I was very fortunate to grow up in a Christian home where I accepted Christ as my savior at a young age. Throughout my school years, I went to church and youth group regularly, but really did not understand or realized what a relationship with Christ was all about. After graduating from high school, I went to Washington State University and lived my life as a lukewarm Christian going to Campus Crusade for Christ and Navigators, but not really following Christ with my whole life. After a year at WSU, God, in His sovereignty, led me to go to Trinity Western University (TWU) in Langley, B.C., Canada, where he placed in my life a roommate that had a tremendous impact in helping me to start seeing what a life living for Christ was all about. While at TWU, God also placed an aviation student who happened to let me go flying with her while getting hours for certification. God used her to direct me to go home mid-year and apply to Moody Bible Institute with the intent of becoming a Missions Aviation Pilot. I headed home and applied to Moody.
I really believe it was through my young adult experiences and decisions that I started to understand Christ's love for me. I realized His desire was for my best and for me to follow Him through obedience rooted in faith. I applied at Moody whole-heartedly willing to follow Him. The Lord closed the door to Moody that I thought for sure I was supposed to go through. I thought nothing could be more important than being a missionary abroad, but the Lord was totally preparing me for a different ministry. The Lord put me back at WSU where I married a remarkable lady, and He started using me in ways in which I never felt qualified to be used.
I married my wife Tricia while attending Washington State University. As I was completing my undergraduate degree, I was hired to serve as the Junior High and High School Youth Pastor at our home church. This ministry grew both of our hearts in a love for mentoring teens and serving in the local church. After four years in that position, the Lord moved us to another part of Washington for teaching positions in secondary public education. Our desire to serve the Lord in the local body of believers continued to grow. For another twenty plus years we would lead youth groups, help with AWANA, and lead and host life groups. I served on the deacon board for Connell First Baptist for twenty years and filled various leadership capacities as the Lord directed. I additionally assisted with and ministered through a local church plant.
After an amazing movement of the Lord in our lives, fall of 2019 I accepted a professor position at Corban University. Two of our children had been attending Foothills as they attended Corban University, and we had visited a few times when we would travel to Oregon from Washington to visit them. Our first Sunday as newly arrived Oregonians, we worshipped at Foothills and felt the Lord’s prompting to make it our new home church. We had never “attended” life groups; we had always led and hosted them. Knowing the need for Christian community, we signed up for life groups that first fall. Tricia and I have been leading a life group at Foothills since 2020, and we have loved the weekly time of fellowship, deeply rooted in God’s Word—with friends who quickly became the family of believers. In addition to life group, I attend men’s summer Bible study, Man Camp, and serve where needed.
Prayer is at the heart of our relationship with Christ. When we communicate with our “Abba Father” and see Him do great things through prayer, it ignites and deepens our relationship with Him. I truly believe that this is an essential part of our growth and walk with Christ. I know that God does great things through prayer, both individually and as a christian community, as He grows us in sanctification.
Tricia and I are parents to five amazing adult children plus a daughter in law and a son in law (Carlos, Trevor and Harper, Taylor and David, Tanner, Malena). The Lord has additionally blessed us with the two cutest grandchildren ever seen—Cooper and Kysen. In 2023 the Lord moved me from Corban University to Salem Academy Christian School to serve as Superintendent where the Lord continues to mold and shape my heart for the brokenness of this world. My prayer is to humbly walk with the Lord, to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ, and to make His name known. When there are quiet moments, I am typically either on my tractor, splitting wood, or grilling for a dinner we are hosting.