We are Mike and Karen Riley...

We have four children and a dog. Elizabeth (8), Luke (5), Isaiah (3) and Elijah (1) and Bobo (3). We live in Little Rock, Arkansas and work as full-time missionary staff with FamilyLife, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. We moved to Little Rock in February of 2005 from Columbus, Indiana.

Our History

We met in 1986 as freshmen at Columbus North high school and were acquaintances until the end of our Senior year when we went to the Prom together. We began dating and dated through college, were engaged in 1993 and married June 10, 1995 after graduating from Indiana State University in December of 1994.

Our Wedding

An interesting story about our wedding… We were married in the church where Karen's parents were married, and it is just five blocks from Mike's parent's house. On the wedding day, just minutes before Karen was to walk down the isle, the pastor turned to Mike's brother and asked him for the ring. At that point, Mike turned pale white realizing that he had left the ring at home on his dresser. "I can run home real quick and get it!" The pastor convinced him that there was not enough time, so the pianist's ring was borrowed as a temporary replacement.

Our Former Life In Indiana

Mike worked from almost 10 years at Cummins, Inc as an electrical engineer, designing electronic engine controls. Karen worked as a social worker until our first child came along at which point she became a full-time homemaker, greatly increasing her work load.

We attended and set our roots at Community Church of Columbus and still feel a part of the body even though we are over 600 miles away.

Our Kids

Our firstborn, Elizabeth, came along in October of 1997. Luke followed in 2000 and Emma in 2002. Emma was born at 24 weeks and only lived a day and a half.

Karen went into pre-term labor for unknown reasons. In January of 2003, Isaiah was born. And in 2005, a month and a half before we moved, Elijah was born.

Our Calling

In September of 2001 we attended a FamilyLife event called Rekindling the Romance in Chicago, IL. It was at that event that we first considered joining the FamilyLife staff. Over the course of the next 5 years God confirmed His calling, we raised our support and joined staff full-time in 2005.