The son of a career military man, Dustin grew up all over the United States. He attended three different high schools in his senior year alone.
Raised by a single father, Dustin was not brought up in the church. “We usually went on Easter and maybe a few other occasions,” he said. It was not part of their life.
“The thing that stood out most to me during the service at New Life was the music. I remember getting chills from it..."
Erin Brown was raised attending church in the Richmond area. As she says, “a very strict, traditional church”. One that did not necessarily encourage a loving relationship with God, but instead a fear of God. So when she was old enough to make the decision for herself to attend, she decided to pull away. To stop attending church altogether.
The first time he felt he had a real epiphany was during his confirmation class in middle school. He has been raised in the church since he can remember. He has always been a Christian. But during this class Brandon says, “My eyes were opened and I began to realize that Christianity was bigger than I thought.” He began connecting the dots. Christianity was not just a religion but a relationship with a loving God. God sent his one and only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for him. The magnitude of that set in.
As she sat in her previous church, confident in her decision not to go on a mission trip to Guatemala, Anne Keeler had no idea that God had other plans for her.
Her husband Mike had already been on one trip to Guatemala and really enjoyed it. That was great. Anne felt like that was “ his thing ”, not hers. But now, she was being invited to join the next team by her Discipleship Teacher (whom she trusted). He told her that a church member wanted to sponsor a couple to go to Guatemala, and that he wanted that couple to be Mike and Anne. “Not my thing ,” she thought. But agreed to pray about it.
