The Stories Collective

Happy Thanksgiving! We are so excited for this week's episode of The Stories Collective as we're sharing the conversation we got to have with Sharon Engram. This conversation is especially pertinent for this week as Sharon shares with Sarah about having a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude all lifelong no matter the circumstance. So much of what we know as life at Desert Springs would...

Thanks for joining us for this week's episode of The Stories Collective! This week's story is unlike any other we've heard - we really think a movie should be made about this guest's life! We are talking with our friend and ministry partner Christian Cordova. Christian has been attending Desert Springs for a little over a year but very quickly became a big part of our church as...

We are really looking forward to sharing today's story with you! We had the opportunity to talk with our new friend Casey Officer. This story is especially interesting, unique and encouraging. ⚠️ Before you listen, we do want to give you a trigger warning for this episode. Self-harm, specifically cutting, is frequently discussed throughout this conversation. ⚠️  Casey's story is one that...

Today's guest is a great one, within minutes of being in the studio he was making the whole Stories Collective team laugh. Back in June our host Sarah Schalow got to record this episode with Brandon Baker, right after the birth of his fourth child. We're so glad to finally be sharing this interview with you today! Brandon and his family started attending Desert Springs in 2020 and serves...

We are back with another amazing story to share with you today! Our host Sarah Schalow had the opportunity to talk with a longtime friend of Desert Springs Sydney Walker. This is an inspiring testimony of faith in the Lord when you don't have answers. Sydney has been at Desert Springs for over 15 years and has quite literally grown up here. Sydney is currently 22 but at the age of 14 she some...

We have a very special episode of The Stories Collective for you today! October is National Church Planting month and we wanted to share a conversation we had with our friend Michael Stahl back in May. Michael was on staff at Desert Springs for about a year and a half while he was becoming the church planter and Lead Pastor of Salt Church which launched in January 2021. Michael's desire to pl...

Today's conversation is going to be a joyful spot in your week. We are so glad to share our conversation with Ginny Lewis with you today! At the age of 37 years old Ginny lost her husband to cancer. She felt there were two reasons God took her husband: one was that He had someone else in mind for her and the other was that He had work that He wanted her to do as a single person. Without knowi...

We have a very special episode of The Stories Collective for you today! October is National Church Planting month and we wanted to share a conversation we had with our longtime friend Kyle Powell back in May. Kyle was a Youth Pastor at Desert Springs for many years before becoming the church planter and Lead Pastor of Mission Church in January 2016. Mission Church is special to us here at Desert S...

This week we're finishing our mini-series on The Stories Collective in sharing Part 3 of The Sullivan's story. If you remember Episode 29, Jenny shared that a few months after her husband Brad had passed away in March of 2009, she became aware of a blog by a man named Brady Sullivan. He was walking through very similar circumstances as his wife Sara was walking through cancer while being...

This week we're continuing our mini-series on The Stories Collective in sharing Part 2 of The Sullivan's story. We left off last week with Jenny in Texas grieving the death of her husband Brad and trying to find a new normal. Meanwhile across the world. Brady Sullivan and his wife Sara were on a similar journey while being stationed in Northern Japan with the Air Force. Brady and Sara ha...

We are so excited to be starting a mini-series here on The Stories Collective! Over the next three weeks we will be covering the story of The Sullivan family. Our host Sarah Schalow first met The Sullivans back in March of 2022 shortly after this podcast first launched. After that meeting, we knew we had to share their story.  The Sullivan's story starts off with Jenny Wims in Texas. In May o...

Happy Wednesday! Earlier this summer our host Sarah Schalow had the awesome opportunity to have a conversation with our friend Todd Lewis. And we think you're going to feel like friends after listening to this conversation! Todd takes us through his interesting life and shares so many really fun and touching stories with us. We hear about how he learned to play the piano in middle school afte...

We are honored to be bringing another amazing story of God's protection, provision and peace today. Our host Sarah Schalow is sharing a conversation with Susan Martin-Warren. ⚠️ Before you listen, we do want to give you a trigger warning for this episode. Child abuse of an infant is discussed throughout this conversation. ⚠️ Most parents would agree that something happening to their child wou...

