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I was born in Iowa in 1970 then adopted into a wonderful family. I was adopted into the family of God on September 22, 1984 after I surrendered my life to Christ at a youth retreat at my little country church. I grew up on a farm in rural West Liberty and graduated and went on to Iowa State University to major in Agricultural Education and minor in Agricultural Mechanics. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in May 1993. I married my childhood sweetheart and the love of my life, Carrie in 1993. I became a father in 1995. Carrie and I now have eight children: Eric, Joshua, Thomas, Emma, Catherine, Abigail, Andrew and Sophia. We are expecting our ninth blessing from the Lord in March of 2012.
I taught high school agriculture, horticulture and mechanics for 10 years and then resigned that position in 2003 to become a Church Planting Pastor for the Central District of the EFCA. We were part of a core group that planted New Harvest Fellowship in Tipton, Iowa in August of 2002 after my heart and soul were inflamed with passion to reach out to men with the Gospel of the transforming power of the Risen Christ that previous January at a Men's Retreat. I then became their first Pastor in 2003. I attended Second Career School and graduated with my EFCA Ministry License in 2005.
To date, my favorite quote is from Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle from one of his Facebook posts in 2010, "Men need to see their life as a series of missions their King sends them on. As a soldier, a man should see a hard mission not as an absence of God's love but rather a high honor. My friend whose wife will die any day now reminded me of this great truth."
I began searching for God's leading into the next chapter of our lives in faithful service to our King in January of 2010. On July 31 of 2011, I accepted the unanimous call to follow my Lord and my King to become the next Senior Pastor of Grace Community Church in Olivia, Minnesota... a place which we are very blessed to now call home.
Pastor Henry
DRBOBF
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