James Gow
Evangelist/Director

James was born in Troy, NY; and at the age of 7 he and his family moved to Phoenix, AZ. He grew up in Paradise Valley, and enjoyed sports, was very active in Cub Scouts and did a lot of camping with his family. He then attended Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix. Unfortunately, he made some poor choices in high school, causing him to drop out in his sophomore year. James worked numerous odd jobs between 16 & 24 years of age, searching to find out who he really was. At 24, James had a miraculous experience: The Lord Jesus Christ grabbed hold of him and completely changed his life. Now, some 13 years later, he has completed a college degree at Sweetwater Bible College, and has held various jobs in marketing and sales as well as transportation services.
He also has a beautiful wife, Christine, and two wonderful boys, aged 11 years, Joshua, and 4 years, Simeon.

They have recently become foster parents to a 2 year old girl and 8 year old boy as well.

  His favorite things to do are spending time with his family, ministering God's Word, as well as hiking and weight lifting. James is now attending Pure Heart Christian Fellowship in Phoenix, and is serving in various areas. He has planted several ministries, and has traveled to places such as Bangor, Maine; Tyler, Texas & Novato, California.
His heart's desire is to travel internationally and in the U.S. to preach the gospel. He desires to some day establish an inner-city ministry, to help those down and out and bound by addictions and other emotional problems, enabling them to find the freedom in Christ that he has.

James's Testimony 
I'm speaking to you today and am alive only by the grace of God. I was born 38 years ago into a family with an alcoholic father. As far as I can remember back into my childhood, I remember being afraid and insecure. We never knew how my father was going to be -- one minute he was a happy drunk that made us laugh, and the next minute he was a violent monster who intimidated us greatly. I grew into a young boy, very lonely and confused. My mother tried to bring God into our lives through Catholicism, but hers was never a living faith.

At about 9 or 10 years old, I began to smoke cigarettes and marijuana. By the time I was 12, I was drinking beer, which progressed to hard liquor, and by the time I was 16 I was a full-blown alcoholic. At 16 I had already been hanging out with the Dirty Dozen and Hells Angels; these were very dark, evil people. I began using cocaine and methamphetamines by this time, then I was introduced to IV drugs. I was a lost and hurting young man, who only saw himself as a worthless junkie. I was a complete womanizer, living life for all the sex, drugs & self-fulfillment I could get. I didn't care for anyone, including myself. I searched through many relationships, looking for true love, but could never find it. From the age of 16 to 24, I was in and out of drug rehabs. I went to church at the age of 18 and walked to the altar and gave my heart to the Lord, but didn’t begin living for Him. For the next 6 years I battled with addiction and emotional sickness; I was a very angry and violent young man. I would get into bar fights, would hurt people and even physically fight with my own father. During the last few years of my addiction, I was a disgrace to myself and others! The only thing I had left in my heart was to die.

One night, Oct 31, 1993, was the night that God completely set me free from all addictions, pornography and any desire to drink or use drugs. I had been up for 8 days & had not slept. I tried to commit suicide & overdosed. Afterwards I lay unconscious on the floor in a drug house, where there were thousands of dollars of drugs. Everyone flipped out and flushed all the drugs. I remember blacking out; the next thing I remember was hearing a beautiful voice calling me by my real name, 'James', 3 times. The third time was very commanding yet gentle, which woke me out of my sleep. I remember seeing a vision of dark shadows of men wearing black robes and hoods, with a beautiful bright light behind them. I cried out 'God help me', and the shadows disappeared and I awoke. I was completely sober.

Marc Schmidt
Worship Leader

Marc has been happily married to Kim for about 24 years, and is a proud father of two sons & two daughters. He met his wife at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, from where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1985.
 
Marc immediately went to work for a Phoenix-based electric utility company, where he has risen to engineering section leader in the marketing & trading organization. He is also a leader off the job, being worship director at a local north Phoenix church, and has served as elder for several years there. His great compassion for the homeless, down-trodden & addicted has led him to numerous outreach projects. Marc, an inspirational song-writer, delightful vocalist and accomplished pianist/guitarist, loves to use his musical talents to encourage those he perceives to be less fortunate.

Through his involvement in the National Federation of the Blind, Marc encourages other blind people to reduce their handicap to a mere nuisance, as he himself has. In 2004, Marc was appointed to the mayor's commission on disability issues, through which he advocates for the disabled, with an emphasis on improved public transportation.

Marc's Testimony
Though my mother grew up Catholic and my father Lutheran, our family only attended church on Christmas and occasionally on Easter. During my entire childhood I didn't believe God existed, because I didn't see real evidence in the world that He existed. I had a number of church-going friends, but I didn't observe any significant differences between their lives and mine. Then, an amazing coincidence occurred during my senior year that spared me from serious injury; and I thought, maybe there is a God after all, watching over me.

 Right around this time, a girl came into my life who was different: She gently shared with me about Christ through poetry she wrote, and I noticed that she was quite different from the other girls. Our relationship didn't last long, but God used her to get me really thinking seriously about Him. After graduating from high school in Vienna, Austria, I moved far away from home to Flagstaff, Arizona to attend Northern Arizona University. During that summer before school began, I spent two weeks in Aspen, Colorado attending concerts, going on long hikes, horseback riding and even river rafting. At the end of this wonderful time enjoying nature, I came to the conclusion that God must exist, because there were 3 questions I couldn't answer without Him:
  (1) How could nature be so beautiful and perfect all by chance, when evolution would only concern itself with functionality?
  (2) How could music have such affect on one's soul, when it's just a bunch of sound waves shaking your ear drum?
  (3) How could love be so strong, if emotions were just a bunch of chemicals & hormones?
  This was a big step for me, but this intellectual consent did not transform me. God put people into my path who were markedly different: they had a joy and peace about them that I didn't know, and they loved me unconditionally -- quirks, annoyances and all. I became good friends with one of them; and so, when he invited me to church, I obliged. The first time seemed very foreign to me and I felt very much like an outsider. But, after the alter call of the 2nd service, God got a hold of my heart and it suddenly felt like I was worshipping with everyone around me.
  Up to that point, I thought I was a pretty good person – never having committed a crime, not doing drugs and only occasionally getting drunk. But, as I knelt at the altar, God convicted me of my sin, showing that I wasn't even keeping the two most important commandments: