Joe: I grew up in a small town in Nebraska. Grew up in a Christian home with loving parents. Went to church and youth group. While in high school I was a leader in the youth group. But did not really take up my faith until I was a freshmen in college. My freshmen year was a learning experience for me. It was my first experience of not having someone telling me to wake up and go to church, I did not really make to many Sunday church services. I went to a youth conference with my youth group and God changed my heart and way of thought. So I transfered to Grace University where I was going into Youth Ministry. While I was at Grace, I changed my major to Christian Camping Ministry and graduated with that. I had a year long internship with a camp in WI.
Abby: Hey! I grew up in St. Paul, MN in a wonderful, christian family! I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was five and He has stayed faithful to me my whole life. Growing up as the second oldest in a family of six girls has definitely shaped me into the woman I am today and is what developed my love for people and relationships. Every summer in high school I spent at Camp Forest Springs serving campers for Christ, this time drew me closer to God and gave a desire to serve people the rest of my life!
Us: Joe's second year at Grace University is when I came as a freshman. On the first night there was a meet and greet, that was the first time Joe and I met. A couple days later we were hanging out in the community lounge and that is when the friendship started. Over the next couple weeks the friendship grew until we started dating! Since the beginning of the relationship we knew we would be ending up in ministry of some kind, at the beginning the vision looked like camping ministry, but during our one year internship at Camp Forest Spring it developed in to more of sports or community ministry. After our internship we got married (!) and moved to Omaha, NE. Since then our dream for ministry has taken many shapes, leading kids (YMCA and Para for Joe, Nanny for Abby), serving people (Spaghetti Works and hosting get togethers) and seeking God and what He has next for us. We have applied, contacted and looked at many possible places to get involved full time and nothing has come through until now! We are SO excited about where God is taking us and the things He will teach us on this new adventure!
