Tom Allen was born in Ohio in 1951. His family moved to Wisconsin in 1957 where they remained until the early 70's. Tom graduated from Menasha High School in 1969. He served in the National Guard and Army Reserve before he attended Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music, where he met and married his best friend, Nancy. Together they served at the college, Nancy in accounting and Tom as staff artist and photographer. They left Michigan to serve on staff in Pennsylvania with Worldwide European Fellowship from 1976 through 1980. Tom began his commercial photo and art studio in 1980 at which time he contracted with ministries such as ABWE, American Scripture Gift Mission, and The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Tom worked with Marv Rosenthal from 1980 through 1989 at The Friends of Israel.

In 1981 Tom and Nancy were blessed with their first child, Jesse. Ben was born in 1983 and Martha in 1985. Tom has cleverly hidden the names of his children in his illustrations since each one's birth.

In the spring of 1989, Tom, Marv and Kevin Howard, with their families, covenanted to the Lord to start a ministry in Orlando, Florida. The Allen family made their way to Florida in1989, where Orlando became the home of Zion's Hope, Inc. The ministry grew as a magazine was published, missionaries were serving in various locations around the world, and in 1994 property was acquired. The vision of a conference center grew into an theme park. The first of the attractions was built by Tom with help from staff, family, friends and volunteers, resulting in a 45 foot by 25 foot model of Jerusalem, 66 A.D. Nearly 2 million visitors have passed through the display and heard about the events of Jesus' last days before His crucifixion, burial and resurrection. In February of 2001, The Holy Land Experience opened its gates to the public with features such as a full size replica of the Wilderness Tabernacle, a half-size Temple, the model of Jerusalem, a first century marketplace, a reproduction of Gordon's Calvary, and the world's largest private Bible collection displayed in the Scriptorium.

In January of 2006, Tom began to work full-time with Friendly Greetings™ and the Friendly Kritters™. It is rewarding to look back and see what God has done, and exciting to look forward to what He is doing. I praise God for salvation found through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

Rejoice with us in the birth of our first grandchild, Dillon Thomas Allen, son of Jesse and Christy.

Feel free to look through the portfolio portion of our site by clicking on the link below. Thank you for your interest in Friendly Greetings™ and the Friendly Kritters™.