Nate and Michelle have been married since October 2003. Samuel turned five in October, Elias turned three in May, and we introduced Isaac Nathanael in September, they are growing into bigger boys every day! The boys' favorite things are playing Super Hero's, Hot Wheels, and Lego's. Their smiles and laughs are one of the best parts of our day!
Our Calling
God has called us to join Campus Crusade for Christ through a rather “unconventional” path, but His fingerprints and calling are obvious as we look back at our lives.
In 2003, we participated as interns in the Walt Disney World College Program…the largest internship program in the United States. At any one time, there are 8,000 college students participating in the program representing 60 different countries from around the world.
Most of these students are away from home for the first time and facing some very real challenges. Experimentation with negative influences like alcohol and promiscuous living are prevalent. Interns face real life challenges with a full-time work schedule, being paid very little, and isolation from family and friends. Not to mention deep spiritual confusion. Interns live, work and play on Disney property and therefore have very little access to traditional ministry opportunities and very little exposure to Jesus. While fun, this time was also very challenging for us spiritually…as believers we were seeking a way to connect to other believers, but ultimately we spent five of the hardest months of our lives with no faith community.
Three years later we met Kevin Dennis through a mutual friend. He was Campus Director at CU Boulder and was just starting an opportunity with Disney to host a Summer Project bringing Crusade students to the Disney College Program to work in the parks and reach roommates and co-workers for Christ. We were so excited about it that we joined his support team…we felt the need so strongly that we hoped he would take the ministry full-time. We even joked that if it ever did go full time, we just might have to join him…little did we know what God had in mind for us!
In 2008, Nate lost his construction job just one month before our first son Samuel was born. This started a season of prayer and seeking God’s will for our lives. Nate applied for many construction jobs, but began feeling a strong urge to consider ministry for the first time in his life. He decided to begin applying for church or ministry jobs in Phoenix. Michelle was very supportive of the idea of getting a nice ministry “job” with a nice reliable paycheck.
About that time, Kevin contacted us to say that the Walt Disney World ministry was going full-time. He asked for prayer that God would raise up staff for the new ministry. We joked that maybe we should sell everything and move to Florida. Yeah right!
But the idea just wouldn’t go away. God kept pulling our hearts to Florida and the interns there who desperately need him. As seven, eight, nine months passed with no change to Nate’s unemployment, God used this uncomfortable time to really soften Michelle’s heart to the idea of becoming a supported staff member, which was way out of her comfort zone. But as the idea sank in, the opportunity to impact students for Christ from around the whole world from one strategic location became too enticing to ignore. God is so good to bring things full-circle in our lives to allow us to meet the exact need that we personally experienced eight years ago. We are so excited to be a part of what He is doing in the Disney College Program and around the world!
If you would like to partner with our family as we are here in Florida to reach out to the interns that are here, you can click here to find our giving page.
In 2003, we participated as interns in the Walt Disney World College Program…the largest internship program in the United States. At any one time, there are 8,000 college students participating in the program representing 60 different countries from around the world.
Most of these students are away from home for the first time and facing some very real challenges. Experimentation with negative influences like alcohol and promiscuous living are prevalent. Interns face real life challenges with a full-time work schedule, being paid very little, and isolation from family and friends. Not to mention deep spiritual confusion. Interns live, work and play on Disney property and therefore have very little access to traditional ministry opportunities and very little exposure to Jesus. While fun, this time was also very challenging for us spiritually…as believers we were seeking a way to connect to other believers, but ultimately we spent five of the hardest months of our lives with no faith community.
Three years later we met Kevin Dennis through a mutual friend. He was Campus Director at CU Boulder and was just starting an opportunity with Disney to host a Summer Project bringing Crusade students to the Disney College Program to work in the parks and reach roommates and co-workers for Christ. We were so excited about it that we joined his support team…we felt the need so strongly that we hoped he would take the ministry full-time. We even joked that if it ever did go full time, we just might have to join him…little did we know what God had in mind for us!
In 2008, Nate lost his construction job just one month before our first son Samuel was born. This started a season of prayer and seeking God’s will for our lives. Nate applied for many construction jobs, but began feeling a strong urge to consider ministry for the first time in his life. He decided to begin applying for church or ministry jobs in Phoenix. Michelle was very supportive of the idea of getting a nice ministry “job” with a nice reliable paycheck.
About that time, Kevin contacted us to say that the Walt Disney World ministry was going full-time. He asked for prayer that God would raise up staff for the new ministry. We joked that maybe we should sell everything and move to Florida. Yeah right!
But the idea just wouldn’t go away. God kept pulling our hearts to Florida and the interns there who desperately need him. As seven, eight, nine months passed with no change to Nate’s unemployment, God used this uncomfortable time to really soften Michelle’s heart to the idea of becoming a supported staff member, which was way out of her comfort zone. But as the idea sank in, the opportunity to impact students for Christ from around the whole world from one strategic location became too enticing to ignore. God is so good to bring things full-circle in our lives to allow us to meet the exact need that we personally experienced eight years ago. We are so excited to be a part of what He is doing in the Disney College Program and around the world!
If you would like to partner with our family as we are here in Florida to reach out to the interns that are here, you can click here to find our giving page.
