Steve DeKok, Pastor
Having grown up on a farm near Stewartville, Minnesota, God in His great wisdom saw fit to call this young boy to serve Him. I went on to college and seminary and then began to pastor a church in 1979. After serving for more the 15 years, God directed us to move to a suburb of Detroit. After pastoring there for more than 13 years God brought us back to Minnesota. It is great to be in the rural setting again.
I was married to Amy in 1972. We have 4 children who are grown and living in Illinois and Michigan. Two daughters are married and we have three grandchildren. So I am married to a grandmother.
At the age of 10, I went through a crisis in my life where my Sunday School teacher was killed suddenly in a small plane crash. I realized the suddenness of life and death. It was on that Sunday that confessed my sins and invited Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior.
My passion is to help people who are struggling in life. I love to see people come to know Jesus Christ and serve Him.
Over the years, I have developed a motto for my life and ministry. People Our Priority and The Bible Our Foundation. I also believe that Ephesians 4:11-16 is my job description as the pastor of this great church.
An interesting fact is that my mother grew up in Jackson. When she was married over 60 years ago, she moved away. We never realized that God would ask us to come, live and serve here.
Mark Johnson, Youth Pastor
Growing up my family moved around to a variety of different locations; I was born in a small town in New Jersey, which if you didn’t know is the Garden State. When I was 12 years old we moved to Colorado and then to several places in Minnesota. I believe that though these moves God taught me the importance of following his leading and that the change He brings can be difficult but is always good and necessary for us.
I first felt God calling me into youth ministry in my Junior year of High School. Our youth group was on a missions trip to Cincinnati and the ministry that we did their grabbed a hold of me and I knew that I wanted serve God in that capacity forever.
After high school, I attended Oak Hills Christian College in Bemidji, MN where I met an amazing woman who shared my passion for youth ministry and who loved God more than anything her name is Jenny and I married her on May 22, 2004. We have a daughter Angela who is 3 years old and also likes to help with youth ministry i.e. she loves to play with the big kids.
I began my personal relationship with Jesus when I was 5 years old, on a Sunday evening after church. My Sunday school teacher had been telling us that morning about Heaven and how we could go live there one day if we asked Jesus to save us from our sins which seperated us from God. I asked my Dad and he explained to me that salvation is a gift and we have to do confess our sins and ask Jesus to be our Savior, which I then did!
My passion is to see young people rise up and follow Jesus with no fear and by doing so lead their friends and families to that same relationship with Jesus. My motto is a question, “What would you do if you feared nothing but God?”
My philoshophy of minstry is to grow a youth group that is Deep and Wide. Deep meaning having youth grow a meaningful and impactful relationship with Jesus and a good understanding of His word the Bible. Wide would be the idea that we are always attempting to share the gospel with others and see more people come to Christ.