry hobby his full-time calling.

Despite Brad’s disability, he is an U.S. Missionary Associate as well as an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. Brad now oversees the ministry’s Pastoral Care department that includes a fair amount of writing and speaking. He wants to develop friendships with others that need encouragement and Biblical counsel. Brad also coordinates the ministry’s Information Technology needs. He lives with his cats, Penny and Oreo, as well as his dog, Daisy, in Appleton, Wisconsin. Brad currently attends Radiant Fellowship in Waupaca, WI.

Brad has a message to share with the church, especially to those who face challenges. Brad’s sermons are often accompanied with laughter, tears, and lives touched by God. He writes a manuscript and transfers it to a PowerPoint presentation which is projected, so the congregation can follow along as he speaks.

• Excerpt of Brad speaking in church [YouTube]
• Brad’s pastor shares about Brad’s ministry [YouTube]
• My Journey: Disappointments are Not Destinations [Article in Pentecostal Evangel, 8/16/2009]
• Living It: God’s Leaders [Article in Pentecostal Evangel, 1/10/2010]
• Brad’s Ministry Brochure

Contact Information:
715-258-2713 (office)

bmattrisch@specialtouch.org (email)

Tom & Gayle Leach
Special Assistants for Project Development
Rev. Tom and Rev. Gayle Leach experienced the dynamic way God uses Special Touch Ministry in 1986, when they began attending Summer Get Away. God used Special Touch to heal hurts caused by living with quadriplegia and to pave their way back into full-time ministry after Tom’s car wreck in 1983. The couple has served on the minstry’s full-time staff since 1995. They now spearhead the development of new programs and products, such as the Word Walk Curriculum. Tom and Gayle represent Special Touch in the Dakotas and minister around the nation wherever God opens doors of opportunity. They currently live in Ellendale, ND and are the proud parents of their grown son, Benjamin.

Contact Information:
tleach5671@drtel.net (email)