Ministry Focus
Jon's ministry centers on college students at the University of Arizona. He aims to help them discover what it means to follow Jesus and desires to see students make the choice to follow Jesus for themselves. College is an incredibly foundational time, and potentially a time where students may be experiencing Christian friends and new people in their lives. Jon's ministry invites them to witness how faith in Christ transforms communities and individuals. His goal is to equip students in general for a healthy life in community and to help them grow with Christ; choosing to follow Him and experience the life changing power that we can know through Him.
Faith Story
Reflecting on his own faith story really made Jon realize why he feels called to college ministry. Jon grew up agnostic, and eventually atheist. It wasn’t until he was in his early 20s that he met and lived life beside Christians. He immediately felt something special about how they were living, and saw that it was different from his own life and found it very appealing. Throughout 2018, he started asking questions about prayer, the Bible, and church. Jon eventually attended his first ever church service in February of 2019 where he felt the real power of God and made the choice to follow Him in that moment! Since then, he hasn’t looked back, getting baptized in 2020, and trusting God to lead him to Arizona from Pennsylvania!
Jon's wife Karen grew up in Sedona where her family regularly went to church. She has been a Christian since she was a young girl. Attending church during her time in college at Damascus Road has helped her grow exponentially in her faith and life with Christ!
Family
Jon is originally from a small town, Milton, Pennsylvania and spent 5 years of his life in a performance group traveling
the nation. This experience helped open his heart up to the idea of moving out west. He eventually found Christ through his experiences and community there! Jon moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2021 and quickly found Damascus Road as a home church that answered every prayer he had, and more! There, he met and started dating his lovely wife Karen, and they got married in March of 2024. They live with their sweet and energetic dog Maisie, and love having friends and students over for dinners and board games!
WAYS TO SUPPORT
Jon by making a financial donation using a Credit Card or by Direct Debit (ACH).
Learn more about where this ministry happens
In colorful communities and along scenic highways, diverse people and landscapes span coast to coast
Iconic American traditions include Thanksgiving dinner, jazz music and the Super Bowl. They meld with eclectic examples of multicultural heritage: numerous local Chinatowns, family-owned taquerias and even cowboy boots, which originated among the nomadic Huns of eastern Europe.
The nation's landscape shows just as many contrasts — sandy beaches and rocky coastlines, open plains and vast deserts, rugged mountains and winding canyons, and abundant rivers and lakes.
The ideals of life and liberty that founded the United States have made the country one of the world's most prosperous, though not without dark chapters and present troubles. Crime, discrimination and ethics violations make regular headlines, and many people live below the national poverty level.
Families view education as essential to the pursuit of happiness, if not also a path to wealth and power for the most ambitious. Yet Americans also demonstrate a charitable spirit of generosity toward neighbors and nations in need.
Freedom of religion grants opportunity for all faiths, but Christianity holds particular influence in country's history and daily life.
Your participation with Missions Door supports ministry in the United States among college students, including many international students, in collaboration local churches. It also enables social outreach, church planting and leadership development in a wide variety of communities — among Native Americans and other cultural groups, and in urban and suburban settings where growing and changing demographics create new opportunities for the Gospel.
Cultural Snapshot
Aside from the Native American, Native Hawaiian and Native Alaskan populations, nearly all Americans and their ancestors immigrated to the United States.
Faith Fact
In a 2013 survey, 56% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives” — a larger number than any other wealthy nation.
Country Profile
Population: 320 million
Major Religions: 47% Protestant, 23% unaffiliated, 21% Catholic, 6% other
Languages: 82% English, 11% Spanish, various others
Literacy: 99%
Poverty: 16%
Ministry service area:
Campus Ambassadors
Ministry location:
, United States