Staff Spotlight: Mary Roozeboom

I was raised in Pella by Christian parents who felt it was important for their children to have a Christian education. I went to church, Sunday school and youth group. I did all the "right" things that I thought would get me a ticket to heaven.

After I graduated from high school, I began to feel a void in my life. I wasn't real sure what that was all about. I couldn't figure out what the void was and what it needed to be filled with. I had done all the right things and yet there was still emptiness. So I began to fill the void with alcohol. I spent a few years running from God with alcohol and partying. Finally one day I meet God on a gravel road.  I told Him that I needed to make a decision about which direction my life was going. I knew that He was the answer but I wasn't sure that I was going to choose Him. Then I felt His presence come into the car with me. I felt His arms of forgiveness around me and knew that I was going to be OK.

After that decision I told God He could use my life any way He wanted. Put your seatbelt on if you make that statement to God. He will take you at your word. It has been an amazing adventure with Him. He has taken me on mission trips, allowed me the privilege of helping to start the Teens

Encounter Christ weekends and other various ministry opportunities.

A few years down the road, I felt that I was getting too comfortable with life and asked God to take me out of my comfort zone. He led me to Mount Vernon, IA where I managed Brackett House Bed and Breakfast for two years. I was really enjoying my job there and then Candace sent me an email...

In January 2010 she told me of a staff position at Teen Challenge. Sweet! Just what I have always wanted to do-Christian women's ministry and in Pella! I prayed and even though this is what I wanted to do, I did not feel at peace with accepting the position. Some months after that I became restless and really wanted to be back in the Pella area doing ministry. I had been offered a part-time position at Riverside Community Church in Knoxville. Now to find a full-time job do go along with that position.

I prayed. I applied for jobs. I prayed. I didn't get a job. I prayed and pleaded with God for months to find me job back in Pella. No answer (or wait was the answer!) I prayed. And then Candace sent me an email...

Another position was open and Candace and others felt that I was the one for the job. I prayed and felt at peace with knowing that God was saying, "Now!" I accepted the position and have been at Teen Challenge since November 15 and I love it. I love the second chance that Teen Challenge offers women. I love watching them grow in their journeys with Christ.

As I look back, I know that God needed me to wait a little while longer before coming back to Pella.  He taught me more things about myself and in that teaching prepared me more for what He was calling me to do. I look forward to many years of walking along side God in ministry.