Emercy's staff is composed of workers committed to our vision of missionary care and support. Most of our workers are volunteers, working on a part time basis of 10-20 hours per week. Below you will find brief profiles of each worker and the jobs they do.

Joshua Jones, Executive Director

Joshua has served as the Executive Director and Founder since Emercy's start in 2000. Joshua has served on the mission field for the last 9 years in over 15 countries while focusing his efforts in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Peru. He currently oversees all of Emercy's daily operations and the majority of Emercy's international projects. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Management from the University of Alabama.

Akiko Jones, Graphic Artist

As the wife of the director, she has certainly invested more in Emercy than anyone else. Her salary from her primary job allows Joshua to work at a reduced income while we are in the fundraising process. Akiko has also helped on a number of projects including the graphical design for Emercy’s Short-Term Teams Toolbox CD. Akiko is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Advertising.

Jesse O’Reilly, Editor - missionaryresources.org

Jesse has been an Emercy volunteer for the previous two years, serving in a number of capacities. Currently Jesse oversees the website missionaryresources.org. In addition to this site, Jesse meets with the director on a weekly basis to discuss Emercy’s projects and the direction they are taking. Jesse has undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from the University of Alabama.

Shelley Safford, Bookkeeping

Shelley is starting her third year as a volunteer at Emercy. Shelley does an excellent job managing Emercy’s finances as well as serving as assistant to the director. Shelley recently went on her first Short-Term Mission trip to Peru with Emercy in March. Shelley plans to study accounting at the University of Alabama next year.