Pastor Terry Abbott and his wife, Janelle, along with their 3 children, Jennifer, Jamie and Jeremy, came to River of Life Assembly in September of 2003.  Pastor Terry has a passion for the gospel in shoe leather.  He wants to see the good news of Jesus Christ walked out in the lives of all who call River of Life Assembly their home church.  His favorite things are fishing, hunting, golf and computers. 

As Joel learns more and more about Life Skills through questions, conversations, and seeing first hand the results of the curriculum being used to heal people’s lives, the more his passion for the class grows. He continues to fall in love with the way God is using it to restore people from their reactive lives which are caused by their experiences in the past. He relates it to being delivered from the negative times in his own life. He was looking for a ministry, a mission, if you will, that he could get involved in, and feels this is it.

Pastor Les Haarstad has been the Pastor at Lyle Celebration Center since 1981. Since that time he has been very involved in a variety of ministries throughout the Mid Columbia. He became a member of our Board in September 2015, and is currently our chairman. We so appreciate his insight and guidance as we strive to improve the Life Skills outreach to those who are hurting and don’t know why. He sees the Life Skills curriculum as a tool for people to use in their quest to “Live Life to the Full”.

Chad is a graduate of Multnomah. He has started / pastored a church in the past, and has now found yet another way to help people find answers for their lives, being the HR manager for a large firm in Sherman County. He is a very accomplished marketer, and enjoys getting the word out about opportunities that he is interested in. He brings a lot of wisdom and insight to our Board of Directors, and we are thankful that he decided to help guide us through the process of meeting the needs of the hurting men, women, and children of our area.

I have a desire to see men become whole and healthy!  I truly believe that one of the most rewarding things I get to be a part of is watching the lights come on in a man's eyes where there was no light left before Life Skills.  It keeps me going.  I bring many years of experience in Human Relations to the Center.  If you want to know more about this program and how it can help you, your family, work, and or business, I would be honored to share with you the vision of what Life Skills can do for you. 

What doesn't Ellen do? She keeps us all on our toes keeping us organized and things running smoothly! She represents the Center at our local community meetings. She LOVES doing what she does and it shows. We are so glad to have Ellen on our team!

Julie's love for people and seeing them come to wholeness is evident in all she does. She has compassion for the women she facilitates and leads with integrity.

Marnette’s own life story and choice to live the truths she has gained through Life Skills, have contributed to her living life as an over-comer today! As a facilitator, her passion is to have the courageous women in her classes discover these very same truths. Nothing compares to seeing her students begin to unlock the lies that have long held them captive. Watching as each one begins to walk in freedom, living life fully with the knowledge that each day holds promise and a hope for the future…this is the thrill and joy of being a facilitator for her. Marnette has a background and variety of experiences as an educator. In her current day job, she thrives as a reading assistant, working in a local elementary school. 

Craig has been dedicated to helping people for many years. With over 25 years in the ministry, he was a youth minister, regional youth director, school teacher, private school principal, and presently a pastor. His desire to assist people better their lives is a driving passion.

Barb has worked in Social Services for over 25 years and is a certified Professional Life Coach. She moved to the Columbia River Gorge area in 1987 and is a Core member for the Sanctuary Team for Self Sufficiency. Barb was raised in the South and has experiences much like some of her customers. She says she feels everything that happens to us is a gift because we can learn so much from the experience that will allow us to help others. Barb says her heart is full of gratitude for the opportunity to attend the "Learning to Live, Learning to Love" course and feels honored and humbled to help share the material with others.

John attended his first Phase 1 class in July, 2011. Since then, he has gone from wondering (out loud) if this is for real, to becoming a very outspoken believer in the Life Skills curriculum. He can’t hardly get in a conversation without telling a man how it helps the broken and hurting people of the Mid Columbia find reasons for their actions, and deal with those root causes to achieve healing in their lives and relationships. He is a prolific facilitator, having taught several Men’s Phase one classes and a Phase two class. We are extremely fortunate to have him as one of our facilitators.