Gary Fallesen / Tuesday, May 22, 2012 / Categories: C4C NorCal, Bios Charleton Churchill Age: 34. Residence: Jackson, Calif. Personal (family – married/children): Wife Kelly Churchill (married August 1999); children Janae Faith, 5; Ashlyn Grace, 2, and McKinley Hope (2 months). Occupation: Youth Ministry/Worship Pastor. How long have you climbed? Hiking/backpacking all my life, glacier travel (9 years), rock climbing (high school/college training). Type of climbing you do: Mountaineering and hiking, setting goals, challenging myself to greater feats (not much rock climbing anymore, but I don’t mind going out once in a while). Climbing mountains has many purposes for me. In terms of my relationship with God, I like to go where most people are not, like on mountains, and “being still and knowing that He is God.” In terms of ministry, I enjoy having conversations with people in the mountains, as well as having fun. Highlight of climbing career: Mission: Denali 2007 – It was my first time climbing with a team of Christians who were family. God taught me so many things that stick with me today and I’m grateful for my other experiences as well. How long have you been a Christian? I responded to Christ and gave my life to Him my junior year of high school. I was 16 years old. A year later, I wanted to reach out to teens who were like me, with no church background. So… I jumped into youth ministry. I’ve been involved for 17 years so far. Type of ministry you are blessed to serve in: Working with young people (high school, college, and sometimes junior high), mountaineering and all forms, artistic and photographic ministries, and of course…Starbucks Ministry. Or what I call, “The wherever-I-am-ministry.” It just so happens, I’m in Starbucks quite a bit. Favorite Scripture verse (and why): Ecclesiates 3:1 — “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” The reason this verse means so much is that it seems like (as the next verses read), God is plucking or uprooting that which was planted. God is allowing America to go through these hard times that we’re in, and everyone is feeling the effects. Personally, people I know are dying or have died recently, getting divorced, losing homes, losing jobs, hurting, questioning God, angry with the government (mostly California), our kids are growing up around all this, etc., and life seems unfair to many with which I am involved. This verse is just a confirmation that God is in charge, and there is a reason for everything. As there are four mandatory seasons of the year, summer, fall, winter, and spring, so it is with our lives. We have to go through winter, non-negotiable. There is no other way. It is colder and darker, and we must enter it before we are allowed to move onto spring thaw, which is a time of rebirth. What is God doing? I don’t know, but nothing passes by God without Him knowing, and I can fully trust Him because He is Good and Worthy of being trusted. Special “God moment” you'd like to share: Most recent and memorable is my father-in-law’s funeral, where nearly 500 gathered. Cancer took him at the young age of 62. He was the most humble, self-sacrificing, family man I know, and with a man so quiet, it confounds me how much his faith in Christ spoke to so many. A year before His passing, my brother-in-law Kevin, his son, gave him a blank sheet of paper and told him to write down what he wanted to accomplish or see before passing. A few minutes later, he gave him back the piece of paper, and told him that’s what he wanted to accomplish. As Kevin looked at the paper, he noticed it was blank. His father said, “There is nothing I would like to accomplish. I have no regrets. I have lived exactly the way I was supposed to live, and now I am at peace. I am ready to see God.” A man of faith. A man of inspiration to so many. Half Dome Hike Dan McQueen Print 3889 Gary FallesenGary Fallesen Other posts by Gary Fallesen Contact author