Pursuing Life

Joshua Brussel serves as Calvary’s Middle School Director, working with 7th and 8th grade students. Joshua grew up overseas, and his experience as a missionary kid really paved the way for the work that he does today. Joshua brings a lot of fun and energy to our staff, and we are so grateful for the heart he has to walk alongside teens as they wrestle with what it looks like to follow Jesus in an ever-changing world.

Laura Leigh Kinley serves as Calvary’s Communications Manager, and she is one of the people responsible for the many visual media elements that you’ll find around Calvary Church. Laura Leigh exudes creativity, possessing talents across a broad spectrum, and, as she’ll share today, that made it difficult for her when it came time to choose a college major and, eventually, a career. She has gained so much wisdom as to discerning the right path and about the importance of hobbies. So, if you are – or know someone who is – a creative type, or a student looking towards or navigating through college, you won’t want to miss this conversation!

Mike Derus was living a life far from the Lord when he found himself in a desperate situation and in need of a place to live. At the time, he was dating his now-wife, Tami, whose parents agreed to take Mike into their home until he got back on his feet. Tami’s parents, Jere & Judy Brubaker, were committed followers of Jesus, and it was ultimately their love and kindness towards Mike that eventually brought him to a saving relationship with Jesus. Today, Mike and Jere are both here to tell us the whole story of how God has been at work in their family for the last 30+ years.

Having been adopted as a baby, Julianna Gerlach struggled in her adolescent years with feelings of being abandoned. This led to many years of looking for love in all the wrong places. Eventually, this pursuit of love led her across the country, where she found herself pregnant, twice, and facing circumstances that left her feeling devastated and hopeless. Eventually, God led Jul home, and through the love of her family and others, she discovered the love that she had been looking for all along, in Christ.

John Noel has been serving on the Worship Ministries staff at Calvary for over a decade. You may see him most often playing piano or keyboard on a Sunday morning, but he also does valuable work behind the scenes helping to plan for worship services, leading the worship choir, scheduling musicians, creating music charts, transcribing and arranging music, serving with our live production team, and so much more. Not only does John love serving the Lord through music, but he also loves his family, who have an amazing legacy of following Jesus. Today we have the opportunity to get to know John, and hear how family has played such a vital role in his life, faith, and ministry.

Emily Bechtel longed to be a mom since she was a little girl. But her expectations fell short when she and her husband learned that having biological children would be difficult. After a four-year journey with infertility, God answered Emily’s prayer and gave her a son. Emily joins us to reflect on God’s faithfulness to her in the waiting, and, ultimately how He showed her what it means that He is good.

In 2019, Melinda Smith and her husband, Nate, became certified for foster care, and quickly found themselves matched with a newborn baby girl. In the years that followed, God worked in the Smith family to teach them what it looks like to extend love to the world around them, even when it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient. Today Melinda shares how the love of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, changed and grew their family in a way they never could have imagined.

If you attend Calvary Church and this conversation hit close to home, Calvary has a pastoral counseling ministry that might be a great resource for you! To learn more or set up a time to meet with one of our counselors, you can send an email to [email protected]. Our team would love to walk alongside you.

We all have family, yet no two families are alike. For some of us, family brings to mind the people who are, or were, most directly related to us – our parents, siblings, children. For others, family is untraditional; it’s the people who extended love when we most needed it. And yet, for some, we acknowledge that family is a reminder of brokenness – that on this side of heaven, things are just not the way they’re supposed to be. The Bible has a lot to say about family. It’s filled with genealogies and stories of generations who followed God – albeit not always perfectly – who were used to advance His story and Kingdom. And it’s ultimately a reminder that, in Christ, we always belong in God’s family, adopted as His sons and daughters.

In this series, we’ll hear stories of how God is working in families of all kinds. Join us starting on February 13 as we are encouraged and challenged to deepen our love for Christ and those around us.

Do you want to publicly celebrate the work that God is doing in your life? Submit your story at calvarychurch.org/shareastory

Monica Kirsch has been hosting Pursuing Life since it launched in December 2021. Today we flip the script to hear directly from her as she reflects on the last year of the podcast, shares her hopes for what’s to come in 2023, and tells us part of her own story of following Jesus. Guest hosted by Liz Rodriguez.

Mike Fueyo is a physician who is passionate about serving individuals who have special needs, and he runs a program locally for those with Autism and Developmental Disabilities. Mike has been attending Calvary Church for more than 15 years, and he also serves as a buddy in our Disability Ministry. Today he is sharing how he came to faith in Jesus, how he ended up in his vocational field, and why he is so passionate about serving the lost and the broken.