I grew up in Southern California as an only child. It was a blessed childhood where love, care, and support were the norm in the Fellows house. But just after my 16th birthday, I experience the tragic death of my mother. I was devastated. My privileged life seemed to come crashing down around me suddenly, like the World Trade Center on 9/11. I spent the year following her death wandering aimlessly, searching for identity, independence, and purpose, trying desperately to shake my feelings of emptiness, confusion, and loneliness. My dad and I were left to navigate those teen years without her grace and patience to guide us. I became emotionally desperate and suicidal. But in the summer of my 17th year, I had an encounter that would transform and define the rest of my life. Alone in my living room, I cried out to God and gave Him my heart. Through the rubble of my emotional wreckage arose the demonstration of God’s love – Jesus Christ. I found my life in Christ and my purpose in His mission.
Immediately, I knew I needed to be involved in a local church. I heard of a church in my city called New Life Chapel. I visited that Sunday and publicly confessed Jesus as my Lord. I got plugged into that church and discovered my call to ministry. Because my life changed as a teenager, I was led to work in areas of ministry that impacted the emerging generation. During my college years at Azusa Pacific University, I decided to go into full-time ministry as a Children’s Pastor. Then, eventually, a Youth Pastor.
In addition to discovering my calling at that local church, I also found a young lady named Leah, who would eventually become my wife. Leah and I married in December of our senior year of college. We waited to have children for a few years as we both were busy establishing our careers, Leah as a public school teacher and me as a youth pastor. Several years after our wedding, we were blessed with our first daughter, Rachel, and then three years later, our second daughter, Emma.
My family and I are as committed as ever to seeing this generation embrace God’s Ways. I have realized the critical role “the family” has in God’s plan. The family is the first institution/organization/system that God created when He formed man & woman and told them to be fruitful and multiply. Through Abraham’s transient family, God began to reveal His promises for humanity. Through Israel’s imperfect family, He began to release His plan. It was through David’s dysfunctional family that He would redeem humanity. The family is the vehicle that God has used to make Himself known through the centuries.
After three decades of experience and various ministry roles such as church pastor – shepherding families, camp director – inspiring students, and as a Foursquare National Director – equipping NextGen ministers, I am convinced the most effective way to help one generation pass on God’s ways to the next generation is by equipping the church and families with the tools they need to reach, teach, and sponsor the next generation.
Today, Leah and I celebrate over 30 years of marriage. Our daughters are young adults who have recently flown the nest to build their lives and careers. Rachel is a graduate of both Biola & USC and works as a mechanical engineer. Emma is also a graduate of Biola. She is pursuing a career in visual arts with her husband of 3 years, Colson. Leah is a highly respected school administrator for a large public charter school. I am the senior pastor of REFINERY Church, a congregation we planted six years ago in Orange County, CA.