Brice was born September 9, 1983; he is two minutes older than his twin brother, Blake. Brice gave his life over to Christ sometime in middle school, but it wasn’t until his freshman year of college that his faith really took off. He was accepted into Texas A&M’s school of engineering, and he had planned to room with his best friend from high school. When those plans fell through, he went pot luck and ended up with a strong Christian roommate. That roommate told him about a Christian camp called Impact that was put on by Christian students at A&M; the camp encouraged freshmen to have a solid foundation in Christ. Brice fell madly in love with the Lord during his Impact camp experience, and it changed his priorities forever. The summer before Brice’s senior year of college, he landed an internship at his dream engineering company. By the end of the summer, the company had offered him a job. After returning to school that Fall, Brice began wrestling with a desire to teach the Word. He sought wisdom from a mentor who suggested he start a Bible study on campus. During the Bible study, Brice felt an even greater call into ministry. Finally, he couldn’t fight the desire anymore, and he submitted to following what looked like a call. Once he had committed to the ministry, he receieved the formal contract for the engineering company that night. He turned it down.

Jeni was born February 5, 1983. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she and her mom moved in with her grandparents. She grew up very close to her grandparents, so she was devestated when her grandmother passed away the day before the Senior prom. Jeni moved away to college that next Fall, but she was very depressed. She had made the college dance team, and one of the girls on the dance team shared the Gospel with her. Jeni had heard it all before, but there was something different about hearing the Gospel that time; there was so much hope offered in a time when she was at rock bottom. Jeni wrestled with the idea of God for about a year. She tried partying away the pain with her new college friends, but it never made her feel any better. On the one year anniversary of her grandmother’s death, Jeni helped plan a party in the dorm, hoping to forget the grief. The next morning, she felt more depressed than ever and finally gave her life over to Christ, begging him to fix the pain. Jeni moved home from college that summer and began waiting tables at Chili’s. Her trainer at Chili’s turned out to be a Christian and became a wonderful discipler. Jeni was baptized on October 13, 2002.

Brice and Jeni were both part of the college Sunday school class at Houston’s First Baptist Church, and they met during a local mission project. They began dating during the Fall of 2003 and got engaged June 2004. They were married May 21, 2005. They both were still finishing up college at the time. Jeni graduated from the University of Houston in 2006 with a degree in history and journalism. Brice graduated May 2007 with his degree in mechanical engineering. They moved up to Louisville for Brice to pursue Seminary in July 2007. They both love board games, beaches and their Beagle, Calvin.

Mike was born on September 4, 1981. He grew up in south Minneapolis and was raised in a Catholic home. In high school, he began to question the church and its validity. He quit attending services and began studying other faiths. He sided with eastern philosophy, leaning more towards atheism and agnosticism. Mike went off to college at Minnesota State University and fell completely in love with Christ during his freshman year. He was 19. Mike then got involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. He graduated from MNSU in 2005, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. He taught K-12 Music in the public schools for two years. He is now a Masters student in the Billy Graham School at SBTS, studying to be a pastor.

Julie was born on July 7, 1983 and was raised in a small town in southwest Minnesota. She grew up in a Christian home and accepted Christ at the age of four. In sixth grade, Julie went through a time of rebellion but was wowed at the things of God during church camp that summer. She recommitted her life to Jesus at camp. Julie went to a small Christian college for two years, majoring in Math education. When she realized she truly had a desire for Speech Pathology, she had to transfer to MNSU. She ended up graduating with her Masters degree from MNSU in Speech Pathology and currently works at the Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Center as a Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist.

Mike and Julie met at MNSU in 2003. Both were heavily involved in the music department. Mike was in the process of trying to ask a girl out when the girl’s friend (Julie) walked up during the conversation. Mike suddenly forgot all about what he was doing when he saw Julie! Mike and Julie officially began dating November 16, 2003, and they were married July 23, 2005. They both love reading the Harry Potter books and spending time with Gloria, their cat. Mike is always up for a game of Ping Pong. Julie is pregnant with their first child, and she’s due at the end of October.

