Growing up I did not have parents who loved Jesus, so I was never taught at an early age the things of God. As a matter of fact, both of my parents were drug addicts which meant much of my childhood was unstable with homelessness, foster care, and police. This also left me with very little structure in my life. When your dad is irresponsibly addicted to meth there aren’t a lot of rules or curfews you’re held to.
Between my freshmen and my sophomore year of high school, God saved me. I went to a small little charismatic church one Sunday night, sat in the back with a friend, came up after the message, said the prayer and life was just different. God called me to ministry when I was 17. It was in this season that I met my future wife, Candace. I served in youth ministry for years until my mid 20’s when I was beginning to feel the burden to plant a church.
After serving for 3 years in a pastoral residency I planted a church in 2015 and served there for 5 years. In the middle of 2020, myself and a group of faithful people started pella communities.
My wife and I have 4 kids and currently live in the south Peoria area.