GREG FINKE
MINDI FINKE
I was raised in a Christian home by parents who were very involved in the church. We attended church multiple times a week, regularly hearing the gospel.
During one sermon I heard in elementary school I had questions about what I was hearing. After speaking with my parents about what the gospel meant I confessed my need for Jesus as a savior.
I continued to be active in church, surrounding myself with Christian friends and even picking a Christian college to attend. During college and after I lived a more worldly life but always knew that I wasn't finding fulfillment in what I was doing. I now seek to trust in God's grace and view of me and not to rely on my professional or other achievements. I also continue to realize that I cannot seek Him and be a model for my family without being surrounded by others also doing the same.
PAYMAN KOHAN
JENNIFER KOHAN
I grew up in an Iranian household. My mother and father divorced when I was 10 and I began solely living with my father. My mother soon thereafter no longer was interested in spending time with my brother and I and the only figure we had to learn from was my father. He worked a lot and my brother and I were often alone. As I got older, I wanted to emulated my father's lifestyle. I was interested in making money, buying cool stuff and living a promiscuous lifestyle, dating multiple women. I had many kind people in my life that spoke to me about Jesus but I mainly thought those people needed mental help or that they were weak minded. In addition, my family mostly spoke about Islam traditions, therefore, my mind was set against Christianity. My awareness of Christ in my life seemed sudden. I can't say it was a gradual awakening, but a moment of hardship. Christ drug me out of a pit when my son got sick and hospitalized. Out of nowhere, I was able to see things, feel things, and hear things that I never experienced. Everything pointed me to the bible and Jesus.
After my son got sick, while I was in the hospital with him, I felt the presence of angels in the room. I couldn't describe it. The feeling was overwhelming. I told my wife, Jennifer about it. Because I spent so much of my life resisting Jesus, it was only natural that my flesh continued to fight the feelings I was getting as either hallucinations or a momentary lapse in good judgment. But the pull of God was overwhelming me again. I began reading the Bible, my TikTok feed was pouring out with pastors preaching and Christians reciting scripture. I became interested in going to church and when my wife asked if I would like to go to a local church for Easter 2024, I agreed. And it's all history from there.
By knowing Jesus, I am now aware of my sins. When I sin, I feel terrible. I think about serving God all day long and I have given my life to serve God and the people around me. I have been diminishing my need for attaining wealth and other worldly things, seeing them as worthless. I pray everyday, multiple times per day, I read the Bible, I talk to my wife and kids about Jesus all day and I constantly find myself witnessing to strangers wherever I go. I struggled with frivolous money spending and lasting after Women all of my life. With Jesus, he has helped me to reduce those urges greatly. I know I can call on him to help me and giving into those desires has become more and more difficult knowing that I am not obeying God by doing so.
SHAWN LESNY
KIMBER LESNY
I grew up in a broken and unstable home. When my family moved to Saint Joseph, Missouri in 1996, I didn’t know it at the time, but my life was about to unravel. In fourth grade I came home one day to a padlock on the door. Both of my parents had been arrested in a DEA raid, and overnight I found myself homeless—sleeping at school playgrounds, couch-hopping, and trying to survive as an eight-year-old kid with no guidance and no sense of identity.
I played sports to distract myself, but outside of that my life spiraled. By the end of elementary and middle school I was drinking, experimenting with drugs, and chasing girls for validation. I treated people like objects because I had no idea what real love or respect looked like. I carried deep father wounds, and without realizing it, I lived with the mentality of “look out for myself.” Even though I occasionally thought about God, He felt distant and unreal to me. My identity came from partying, performance, and pretending I had it all together. Sports kept me somewhat grounded, but even then I felt empty. I had friends, I had success, but I had no purpose. I had no idea who I was.
God used a man named Coach Tony Dudik to step into my mess. He pushed me, challenged me, and for the first time I had a strong male figure who cared enough to tell me the hard truth and pull me toward something better. Through him I got connected to Young Life, where I met Bob Miller—the guy who wouldn’t go away, the guy who kept showing up, the guy who told me about Jesus when I didn’t want to hear it. Bob brought me to camp, to small groups, and to older men who showed me what a godly life actually looked like. It was there that the walls started breaking. I realized I wasn’t just broken—I was lost. I finally understood that the emptiness I carried couldn’t be filled with sports, girls, alcohol, or anger. It could only be filled by Jesus. At camp and through Young Life, I put my faith in Christ. I accepted Jesus into my life and finally understood who He created me to be. God began healing the wounds that had shaped me for so long. I wasn’t just surviving anymore—I was being rescued.
After meeting Jesus, everything didn’t magically get easier, but everything changed. God gave me mentors, friends, and a church family who kept speaking truth into my life. He continued shaping me, calling out the lies I believed about myself, and revealing the man He intended me to be. During college, God used a relationship with Kimber to refine me even more. When she told me she needed space to let God work in her life, it shattered me—but it also broke the last pieces of my pride. That night, through the wise words of Bob, God reminded me that I could either respond out of anger and fear, or respond like Christ—with love, patience, and trust. I chose the second. I clung to Scripture, and God rebuilt me from the inside out.
