I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home and attended church from the time I was born. One of my earliest spiritual memories comes from my days in Christian school, when my teacher was teaching the story of Cain and Abel—how one brother hated the other. At the time, I had recently argued with my own brother and was still holding on to bitterness. After class, I asked my teacher if the hatred in my heart was wrong. She told me it was, and then asked if I knew for certain that I was going to heaven. I admitted I did not.

That day, she opened the Scriptures and showed me clearly that sin separates us from God and condemns us to hell, but that Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins. She explained that if I would believe in Him alone for salvation, He would give me eternal life. I remember vividly bowing my head and asking Jesus Christ to be my Savior. That moment remains one of the clearest memories of my life.

When I was 12 years old, I attended a Christian camp in western Pennsylvania. Throughout the week, the preacher spoke about serving the Lord, and God began to burden my heart with a call to preach. I resisted at first, not wanting the attention that came with making such a public decision at camp. But when I returned home, the conviction only grew stronger. The very next Sunday, I surrendered my life to preach the gospel.

From that point on, I began actively serving in church—teaching and preaching in junior church, ministering in nursing homes, running a bus route, and going soul winning nearly every week. At 16, God gave me a specific burden to reach people in the inner city. My passion to serve Him grew, and I enrolled in Bible college. During that time, I served in various ministries, including the bus ministry, Spanish ministry, deaf ministry, maintenance, and more. I later completed my Bible degree at a small college in Iowa, where I also gained valuable training in biblical counseling and spiritual warfare—skills I still use today.

After graduating, I worked at that Bible college and with its boarding school students until I married at age 29. My wife and I served at my father’s church for nine months before God led us to start a church from scratch. We ministered there for five years, trained a young man to take over, and then returned to serve at my father’s church while seeking God’s next direction. During that time, I worked as a heating and air conditioning technician for five years.

Then, God called us to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to plant another church. We sold our home, moved here, and began the work from the ground up. Over the past three years, we have faithfully gone soul winning, preached the gospel, and seen many people come to Christ. We are excited to see what more God will do through us in the days ahead