The Stories Collective

On today's episode we had the privilege of being joined by friend to many Rob Ackerman. Rob, his wife Shannon and their children have been a part of Desert Springs for over 15 years. Rob was raised in rural Minnesota and put his faith in Jesus in elementary school when a friend invited him to AWANA. He attended the University of North Dakota where he met his wife, Shannon. It was fun to hear...

We are so looking forward to sharing our conversation with Bruce Ploeser with you! This is an important conversation for all but if you're in those later high school - early college years we think this is an especially important conversation for you to hear. Bruce and Sarah begin their conversation by talking a lot about Chick Fil A and we promise it'll make sense as to why when you list...

We are so excited to share today's story with you! We were joined in the studio by our new friend Danya Works. Danya and her family (she has six kids!) moved to Arizona almost exactly a year ago and quickly became connected with Desert Springs. We jump right into Danya's story starting with when she came to know the Lord at age 17. Danya's upbringing was rough being a child of divor...

We invite you into a very honest and important conversation about sexuality, identity, and faith. We were grateful to have our friend Sam Brown join us in the studio. Sam shares openly about his experience with same-sex attraction and how the Lord has been at work in his life through it. He explains that these feelings were present for as long as he can remember and not the result of trauma, but a...

Brenda Crum joined us in the studio to share about the peace that God has brought continuously in her life. Brenda was born and raised in Arizona. In fact, her family has lived and worked in this state for generations. Brenda came to know the Lord as a young girl at the kitchen table with her mom. She was an only child and had a close relationship with both her mom and her dad. Brenda feels that t...

If you regularly attend Desert Springs, you are probably familiar with today's guest! Daniel Calderón joined us in the studio to share about what God has done in his life up until this point. Daniel has been married to his wife Brianne for almost seven years and serves as our Middle School and Young Adults Pastor. We are blessed to have the Calderóns as a part of our church family and staff!...

It was a blessing to have Caryn Doerksen join us in the studio to share her story! This episode is coming out just a few days before Caryn's birthday (Sept. 30th) so make sure if you see her, you say Happy Birthday!  🎉🎉🎉 We are so thankful to have the whole Doerksen family a part of our church. Caryn was raised on the mission field with some of her earliest memories being in the Philippine...

Larissa Holland joined us in the studio, and we are so thankful that she did! Larissa and her family are such a meaningful part of ministry here at Desert Springs. Those of you from military families will relate with Larissa as she feels she doesn't have a "from" due to moving around so much as a child. Her parents became Christians when she was a young girl and shortly after that s...

A longtime friend of Desert Springs Warren Potter joined us in the studio to share his life story with us. There is an ease to this conversation that we really loved. Warren spent his early childhood in New York City but as he approached later elementary school, they moved to the countryside of Connecticut. He met his wife Kathy in high school on a double date that they were both on, though they w...

It's Wednesday again and we're so glad that you're here! It was a blessing to be joined by Sam Washington in the studio. We feel like today's conversation is a perfect way to wrap up the summer. Sam touches on a lot of things that have been covered in stories this summer and also gives us some challenging things to think about as we head into the fall. Sam has an incredible hea...

Today's interview on The Stories Collective will show just how willing our God is to show up for His people. It was a blessing to talk with Heather Van Sant and we're excited to share this conversation with you. ⚠️ Before you listen, we do want to give you a trigger warning for this episode. Intense medical issues, procedures and struggles, some involving pregnancy, are discussed through...

Many of us as Christians are familiar with the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18, where the shepherd leaves the 99 just to find the one. This is a story that resonates deeply with today's guest on The Stories Collective, Mike Lockwood. Mike was born and raised in the small town of Newfield, NY and his parents were divorced before he could even remember them being together. Growing up in...

Rebeccah Sinclair joined us in the studio to talk about her faith journey! Rebeccah works with Legacy Family Ministries which is an amazing resource for parents and families. You'll hear a little bit about it at the beginning of the episode. Rebeccah and her husband have five children themselves and it's awesome hearing about their passion for Biblically based parenting. Rebeccah comes f...