Kimber and I eventually reconciled. We pursued Christ together, got engaged, married, and built our family on a foundation of faith—not performance, fear, or old wounds. God healed parts of my heart I didn’t even know were broken.
Today, Jesus continues to shape me as a husband, father, pilot, and leader. He gave me a new identity, a new purpose, and a calling to mentor others the same way men like Bob and Coach Dudik poured into me. Now I get to serve in Young Life—the very ministry God used to save me—and walk with young people who feel the same pain, confusion, and hunger for belonging that I once felt.
JARRETT MITCHELL
My whole life, my mom and dad made it a point for us to be committed to church, no matter what. I grew up at FBC Okmulgee, and many of the people that were influential in leading me to Christ were also the people who did the same for my own parents! If the doors were open, the Mitchell family was there. I went to Sunday school, “big church” as we called it back then, and Wednesday night activities. I knew the answers to the questions, but they had no substance to me. As long as I can remember, my parents always asked what we were learning in church, and would help us to understand and apply the things we’d been learning. Enter the age of 6!
When I was 6 years old, my dad became terribly sick. To this day, (last week even), our family continues to struggle and navigate through disease and illness. As a little guy, I did not know why my dad was hurting so much, or why he was going through the things he was. Our family was a wreck, spiritually, financially, relationally, and physically. But never once did my mom or dad waver on the importance of believing in Jesus, and his great work on the cross. So, we kept on going to church.
One Sunday morning when I was 7 years old, (around 8 months later), Pastor Dennis Taylor was preaching the gospel just like every Sunday… but I realized the things I’d heard my whole life. I thought to myself, “I cannot go to heaven without Jesus.” So, for the whole week, I quietly struggled, until the next Sunday as we were leaving for church, I pulled my dads hand and said, “If I die, I do not want to be away from God, or you forever.” So we stayed, he talked with me, and we prayed together. A few years later at the age of 11, I was baptized as a believer in Christ.
The greatest thing I have realized is my need for a savior, and my unwillingness to obey the Lord by my own merit. I realize it every day when I wake up, and strive for personal repentance/holiness, and to imitate Christ’s love for people, and his love for the church.
My own greatest struggle is unbelief, and reliance on God’s providence, which many of us can relate to one another on. When things are going great in Life, it is easy to joyfully obey the Lord… but what about when things get hard, and you don’t know what the next morning will look like? My whole life, my family has had to develop a “clench your teeth and make it work” attitude, and while that *can* be a good thing, reliance on God’s good providence is even better.
My life thus far at 23 years of age has been a roller coaster, through seasons of doubt, hate, struggle in sin, and unbelief, but the good news of the risen Christ always seems better than anything this world could offer. So I strive to follow, and to serve the local church in any way I can. All glory to God for his grace and mercy!
JOY NEILL
I was born going to church. My mother and father came from different denominational backgrounds and when they married, they joined the Episcopal Church. I was baptized as an infant in the Episcopal Church and for many, many years, I didn't know you should be baptized as a believer. My parents divorced when I was 7 years old and my mother would still take us to church in the Episcopal Church and my father would go to a few different Southern Baptist churches. My mother remarried when I was in 4th grade and joined the Catholic Church. I attended Catholic school from 5th-8th grades. Although I was taught about Christ as both God and man in school and church, I was truly taught about Christ as savior through my step-mother. She would talk to me about Satan, Hell, and the power of Christ, his work on the cross, etc.
I gave my life to Christ while attending a church here in the city with my father and step-mother. I was 11 years old and I remember it so vividly. After service was over, my step-mother asked me if I wanted to talk to the pastor and I told her I did. He came over and we talked and prayed together. Unfortunately, my story doesn't end there. I was so excited and I went home and told my mother about it. She was less than excited for me. She felt that being "born again", or being "saved" was too radical. I was (still am somewhat) a people pleaser and I quickly learned to stop talking to her about it. I lived with my mother and very rarely saw my father, just some weekends here and there, and maybe a week or two over the summer months.
I didn't have anybody to disciple me and I went back to life; school, friends, activities, and sometimes attending church on Sunday mornings. I was kind of a needy child/youth/teen/young adult, and so I did things I knew to be wrong just for love and affection. I became pregnant as a teen and my mother signed papers for me to get married at 17 years of age. The marriage was abusive and we divorced. My second marriage also ended in divorce. And I am in the middle of my 3rd failed marriage. We have been separated more in our 22 years than we have been together, but I don't feel God has released me from my vows. I sometimes wonder if he is protecting me from myself. As you can see, I didn't truly know what it meant to WALK with Christ. To depend upon Him every day. BUT God…..
