Board Members

David M. Sawaneh, was born in Sulaimania, Koinadugu district in Northern Sierra Leone. He attended primary and secondary schools in Kabala, Sierra Leone.

Upon completion of high school, he taught grade school as a high school graduate from 1994 to 1996.

Having won the DV lottery in 1996, he traveled to Ghana to attend an interview to immigrate to the USA. Visas were unavailable, so he returned to Sierra Leone at ground zero, having sold all valuable belongings. In March 2000, he immigrated to the US as a refugee. He worked at Embassy Suites Hotel as a dish washer/breakfast cook, McDonald’s, Panera Bread and as a independent ice cream vendor to provide for his family and send aid to the people of Sierra Leone between 2000 and 2004.

Later, he attended Hillsborough Community College for one year then went on to do Practical Nursing at Erwin Technical School, In March 2008 he graduated as a Licensed Practical Nurse.

Since August of 2008 he has been working as an LPN. He later brought two of his three children to the US at the tinder age of two and eight.

In February 2011 he founded Teneba’s Haven and later received 501 C-3 status. Presently, he works two jobs to ensure activities at Teneba’s Haven are ongoing with the help of dedicated board members and various vounteers.

Reverend Richard Hafer is a retired Lutheran pastor and representative of Food for the Poor, an interdenominational Christian ministry working to end the suffering of the poor in the Caribbean and Latin America -including Haiti.

Pastor Hafer wears several other hats. He is Project Director for Adult Lutherans Organized for Action (ALOA). In this position, he oversees Senior Fests all over Florida. grandparents/

grandchild retreats,  and Boomer retreats. He also consults with Florida churches in helping them develop significant senior ministries in their congregations and communities, conducts Aging and Hope seminars, Periodic Luther Hostels, etc.

Over the past 50 years, he has developed two multilevel retirement centers, several senior affordable housing projects, two food pantries, hospital chaplaincy programs, and two refugee resettlement programs for the church.

He also serves as a speaker for Village of Hope, is associate pastor for Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Temple Terrace, Florida. He is also a founding board member of the Lazarus project, the developer of a school, an orphanage, a home for disabled children, and a health clinic in Gauntier, Haiti.

Felicia Thomas is a native of Tampa, Florida.  She has a B.S. in Accounting and is currently an independent consultant working in the healthcare and government industry.  She has worked in public accounting for over 20 years and is a strong supporter of the mission of Teneba’s Haven and look forward to supporting the natives of West Africa.  She is a member of First Baptist Church College Hill.

Marianne Hafer was born and raised in the Chicagoland area.  She graduated from West Suburban Hospital School of Nursing and continued to work there for several years, caring for terminally ill patients.  Following this she worked for a general surgeon who afforded her the opportunity to be part of The Christian Medical Society team traveling to Liberia, West Africa working in a small government hospital in Cape Palmas, assisting with surgeries.

She married Pastor John Siedem in 1984 and they moved to Florida in 1989, where she took a position with an orthopedic group.  During this time she also accompanied John to various churches as he did interim ministry work.  In the early 2000’s they worked together in bringing Sunday morning and holiday worship services to the residents of Aston Gardens, Sun City Center, Florida.  In 1996, she was employed by The American Board of Pathology where she continued to work until her retirement in 2013.

Shortly after John’s death in 2007, she began attending Christ Our Redeemer Lutheran Church,  Temple Terrace, Florida.

She met Pastor Richard Hafer in 2011 and they were married in 2012.  She continues to assist him in some of his projects; is an active member in the parish and bell choirs and sings with the Gospel group, Good News; and is a member of the worship team at COR. She has also begun a very active mat/lap ministry providing sleeping mats to the homeless and lap robes to assisted living/nursing homes.

Pastor Jeremiah Sassaman – Teneba’s Haven