Today is Wednesday which means it is time for another episode of The Stories Collective! Back in the late spring our host Sarah Schalow had the opportunity to sit down with Mark Van Sant. Mark serves as an elder here at Desert Springs and it was so cool to hear him share his heart and story with us. A major theme throughout Mark's story is the incredible and miraculous provision of God. You c...

We have an incredibly powerful conversation to share with you today. Our host, Sarah Schalow, sits down with Rachelle Graves to hear a story of unimaginable pain, extraordinary healing, and the transforming power of God's grace. ⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussions of child sexual abuse. ⚠️ Rachelle describes herself as a modern-day Jonah because God called her to do somethin...

SURPRISE! We have a bonus episode of The Stories Collective for you today! We have the opportunity to hear from one of the missionaries that we help to support, Eric Yodis. This episode was recorded on June 8, 2022 and we're so glad that we're getting to share it with you now. Sarah gets us into the interview, but we have a special guest host, our Missions Pastor Jamie Engram interviewin...

Today's conversation on The Stories Collective is going to resonate with a lot of you and we're so glad for the opportunity to share it here! Our host Sarah Schalow is talking with our new friend Riley Gardell. Riley, a Texas native, moved to the Goodyear area in May of 2021 for his work as the Site Engineer at a solar farm. Riley talks with Sarah about how a lot of times we gravitate to...

Today's episode of The Stories Collective features someone who is probably familiar to a lot of you. We are talking with our friend Kelly Lashua! Kelly and her family have been at Desert Springs for over a decade, and we are so thankful for the ministry that they have been a part of. We get to hear about Kelly's early life growing up in a Christian family and learning what following the...

We are so blessed by today's Stories Collective podcast guest David Reyna. God's faithfulness was something that was very evident in David's life from the beginning in the early 1960s in west Texas. Being number 11 of 12 kids, David shares how he saw his parents live out their faith each day. The way his parents modeled their faith set a firm foundation for the rest of David's...

On June 24th, 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned giving states the ability to regulate abortions. This historic decision prompted Susan Glass to share her story with us. This is a story that demonstrates how one decision can change the course of a family's life forever.  In 1990 Susan was 24 years old and married with 2 children. A lot of life had been lived up to this point despite Susan being...

If you regularly attend Desert Springs today's guest is no stranger to you. We are talking with Shawn Jones! You may not know this, but Shawn came to know the Lord right here at Desert Springs in December of 2006. Since then, he has been a big part of ministry here at the church even before he became a full-time staff member. Shawn gets personal with us today and really shares his heart and p...

We hope that you had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! We are back with another episode of The Stories Collective and this week we're talking with Jenn Lorn. The simplest way to put it is that Jenn has a story of hope. It is a story that starts in a dark place as her childhood was surrounded by alcohol. Jenn came to know the Lord through a friend at school and her life was changed forever. But...

Thank you for joining us for another episode of The Stories Collective podcast! Today we have a really cool opportunity to hear from not only one guest, but two! Sarah Schalow sat down with Ed + Carol McNiece back in April before they left to spend the summer in Minnesota. Ed + Carol have an amazing story to share about how their son was healed after a shocking accident that caused a traumatic bra...

Happy Summer everyone! We couldn’t think of a better way to officially kick-off summer than to have a conversation with our friend Lydia Engram. Lydia has been a part of Desert Springs for 11 years as she serves in Women’s Ministry, leads worship, runs our First-Time Visitor Ministry and is married to our Worship + Missions Pastor Jamie Engram. Lydia shares so much heart and wisdom with us as she...

We think today's episode is going to be a bright spot in your week! Our host Sarah Schalow is talking with Brian DeFrancesco who has such a refreshing and positive outlook on life. Brian shares a couple of stories with us from coming to Christ after being raised Catholic, moving all over the west coast with the agriculture industry, what it's like being a husband and parent; Sarah and Br...