My name is Joshua Pence. I am 20 years old and was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. I am pursuing my Bachelor’s degree at local college here in Lawrenceville, but I can never make up my mind on what I want to do!
I am working part-time at the REI in Buford, GA and absolutely love my job. I work with some pretty great people and the company itself is by far the best company I have ever worked for. The job goes pretty well with my personality too.
I love doing pretty much anything outdoors. I’m mostly into rock climbing, mountain biking, and hiking, but I also really like snowboarding, fishing, volleyball, and soccer. Actually, I have played organized soccer since I was five years old and finally took a break when I started my freshman year of college.
The story of my salvation goes a little something like this. Born and raised in a Christian household, but had some family issues growing up through elementary school and began to break away from the Christian lifestyle. My mom’s parents and my dad’s mom were the biggest influences in my life at the time (regarding my faith). When I was twelve I gave my life to Christ in my grandmother’s bedroom with her and my sister. I had never been more proud or excited about anything in my entire life! This feeling began to fade rather quickly. I never really had the tools, nor the influences to support that decision and help me along my faith journey. Middle school was pretty normal for me. I didn’t like it very much and kids were mean, but I had an okay group of friends. High school was a different story. My friends from middle school got into some pretty poor habits and because we were so close I followed in their ways. My life at home also went downhill. I developed a poor attitude and a bit of a temper. Arguments between my parents were not a rarity. When I was fourteen years old my mom started going to 12Stone Church. She attended for about a year or so when she started to invite my sister and me. We both started attending the Sunday services and something began to change in me. I had this overwhelming feeling of guilt for the way I had been living my life. I had never felt guilt that strong and convicting before. The very next day I started to change in my ways. The changes definitely didn’t come over night, but they came. Sundays mornings became the pinnacle of my week and I rarely missed a service. Finally, the time came when I decided to fully recommit my life to Christ and a year later (I was sixteen at this time) I got baptized at 12Stone Church in front of about 2,500 people. My life has been an incredible journey ever since.
God, has recently led me to the World Race and I am extremely excited for what He has in store for me in this next season of my life!