We have a very special episode of The Stories Collective to share with you! Our host Sarah Schalow recently returned from a two-week mission trip serving in Osaka, Japan with J-House Church. Desert Springs has been able to foster a relationship with this church through the efforts of our Missions Pastor Jamie Engram. As a church we had sent teams of young adults for four consecutive years before c...

We're kicking off a new month with an interview with our friend Elizabeth Martin! Elizabeth and our host Sarah Schalow met for the first time in the Grand Canyon - you'll hear that story right at the beginning of the conversation. Elizabeth recounted the Lord's faithfulness through stories of the friends God has brought her along the way. Elizabeth first tells us of her friend Abiga...

We have a very special episode of The Stories Collective for you today! We had the opportunity to hear from one of the missionaries we as a church help to support, Jonathan Banegas. Sarah gets us into the interview, but we have a special guest host, our Missions Pastor Jamie Engram. Jamie and Jonathan met in the studio to talk through Jonathan's story and his passion for spreading the Gospel...

The summer is slowly starting to wind down and we could not think of a better person to talk with us at this time than Erica Wiggenhorn! Erica is an award-winning author and is the founder of Every Life Ministries. We're so thankful to have her as a part of our church family! If you are a woman who attends Bible Study at Desert Springs, you have probably been a part of one of the studies Eric...

Mark Alberti joined us in the studio to talk with us about the incredible transformation that God has worked in his life even after his moment of salvation. Mark was raised in California by a single mom. Though he did not grow up in a Christian home his mom would occasionally send he and his sister out to church. In high school Mark describes doing the "high school thing" of having fun a...

We hope that you had a wonderful 4th of July! Today's episode is one that we're really excited to share with you. It was a privilege to have Tammy Baker in the studio with us! She has a story that is unlike any other that we've heard and we're so thankful for her openness in sharing how God worked an incredible change in her heart. Tammy grew up in California and Alaska with a...

A highly anticipated interview is hitting your feed today! We are so excited to be sharing the conversation our host Sarah Schalow had with our longtime friend Robby Lashua! Sarah and Robby met to record in early May of this year. Those of you who have attended Desert Springs for a while will know who Robby is - and if you aren't familiar with him, you will definitely have the opportunity get...

On today's episode our host Sarah Schalow is sharing a cup of coffee with friend to many Shannon Ackerman. So, grab your coffee or tea and join in! Shannon, her husband Rob and their children have been a part of Desert Springs for over 15 years. Shannon was raised in North Dakota and accepted Christ as a young girl, shortly before her mother died. While attending the University of North Dakot...

We are so blessed by Mike Meislish and his service with us at Desert Springs as our Head of Security and we're looking forward to sharing our conversation we got to have with him with you today! ⚠️ Before you listen, we do want to give you a trigger warning for this episode. Though specific details are not discussed murder, crime and things of that nature are talked about frequently in this c...

Is this our first official episode of the summer?! That's what we're going to call it! We were so glad to welcome Erin McMahon into the studio to share her incredible story of coming to know the Lord and how that eventually led her and her husband into being foster parents. Erin works with us at Desert Springs as our Preschool Director, and we are so thankful for how she and our D|S Kids...

Our last episode of May is here, and we can hardly believe it! It was a privilege to have our fellow Desert Springs staff member and friend Manny Hernandez in the studio with us. Manny came on staff as our High School Pastor in December 2021 and we're so thankful that he and his family came to be a part of the ministry that we do. Today we get to get up close and personal with Manny as he wal...

Thank you for joining us for another episode of The Stories Collective! We were joined by our friend Paula Beene. We are very thankful for Paula's willingness to share her life with us.  ⚠️ Before you listen, we do want to give you a trigger warning for this episode. Specific details of abortion procedures are discussed in this conversation. ⚠️ Paula begins her story by sharing what it was li...