Department of Social Work and Department of Cross-Cultural Studies of Nyack College in New York

Meet Our Hosts-Rick and Jiji Harner


Rick & Jiji Harner are missionaries to the Philippines from New Life Fellowship of Queens, NY.  They live in a small community called Nangka, Consolacion, in Cebu with their 2 daughters. 

Rick has started a holistic community tutoring program, called G1:27 Tutoring TEAM.  Our motto is “Never Underestimate a Child Created in the Image of God.”  Around 200 children from elementary to high school participate in this program each week.  The focus of the program is building self-esteem and fundamental academic skills that can serve as the basis for future employment, while providing a safety net for medical and other social work concerns.  Leadership development is an integral part of the program as we have about 25 student leaders who make the program run.  Rick is also involved in various community development projects and serves in a leadership role in the local church

Jiji serves as a counselor/psychotherapist, community liaison, informal social worker within our community and is starting a graduate level counseling program at Cebu Graduate School of Theology.  She has a private counseling practice for marriage & family counseling, anxiety disorders and depression.  She provides medical advocacy and family mediation for students involved in G1:27 Tutoring.  Partnering with Internationals Justice Mission, she has done long-term counseling for victims of sex trafficking. 

Rick and Jiji are both nyack & ATS alumni.  Jiji studied social work at Nyack and counseling at AGSC.  Rick studied philosophy, missions & intercultural studies.  Upon graduation from Nyack in 1992, Rick worked as a public school teacher and wrestling coach in Elizabeth, NJ for 14 years.  After school hours, he worked with youth in different churches through a Bible Quizzing ministry.  Jiji grew up in the southern Philippines and studied Early Childhood Education at the Shekinah Alliance Bible College.  Before coming to study in the U.S. she started a pre-school in her local church and was a faculty member at Visayas Alliance School of Theology. 

In 1996 Rick began visiting to Cebu, Philippines on summer missions with his church – New Life Fellowship of Queens, NY.  During one of his summer trips to Cebu, he briefly met Jiji, who subsequently enrolled in Alliance Graduate School of Counseling and began attending New Life as well.  Toward the end of their studies, they began dating and were married in 2004.  Jiji came to the U.S. to study with hopes of returning home with her top notch training to start a counseling school in Cebu.  Rick had also been drawn to making a career change from public school teacher to a missionary in the Philippines, and together they planned to move to Cebu.  New Life Fellowship generously agreed to undertake their support and commissioned them as the first full-time missionaries of New Life in 2006.  Rick & Jiji have 2 exciting & fun-loving daughters of whom they are very proud.  Josephine is 5 years old and Alicia is 3.