Pastor Matt Larson brings a passion to grow a healthy church that is focused on making disciples.  He loves raising up leaders and helping people discover who they are in Christ.  Matt believes that every Christian has a calling to be God's light to a lost and dark world.

Since accepting Christ as a high school senior, Matt has gotten his B.A. in English at the University of Sioux Falls, and his M.Div. from North American Baptist Seminary.  Over the last 2 decades he has served as a Youth Pastor, College and Young Adult Pastor, and as a Men's Pastor.

Matt and his wife Libby have been married for 21 years and have four amazing kids.  Matt loves trying to make his wife laugh, he loves a good historical nonfiction book, and he spends most of his free time watching his kids play basketball, tennis, volleyball and soccer.

Pastor Ken Abramson loves seeing people fall in love with Jesus and he also cares deeply about fostering healthy churches. That passion began in his mid-20’s and has continued for the last 40 years. This desire for healthy churches was first stirred by involvement in a college ministry in Vancouver, WA. That was followed by becoming an elder at the church and finally God calling him into formal pastoral leadership in cascading roles as a youth pastor, associate pastor, executive pastor and finally a lead pastoral role in northern MN. He counts it such a privilege to have watched lives being changed by the Spirit and engaging with Jesus’ church.

Another strong passion is for spiritually healthy families, which includes healthy marriages and having parents grow in the ability to disciple their children. He is convinced that healthy spiritual families lead to healthy churches which creates a foundation for engaging a hurting world. Ken and his wife Deanna look to model a healthy marriage and have celebrated 45 years of marriage.

They chose the Kingman area to split the drive between their daughter’s family in Sacramento, CA and their son’s family in Austin, TX. As a couple that deeply desires to finish life’s race well, they are still looking to walk alongside of their adult children and help their 9 grandchildren become active disciple makers for Jesus.

Pastor Kyle Johnson loves relational discipleship. One of Kyle’s greatest passions and joys in life is seeing people transformed by the power of the gospel.  He believes that when someone begins to understand the weight of what was done for them on the cross through Jesus, they will begin to live for God's glory instead of their own. In his own life, and the lives of many others, he has seen this come to fruition best when disciples of Jesus have a desire to turn and invest their lives and God's truth in others. This has been the driving force behind every ministry he has served in.

Kyle came to Christ at an early age, and felt called into ministry while still in high school. He pursued a degree in Theology from the University of Sioux Falls, and has served in multiple churches in a variety of roles. Through those roles, he has become passionate about missions and small group ministry. Kyle has been married to his wife Lynn for 12 years and they have three young children. He enjoys spending time with friends and family, watching and playing sports, and traveling.

Pastor Roli Resendez loves to worship and is passionate about leading others in worship! He desires to not only help create a meaningful worship experience for others, but wants to help them connect God’s missions for us with the time we spend worshiping together on Sunday.

Roli and his wife Danie have been married for 19 years and have two beautiful children. In Roli’s free time he enjoys watching and playing sports, listening to music, drinking coffee and spending time with his family. Roli graduated from Simpson University with a B.A. in Social Studies and a minor in English and Biblical Studies. He completed his Masters in Christian Leadership at William Jessup University.

Pastor John joined the ministry of Journey Church so he could follow his calling to radically challenge “the one” to a deeper walk in Jesus Christ and a truer knowledge of our Heavenly Father. Whether he’s talking to a gathering of dozens of men or listening to the burden of one who is suffering, John desires that everyone sees that the answer is Jesus.

Born in Pennsylvania, John attended high school with his future bride, Lei Lani, and called on Christ as his Savior at age sixteen. After serving in the military for nearly 28 years, John began pursuing God’s full-time calling on his life. Before following God’s call to Kingman, he and Lei Lani lived in South Carolina. John considers one of God’s richest blessings to be his, Lei Lani’s, and their four children’s opportunity to have lived all over the United States and overseas so they they could see how God uses diverse church bodies to reflect to a lost world His glory, His love, His mercy, and His Son Jesus Christ.

Libby Larson loves helping women fall in love with Jesus.  It gives her great joy to see them find their true identity solely in Christ!  Libby fell in love with Jesus at the age of 19 at a Christian college in South Dakota. While on a missions trip to Mexico she felt a call to ministry.  After a season of youth and college ministry, Libby took a break to raise their 4 kids. Libby is now thrilled to help shepherd the hearts of women and she loves spending time with them.  

Libby and her husband Matt love doing life and ministry together.  In her spare time she loves reading, hiking, drinking coffee, and spending time with friends and family.  

Pastor Justin Brown has a passion to see youth come into a deep personal relationship with Jesus and boldly live a life that reflects it. He encourages others to shine for Christ and to live out Matthew 28:18-20 daily. Justin believes that there is nobody that has gone so far away from God that His loving grace is not able to transform them for His glory and to expand the Kingdom of God. He lives each day reminding others that they do not have to be a statistic of this world, but that we can choose to be a statistic of God’s redeeming grace.

