Pastor Craig Janson
I was born in New York State but grew up in the St. George, Utah area. During my first year at a community college, I met my wife, Janine who was a Utah native, and three years later we were married. Several months later we became involved with some business partners and it was through these friends that we were introduced to Jesus Christ. We recognized that without God’s redeeming payment for our sins, we would be eternally separated from Him… So, in January of 1993, Janine and I came to trust Jesus Christ as our personal Savior from the judgment of sin.
We went about looking for a church to attend, and through Gods guidance we found a wonderful church near our home in St. George, Utah. The closer we grew to the Lord the more active we became in our local church. We were offered, and accepted, many opportunities to nurture our spiritual gifts and through these opportunities, God eventually led me in the direction of pursuing a pastoral ministry. As God led, we began to take steps in that direction.
Janine and I have two children (Andrew and Amanda) who both love the Lord and have been very flexible and open to God’s call in our life as a family, and in their own lives. We answered God’s call to minister at River Valley Bible Church in Mesquite, Nevada in February of 2007. It has been exciting to watch God work in our lives and those we are ministering to, and we are equally excited to see what the future holds.
Youth Pastor Benjamin Keller
I was born on the East Coast and spent the first six years of my life there. It was during these years that I made the decision to put my trust in Christ’s death on the cross as the payment for my sins. When I was six years old my family moved to Japan for my Dad’s job and we spent the next 8 years there. We moved to Hong Kong for my first two years of high school and then to Colorado where I finished my last two years of high school.
After I graduated I decided to go on a missions trip to Uganda with my church, and while on that missions trip I met some amazing people from Frontier School of the Bible and realized that I needed to grow in my relationship with God, so I decided to attend that Bible college. While I was studying there I felt the Lord leading me into ministry, specifically with youth. It was through doing youth ministry that I met my wife Jo.
After graduating in 2019, we got married and moved down to Mesquite, NV to do a year long youth internship at River Valley Bible Church. During that year it became clear to us that Mesquite was where God wanted us to serve. We are excited to see how God continues to use us in this ministry!