Who We Are...
I have been on this journey in life with Christ since 1996. I grew up in the knowledge of God, but it was always religion until my pride was broken. I had sought purpose for my life by chasing different things. When I turned 21 Jesus got a hold of my life and everything changed. Melissa came into my life shortly after. We had gone to the same high school, but were on opposite ends of the spectrum. She was the prom queen and I was problem king. We both attended Calvary Chapel Bible College and grew in grace and the knowledge of our Savior. We fell in love with Him and with each other.
Where we come from
My desire was to go and tell everyone in the world about the awesome God that had changed my life. God had plans I did not foresee and lead us to the fire department in Arizona. There I learned to trust God even when it doesn’t make sense. I was a firefighter, paramedic, engineer, and fire chaplain. We lost one of our children in our first year of marriage. Gabriella was born and lived 17 days. That was tough beyond what I can express, but God continued to bless us. We had three more children that were healthy. Ministry began in our lives. We were teaching Sunday school, and were super busy serving God. We began to serve families that had experienced the death of a child, by comforting them in the same way Christ comforted us. God was doing so much, and we were just hanging on. God used us in beginning an organization (Random Acts of Kindness) which provided an amazing opportunity to see God work in the lives of our church, community, and fire department. Everything seemed perfect and life was like a fairy tail.
Being Prepared...
God called my wife and I to the military to serve. It was a step of faith, but we knew that we heard from the Lord, just as when we knew we heard Him when we got engaged only after 3 weeks of being introduced to each other. We left everything and became apart of the 101st Airborne here in Fort Campbell. The next few years were very difficult. God was with us, but it was a wilderness. The spot lights were gone and so was the fellowship. I was able to use the medical skills God had given me working as a firefighter paramedic. I would need them on the battle ground as a combat medic. Melissa and I were apart during 2 deployments, one to Afghanistan, and the other to Iraq. We saw a little fruit from serving Jesus at any opportunity, but it was the kind that came through fire. At this time we learned God will let us go through things we never imagined He would, but He would never leave our side. We learned to have a lot and to have a little. We have learned the closer we get to God the more we realize we need to know Him more. We know that no matter what we have, or don’t have Jesus is enough. God has taken us through the hard things that come with war and He is using them to refine our faith. We will never be the same as when we left Arizona, but that’s ok because God loves us so much that He would never let us stay the same. He is continuing to draw us closer to Him and to mold us more and more into His image.
Where we are headed...
We have been able to turn the chapter from the Iraq and Afghanistan day's. We are now venturing following the Holy Spirit into having our first building to call our own. We went from a Bible study in our home, to the Best Western to a coffee shop (931 Café), and have just moved into our new 5,000 square foot building off Dunbar Cave Road. The body of Christ has been working long days and night in between work hours getting ready for our first service. We now have a home to use as we equip all the saints for ministry. Ministry in their homes, workplace, and in the church! Everything we have been through is so we could be right here today, available to love the body of Christ and the community around us. Jesus is coming soon, so lets's redeem the time and be about His buisness!
