Introductions: Joshua Heussner, Admin Assistant

Hello friends! I am excited to be here. This is the church I grew up in and my sister Emily previously served as the admin assistant here. Lake Mills is a wonderful little community and I am looking forward to growing some roots here. A little bit about me: I left Wisconsin around 2010 and moved to Portland, OR. That is where my brother Rob and his family live. We developed a startup business in producing alternatives to kid’s participation trophies. While living there, I found a home at Westside UMC. Soon after watching the movie “Yes Man”, I was invited to join the church choir and I became a youth ministries leader. I also built up a street ministry serving the homeless population in downtown Portland. Later I became the admin assistant and served alongside Pastor Brian Shimer for four years. He allowed me to experiment a lot and I greatly improved on how the congregation communicates there. Life was pretty good, but I got entrapped in a very unhealthy relationship. Jesus rescued me (my personal exodus from Egypt) and since that day I have been following him fully. In wanting to challenge the status quo on faith, I gave away everything I owned and I set out to Idaho with nothing but a backpack. I didn’t know anyone there, but God provided everything for me. I was invited into every job and every place I lived. It was quite the adventure with a lot of challenges. There was a great deal of trials and tribulation, but also just as many opportunities to overcome and grow in strength and courage. One might say I passed through the refining fires and survived well. I moved back to Lake Mills to be closer to family and to recover from everything I went through. It is a great joy to reconnect with old friends and classmates. I also look forward to becoming reacquainted with each one of you. And I hope I can be a great asset to your ministries here.