Hi, I'm Loren (Rhyne) Latourelle. We've been in the Minneapolis area for one year now - moving from San Francisco. Since arriving, God has opened some amazing doors and it truly feels like He prepared the way for us. I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised, because God is so so good and a giver of good gifts. It was hard to leave our life in the Bay Area - having lived there for 15 years - it's where we met and married, had and were raising both kids. We loved our church community, our school, our neighborhood - and we lived in one of the most desirable places to live in the US. But God said go, and well, we couldn't say no to God!

 

We moved here to be close to Shawn's family and for Shawn to begin hospital chaplaincy training. He has completed two semesters of internship (unpaid - my salary being our only one for the past year and God has been so so faithful for providing ALL of our needs and even most of our wants!). He'll begin his residency in August. I applied for 100 jobs. But God had just the right job in mind. I'm the Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs at an Assemblies of God University in downtown Minneapolis. I am able to use my administrative skills, along with insights from my M.Div. in a higher ed environment. I love everything about it! God answered all of my prayers!

 

If that weren't enough, we found a great church! We were honestly dreading finding a church. Having been in house church for the past 12 years, we knew in the transition that what would be best for our family is to find a 'traditional' church to find community and get connected. We are now leading a small group. And bonus, our kids love it, too! It was recently at this church that we had the opportunity to attend a leadership conference. One of the speakers had us think back to seminal experiences in our lives where leaders spoke into our lives and saw the potential in us. One such experience for me was ACF. The encouragement and intentional investment I received within such an amazing community of Jesus followers definitely shaped my life and helped me continue in my faith journey. Even though it's been a handful of years (17 in December, but who's counting?), I still think of ACF on a regular basis and thank God for His work in my life as a direct result of that first free cookie the size of a plate! God has impressed upon me that giving to ACF will make it possible for the continuing good of investment and encouragement in the lives of college students for God's kingdom come and His will to be done in Auburn as in heaven.