birmingham Staff

ryan and kelly akers

mobilization director

I became a Christian under my Dad's preaching as a 10 year-old child. I didn't really understand how to grow in my relationship with the Lord, so I tried to follow the "rules" that I believed to be a part of Christianity. When I was in high school, I had a baseball coach who began to ask me about my walk with the Lord and began to challenge me to grow in my relationship with God. This was a really vague concept to me, at best, and I still didn't know how to do this. In college, I had someone from Campus Outreach staff to begin to disciple me and my roommate, and my relationship with the Lord began to really develop. I learned how to share my faith and to pour my life into others. It was at this time that I developed true convictions concerning my walk with the Lord and committed my life to pouring my life out into others so that they can know and make known the One who has called them.