1101
College Ave.
Manhattan, KS
66502
785.565.9420
I grew up in western Kentucky in a great family which included my mom and dad and older brother (Josh) and a younger sister (Kristin). Life consisted of typical activities which ranged from sports to school to various other hobbies. Although attending church had a place in my life, the person of Christ never took center stage. Moving into high school, the life consisting of the activities of school and sports and friends and work met with the teenage years of decreased morality and a growing disinterest with the things of God. However, God did use this phase of life to plant some very significant seeds of truth and experience within me and began to reveal the emptiness of the purposes to which I was giving my life. I had made professions of faith in Christ, yet they were never joined with a changed heart of a Christ-centered life. It was during the last year of high school that I first heard the Gospel of God's grace to us as helpless sinners. The same pattern of life continued into my freshman year of college at Murray State University. There in the dormitory, I was exposed to men who's lives truly exemplified the faith which they claimed. I began to explore the reality of having a relationship with Jesus. During this time, I began to read the Bible for the first time. I read through the book of John and was amazed with the person and character of Jesus. I saw, not only the depth, but the consequences of my sin and my separation from God. The life and cross of Jesus now had meaning in living the perfect life that I couldn't and paying the penalty for my sinfulness. I knew that to live a life of following Jesus required that I trust Him with all of my being. As I saw His character and the truth in the Scripture I knew that He was worthy of my life. As I trusted Him alone for salvation and submitted to his lordship in my life, God changed my heart and ! subsequently, the desires of my life. There was a sense in which the things of God became attractive and desirable and the sinfulness of my life became that which I wanted to run from. As I sought to do well in school, grow with firends and even joining the ATO fraternity, there became a different outlook and purpose for which I was doing these and everything else, "To Know Christ and to Make Him Known." I saw the vast importance of reaching out to those who did not know Jesus and to see the importance of discipleship in my own life and those whom I was around. God placed some amazing friends and leadership in my life which strengthen my relationship with Him and challenged me to excel still more for His Kingdom. I invested my summers at training opportunities such as Beach Projects and overseas mission trips which continued to build my vision for life and desire that wherever God lead me, I wanted to live for His Glory. As I grew close to graduating with a B.A. in chemistry, I knew that I had a heart to be involved with people on the college campus during this crucial time of life. I desired to work in college ministry for at least a couple of years. Thus, God lead me to Kansas State University where I joined up with a relatively new ministry and began to pioneer a work with the students. |
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