I LOVE that little statement. God is so good, so gracious, so merciful, and he never gives up! He has been with me all the time. He would send people into my life, situations into my life, little taps on the shoulder, reminding me who I was, WHOSE I was. Because even though my life was rocky and I didn't take the straight path, he didn't let me go and I never stopped reaching out for him. During my 1st marriage, I wasn't able to go to church, but I would get up to feed my son, and then my daughter, and I would search for TV preachers and watch them while up in the middle of the night. Preachers like Dr. David Jeremiah and Dr. Charles Stanley. My 1st husband even took my bible and tore it in half one time. And that's okay. Because, BUT God… In my second marriage, I joined the Lutheran Church. I felt it combined my background the best, a more ceremonial service but adult bible study before church. I remained there until after my 2nd husband left and I eventually met my 3rd. We joined an American Baptist Church. It was there that I was baptized as a believer in 2009. I still had my struggles though and became upset with God for a 7 year stretch. I just didn't understand why he didn't take alcohol away from my husband. I felt for a time that he didn't care about life on earth. I never lost faith in Christ and the work he did on the cross for us. I just lost faith in the here and now. Again, BUT God…….I bought my house in 2019. And I believe very strongly this home was God ordained. It was through this home that he brought my family back to church and started teaching me how to live for Him. Shortly after, I was invited to attend a Tres Dias weekend and my life has radically been changing since. I serve on Tres Dias weekends, 2x a year and also in the youth version, KC3, also 2x a year. It has been through the weekends that I have been able to let go of so much hurt in my life and find healing and forgiveness, both for myself and forgiveness towards those who have hurt me.
I have wondered if my accepting Christ when I was 11 years old was the moment Christ and Holy Spirit entered into my life, or if it was during one of the many, many times I have prayed at different services or events where the entire congregation was asked to pray with those giving their life to Christ for the 1st time, but I know deep within me that I am lost without Him. I am forever grateful that He has never given up on me. I know that left to my own devices, I am a total mess up. BUT God!!
JACOB POLLARD
Raised as the oldest child of Christian parents, I was actively involved in our small local Baptist church. I regularly heard the stories of Scripture at home, sang songs related to the Bible, and attended multiple gatherings at our church each week during my childhood. At the age of 6, I remember the Wednesday morning of VBS when the pastor (Quentin Davis) explained the gospel message of Jesus dying for the salvation of sins that separated me from God.
I remember understanding the message that the pastor shared, believing that it was true, and I remember trusting that Jesus was the savior that I needed for eternity. I remember believing that Jesus had died for my sins, had been buried, and had been raised again--and that He was going to return one day.
That evening, my parents walked through the gospel message with me again and affirmed that I understood what I claimed that I believed. I later met with the pastor and my father, following the call to be baptized later that Summer. I was directed in a "prayer of salvation," but looking back now--I understand that I was simply expressing what was already true in my heart that had be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. I was aware of my sin, and I remember being thankful for God's mercy and grace.
Following Christ at such a young age, the initial steps of sanctification in my life looked outwardly like learning to obey my parents and be kind to my younger siblings. I remember being an "evangelist" to my sister and brother and peers. Facing health challenges with the threat of death at the age of 13 matured my faith in trusting that God was Sovereign over all things. God taught me through High School and College that His ways are better than the temptations of the world. Through these years, the Lord led me to a calling to be more involved in ministry, to actively seek His kingdom above my own.
Struggling to find direction at times in the past decade, He continues to shape where I invest my time, energy, and efforts. Blessed with loving parents, siblings, friendships, and mentors, the Lord has and continues to provide community and the relational accountability I need while navigating this life. Now I find myself seeking opportunities while in this time and place to be used by Him, considering various options for schooling and occupation that are before me. Trusting that God remains Sovereign, and still thankful for His saving grace that I do not deserve, I am continuing to learn to elevate His will above my own.
JONATHAN ST. CLAIR
TRACY ST. CLAIR
I grew up in a loving Christian home. My parents always took us to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday nights. I also attended Christian school which gave me an additional Bible foundation on which my life was built upon. I don’t really remember a lot before faith in Christ, but I do remember getting in trouble a lot as a kid and struggling with school. I had great Sunday school teachers and people in the church who always talked about Jesus.
Somewhere between the ages of 10-12 is when I became a Christian. I was led to Jesus by my grandmother and Aunt. One night at their house, she shared with me home videos of my uncle, who was a missionary, on his trip in India. As I watched, I began to ask questions about the artwork and statues I saw in the video. She shared with me that those were their gods. That night, she shared the gospel with me, and I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior.
Since becoming a Christian, I’ve seen God transform my life with the power of the gospel. I have always been tender to His call on my life to walk in faith, study the Bible and witness to those around me. Through my own tough journey through middle school and high school, I felt called to serve in youth ministry. I got my degree in youth ministry and served at two different churches. After that I completed a two-year pastoral residency program where I studied more deeply the things of faith and wrote about my beliefs. I wrestled with my topics and read a ton of books. As I grow older, I continue to let the gospel penetrate all areas of my life, repenting of sin, and submitting to the word of God. My hope is to continue to lead my family and see all my children come to faith in Christ.