Justin was born and raised in Southern California where he came to know God through a bus ministry. It was in Junior High that Justin visited a youth group where he found what a personal relationship with Jesus was all about. He has been faithfully serving God ever since. During a Christian camp during his High School years, Justin felt a strong call into youth ministry. From that point, he has dedicated his life to sharing the gospel with youth anywhere he is. Justin has served in youth ministry for over 20 years as well as an Associate Pastor, Family Life Pastor and other roles well focusing on youth ministry.

Justin and His wife Tiffany have been married for 20 years and have 3 amazing daughters and 3 dogs. They love to live life together and enjoy hiking, games and exploring God’s beautiful land. Justin enjoys cooking, riding motorcycles, learning new talents, hiking, fishing, games, the beach, and just about anything outdoors.

Pastor Dan Vander Wal loves the adventure that walking with Jesus brings. He is passionate about living Mathew 24:14 and telling the whole world about Jesus. He believes God’s plan for doing this was through families- moms and dads loving Jesus then teaching their children. He believes kids should never be an afterthought, but rather an important piece of the puzzle.

Dan came to know Christ at an early age, however was really transformed on an 11 month mission trip traveling the world in his early twenties. Upon his return to the US, he moved to San Diego where he  completed a ministry and missions school and then joined the church staff.  He and his wife helped start a women’s home and Dan also served as one of the children’s directors at the church. They also served in southern Brazil helping a local church start a college ministry before being asked to help lead a church plant in Tijuana, Mexico. After two years of running the children’s ministry in Tijuana they were called back to the US.

Dan and his wife Christi were married in 2010 and have 3 young boys. Dan grew up on a small ranch and loves animals- he would love to have a zoo someday. He also enjoys the outdoors- hiking, hunting and fishing.

Robert Arrington has a passion to see the young adults of Kingman come into a deep and real relationship with Christ. He feels privileged and blessed to get to serve and minister to people in some of their most formative years. Robert desires to share the love and promises of Christ with everyone, and he believes that these things are the truth the world is looking for.
 
Robert was saved in his late teens after someone shared the gospel with him. He was hungry for more, so he joined a church and began serving there before taking an internship with a church in England. When he returned to the States, he married his wife Sarah and moved to Kingman in 2019. In his spare time Robert enjoys reading, cooking and trying interesting foods, and traveling whenever possible.

Doug grew up in a small, rural town in central Minnesota. After realizing salvation through Jesus, Doug quickly joined his youth group and began leading on the worship team. Doug has spent most of his life working with his hands in various trades, playing in bands and working in multimedia. With an education in video production and sound engineering Doug has a passion to use his experience to create an atmosphere of worship, free of distraction for people to grow closer to and experience the transformational power of the Holy Spirit. He believes that the action of worship doesn’t begin and end at the front doors off a church building but is a lifestyle that can be lived out daily through the Grace of God.  

In Doug’s free time he enjoys playing music, building/riding motorcycles and getting lost in the outdoors. Doug is thrilled to be a part of Journey and is excited to get to know as many people as he can.

Vanessa has always had a heart for helping others and all the roles she has had in life have been serving others in one form or another.  She graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in Family Services.  She has been married for 19 years to her husband Adam and together they have 2 adult sons.  She came to know Jesus in her early 20s and has not looked back since.

She finds joy in photography and baking, especially mastering new recipes or coming up with her own.  She enjoys boating in the summer, off roading and supporting her family in their off road racing team.

Valerie Winters has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada.  With over 25 years of experience in public service, she has dedicated her life to helping others. Her passion for serving extends beyond the workplace and into the church, where she finds joy in supporting others through financial stewardship and human resources.

She believes deeply in the transformative power of Jesus Christ and is grateful for the ways He changes lives, including her own. It is her mission to reflect His love by serving her community with compassion, integrity, and a heart of service.

Valerie is honored to be a part of the Journey Church family and looks forward to continuing to serve in ways that glorify God and uplift others.

Joylynn Grushen is someone who desires deeply to minister to the youth here in Kingman. As a parent of a few such youth, she recognizes the need for ministry that is specifically dedicated to this demographic. She has served in ministry for many years and her favorite thing is to watch students go deep and truly live with purpose for God’s kingdom.  She feels incredibly blessed to be able to be used by God to reach and mentor these students to live radically in their high school season of life. She is inspired and motivated by seeing kids grow in their knowledge of Jesus! She is fully committed to being invested and present in the lives of the youth.

Joylynn has been married to her husband Scotty for 20 years. They met in high school, fell in love, got married and now have 3 rad kids. She is an at home school mom, adventurer, coffee drinker, restorer of any project (house, car, trailer…), hair stylist, home maker, ultimately a daughter of God. In all she does, she desires to work with her whole heart unto the Lord. Doing this life alongside her best friend Scotty is just proof God has good plans for us.

Jessica Whitmarsh has been a worship leader for over 15 years and has a heart for seeing others learn how to live a lifestyle of worship. She has traveled all over the world leading Church, Youth, Women and Missions groups in worship. Jessica and her Husband Matthew, grew up in CA. They have 2 beautiful children. Jessica and Matt have been actively involved at Journey Church from the first week they moved to Kingman. They immediately felt at home and called to ministry here.