Last Updated on May 8, 2024 by OCF Communications

Jim and Melanie Wamhoff are serving as Area Coordinators for the greater Omaha, Nebraska area. They were first introduced to OCF separately while they were in college. While Jim was a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy, he was blessed to meet LT COL Tom Austin who was serving as an exchange officer. Tom introduced Jim to his first OCF Bible study in 1992 and planted seeds that eventually bore fruit in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

While Melanie was a student at Messiah College in Grantham, PA, she was also serving as a Young Life leader at Carlise High School. Melanie met LT COL Barney Forsythe and ended up leading the youth for the Carlisle Barracks OCF group for four years as they conducted their retreats at White Sulphur Springs.

Jim and Melanie were married shortly after Jim graduated from the Academy in 1994. Their first duty station was Yokota AB, Japan where they immediately jumped into the local OCF group with John & Erma Hultman. At this early time in their marriage, they made a commitment to weekly OCF Bible study as a couple unless there was an emergency, a decision they are so grateful for, 30 years later.

Following Yokota, Jim and Melanie PCS’d to NAS Pensacola for USAF Navigator training, where John & Wanda Roberts mentored Jim and Melanie and provided a vison for expanding the reach of local OCF Bible studies. Shortly after they left Pensacola, they lost a daughter and chose to return to Pensacola to bury her there, choosing to grieve with their OCF family. OCF has always been a tight family for the Wamhoffs, wherever they have lived.

The next semi-permanent stop after finishing flight training at Barksdale AFB was Minot AFB, ND where Jim was assigned as a B-52 Electronic Warfare Officer. Greg and Sheri Pound, also at Minot via Pensacola, recruited OCF participants ahead of the Wamhoffs’ arrival. At Minot’s first OCF Bible study, the Lord brought 17 people!

Twenty-five years later, leading weekly OCF Bible study continues. As iron sharpens iron, the body of Christ has challenged the Wamhoffs to press on in the pursuit of Christ and righteousness. Eager to share that joy, they count it a privilege to have served as local leaders at Minot AFB, Maxwell AFB, Hickam AFB, and Offutt AFB, and as area coordinators in North Dakota, Hawaii, and now greater Omaha.

Jim retired from the Air Force in 2016 and works on Offutt AFB as a contractor. He’s an elder at Overland Hills Church and continues to lead a Thursday night OCF Bible study. Jim and Melanie have 3 daughters, 3 sons-in-law, 1 son and 3 grandkids. They’re excited about connecting with ROTC units in Omaha and Lincoln as well as improving coordination with the chaplains on Offutt AFB and at HQ USSTRATCOM.