I grew up on a small family dairy farm near the BIG city of Blackduck, Minnesota (pop. 686) with my parents and three brothers. Growing up in a Christian family, I was fortunate to learn about the love, grace and forgiveness of God at an early age. After trusting in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and fully submitting my life to God at the age of 12, God began to instill in me a heart for ministry.

In 2000, I moved to the Chicago area to study ministry and wrestle at Wheaton College. While at Wheaton, I was also blessed to meet Michelle, whom I married after we graduated in 2004. We have a daughter named Laraya (rhymes with "papaya"), a son named Javen (rhymes with "raven") a girl named Layla (rhymes with nothing) and our youngest daughter, Jada. Pray for us.

In August of 2011, I completed my MDiv degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In December of 2011, I accepted the call to serve on the pastoral staff here at Maranatha EFC. I am excited and blessed to be a part of the great ministry team at Maranatha and to join the body of believers here in our mission of proclaiming the joy of salvation to a world in need and encouraging Christ's followers in their devotion to Him.

Aside from playing with my children and going on dates with my lovely bride, I also love playing sports, hiking, camping, water-skiing, downhill-skiing, spelunking, harmless pranks, coaching and preaching.