My Story

My mom brought me to church as a child, so I became familiar with the idea of God and Jesus’ death on the cross fairly early. Being the smart alec, questioning kid I was, at eleven I began to question the relevance of faith. In my church class I challenged my teacher, at home I questioned my mom. She even told me that once when we were driving somewhere I, almost out of the blue asked, "What is the point of all this?" I knew the stories and the teachings, but what was it going to mean for me?

When I was twelve, a friend of mine invited me to hear a speaker at his church. (Okay, let's face it; obviously his mom must have told him to invite me). I discovered there was so much more to God and his involvement in the world than I had realized. This world is home to a lot of broken people, including myself, and I understood that the only hope for this world was found in Jesus Christ. So I decided that night that the pursuit of God and sharing his love and caring for his people was how I wanted to live. I found purpose in my faith.

In eighth grade, a friend and I began an after-school group that was devoted to bringing people closer into a deeper walk with God through community. I felt called to a life in full-time ministry during this time. That call continued throughout my time in high school and, although it didn’t seem like a logical choice, I ended up going to the University of Missouri with an intention to do full-time ministry when I got out. I just had no idea how God would do that.

Early in my college career, I met with John Drage, the pastor of what would become my home church – The Rock. He poured out his passion for changing the world through bringing college students into a relationship with Jesus Christ that would change the way they saw the world and would usher them into a daily pursuit of following God’s will. I fell in love with the vision and the church and eventually I knew that Great Commission Ministries was where God was calling me.

Finally, I got to know a very special woman in our church in the summer of 2007 during a summer-long program GCM sponsors in Colorado each year. We led together throughout the summer began dating that fall and were engaged this past July. Her name is Aimee and we plan to marry next June. She is my biggest supporter and is eager to be by my side as I go into vocational ministry. Currently, she is serving for three months at a sister church in Choluteca, Honduras as a missionary.