About Devin and Elizabeth
After starting to attend church with family friends, Devin gave his life to the Lord during a summer VBS program at the age of eight. Growing in his new faith and learning about God and the Bible, Devin would have a dramatic encounter with Christ on a Wednesday night in youth group in the 7th grade. “It’s one of two times in my life that I believe I actually heard the voice of God…and at first I wasn’t sure what it was,” he recounts.
During that time, God spoke to Devin about the calling on his life for ministry. From that point forward ministry became a focus, as he grew up spending time with church leaders and his pastors. He also began serving in ministry at that young age, working as a door greeter, in the church bookstore, and assisting his pastor in reading scriptures for services.
His freshman year of high school would see Devin preach his first sermon during his youth groups ‘youth Sunday’ and it wouldn’t be the last time he would minister from the pulpit. taken under wing as an aspiring preacher, his first pastor and mentor, Bob Hoover, would spend time over Devin’s high school years meeting with and investing in his life as he developed a sense of what ministry was all about.
Upon graduation, Devin left home to attend Bible School during a transition in leadership in his church. Before leaving, Pastor Bob told Devin to serve the new pastor ‘just as you would serve me’. Those words would lead to a friendship between Devin and his current pastor and spiritual mentor, Douglas Lee, that has lasted throughout the last nine years.
After graduating school from Rhema Bible training Center Devin returned home to Illinois to serve Pastor Doug working with the ushers, alter ministry, teaching and overseeing adult Sunday School, producing bulletins, reformatting the church website, working with small groups, and preaching on rotation. This is also where Devin was first encountered children’s ministry.
While attending a Children’s Ministry Conference and hearing a message about the importance of partnering with parents in ministry, Devin was given a vision and special passion to reach the next generation. He returned home and began implementing things the Lord had shown him and saw God double the ministry.
Around that time he was contacted by another Rhema minister about a position in Nashville which would become his first full-time ministry position at a growing church of over 3000. While there, Devin wrote and implemented a new children’s program called B.A.S.I.C. Training that helped to spur growth 26% and bring over 500 children to Christ and helped oversee a ministry of over 600 children in services each week.. Nashville is also where he met his future wife, Elizabeth Lusk.
Serving in such an incredible environment gave Devin incredible opportunities to learn, grow, develop and experience the possibilities in ministry. But God was just starting to show His goodness…
Three weeks after getting married on a Florida beach at sunset, Devin and Elizabeth left their newly bought condo in Nashville for Jackson, TN to pursue the calling of God. This would be a time of great trial and reward, as God tested their faithfulness and willingness to Him. Moving to Jackson for Devin’s ministry job left the newlyweds with a mortgage and rent payment, three car payments, school loans, other responsibilities and a single income.
In the smaller community Elizabeth had trouble finding work, being told by several places that she was ‘over-qualified’ based on her education. For the first five months they prayed, trusted God, and searched for employment for Elizabeth. In His timing, God opened a door with a national healthcare company that would eventually allow Elizabeth to transfer when they moved to Kansas and move her quickly into a corporate position.
Even though it looked those first few months like needs weren’t going to be met, they were faithful in putting God first and month after month God provided what they needed. They would go on to see some great things happen in their short stay in Jackson and made many friends.
In August of 2009 they couple moved to the Kansas City area to become the children’s ministers at Crosspoints Church. On his first Sunday as a pastor there was a fire in the Children’s Ministry, leading into a fun-filled start to their time in Kansas that would also see Elizabeth spend nearly four months in India working.
God showed great favor in Devin’s ministry at Crosspoints, as he worked to retool the website, help co-lead the launch of The Upper Room- a college and young adult worship service, teach in adult Sunday School, minister powerfully in the adult services, and plan and lead several outreach events including one with the Power Team and a Back-2-School Bash that gave away over 500 backpacks and 35 laptop computers to kids in need in the community over two years.
Also in Kansas, Devin continued to minister to kids, helping establish GO, a successful children’s ministry in which he worked to recruit nearly 60 workers over three years and see 155 people saved.
Currently Devin and Elizabeth still reside in the Kansas City area and attend Crosspoints, serving as volunteers in ministry as they seek the Lord for their next ministry assignment. They are also busy preparing for the arrival of their first son, Titus, before the end of 2012. Devin also ministers in churches, providing training for workers, consultation for children’s ministries, and preaching.
You can contact Devin for ministry opportunities or with prayer requests at kronerministries@gmail.com
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