Ballew, Joel and Angel

Joel and Angel Ballew grew up on opposite sides of the world.

Raised in Brazil, Angel is a missionary kid from Sao Paulo, the third-largest city on the planet. Angel loves volleyball, singing, and playing guitar. Growing up in Brazil with missionary parents and two older brothers gave her a unique worldview. Along with her intense love of God and people, she loves teaching and pouring into the lives of her family.

Joel was born and raised in the amazing state of Georgia. He grew up with a passion for sports, especially basketball.

Joel and Angel met in 2002 at Toccoa Falls College in northeast Georgia. First, they became close friends by playing college basketball on the girls’ and guys’ teams. They talked for hours on the phone. And then fell in love on a basketball road trip! After that, the Ballews married in January 2005. But little did they know that God had already laid the groundwork for their future ministry in Colombia.

Now, Joel and Angel have three beautiful girls: Taylor, Reagan, and McKinley. Their sending church, The Bridge Church, invited the Ballew family on a short-term mission trip to the Dominican Republic. This trip proved the catalyst for sending them into full-time ministry in Colombia.

The Ballew Family serves in the port city of Barranquilla, a business hub focusing on commerce and trade. Home to an estimated 2.6 million people, the city is in northwest Colombia along the Caribbean coast.

God knew what he was doing when he called Angel and Joel to Barranquilla. Joel’s ten years of entrepreneurial and business experience builds a solid starting point for SAM and TEAM’s new ministry location. The Ballews, in partnership with a Colombian couple, work with business professionals and their families to develop leaders and new Christians. Specifically, their vision is to create CoLabor, a co-working space environment that reaches the professional demographic plus provides space for a church plant. In addition, other ministry opportunities include basketball for kids and teens and marriage mentoring for couples around the city.