Adam Panisiak grew up Catholic, but his family was invited to a Baptist church by neighbors when he was 15 years old. At that time, Adam really came to know the Lord and gave his life over to Him. At community college, his BSU director encouraged him to go to Boyce. Adam is nearly finished with his degree. He has been a deputy sheriff for the past three years, and he works as a security supervisor for the Seminary. Adam loves to serve people and the community and is a volunteer firefighter. He’s also got some crazy awesome Lego skills.

Anna’s full name is really Rebecca Anna Panisiak. She grew up in a loving, godly home and became a Christian at the age of six. Anna has an older brother named Alan, and they were both homeschooled. She is a hostess at J. Alexander’s, but she has dreams to maybe someday design a modest line of clothing. Her absolute dream job, however, is to be a stay-at-home mom.

Adam was 24, and Anna was 16 when they first met. Because of the age difference, they were slow to admit feelings for one another, but, once they did, Adam began meeting with Anna’s father weekly. Adam usually went to Anna’s house for lunch on Sundays where he was grilled about his intentions toward Anna. Adam received permission to marry Anna, and he planned a proposal the day before her 18th birthday. Adam got Anna to Broadus Chapel by telling her he needed to “help” a friend get engaged. She went along, totally clueless, and waited in the chapel while Adam went to “help.” Anna heard some clanking and looked up, seeing a knight in front of her. She immediately assumed it was the man who was proposing that evening. She was right; she just didn’t realize it was HER man who was proposing. She finally recognized him as Adam when she saw his shoes, and she gladly accepted her knight-in-shining-armor’s proposal. They were married June 10, 2006.

Will is on track to graduate from SBTS’ Billy Graham School in December 2008. He feels called to be a minister of missions. He graduated from Texas A&M in 2004 with a degree in Economics and began Seminary at Southwestern. He transferred to SBTS last semester. Will loves people, traveling, learning about different cultures, and teasing his twin sister, CeCe. He came to Christ when he was 13 years old and felt a calling to the ministry early on. One of his favorite ministries is Operation Christmas Child, which he’s volunteered with since high school. He is crazy talented in baseball and is always up for an outing to the Slugger Museum. He’s worked at Starbucks for the past two years, and he drinks his coffee black.

Jenny is a Lead Teacher and head over toddler curriculum at The Gardner School in the Lyndon area. She works with 18-24 month olds. She graduated from Baylor University in 2004 with a Family Consumer Science degree (Home Ec, as she calls it). Though she won’t admit it, Jenny has talents in singing, dancing, and painting. She loves decorating, hosting, and family traditions. Jenny grew up in a strong Christian family and remembers a love for Jesus in her heart at an early age. She’s the youngest of three girls, and her dad was a pro football player (His name is Gary Hammond, if you want to Google him). Her second cousin is Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, and she loves that Will has a beard.

Will and Jenny are both from Plano, Texas (near Dallas). They met in high school at a local Wendy’s and started dating their sophomore year. They got engaged in 2003 at the top of the Empire State Building. They were married in February 2005. After they married, they joined the Heights Church in Plano, which is where Jessica Simpson grew up. The Crums found out they were expecting a baby just before Christmas, and they are beyond excited. They find out if they are having a boy or girl next month, and Jenny is due August 20th.

Last week we had the opportunity to learn from Dan and Jen Born of how God has shown himself faithful in and through their lives and marriage. With Dan and Jen, we begin a new tradition of spotlighting couples on our site who have shared with us in class. Now, introducing Dan and Jen…

You’ll know Jennifer Anne Born by her curly red hair. She’s the baby of her family and was raised in Oklahoma. Growing up, she got involved in a youth group and submitted her life to Christ when she was 17. Jen attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas. After graduation, she accepted a job with Exxon in Houston. She became a member of Houston’s First Baptist Church (HFBC) where she met Dan.

Jen is currently a Software Developer for Zappos.com. She’s older than Dan by seven months, a fact Dan doesn’t let her forget! Jen starts off each morning with a cup of decaf tea. She loves to read and knit, and she’s always up to grabbing an Icee after church.

Daniel Ferris Born is a foot taller than his wife. Like Jen, he is also the baby of his family. He was baptized at the age of seven but entered a period of rebellion as a teenager. He attended a Baptist college but was still giving into a life of partying and running from God. Following a serious car accident and a close call with DUI charges, Dan turned back to Jesus. He then got involved in ministry on his college campus. After graduation, he landed an internship at HFBC and met Jen in the singles department there. Once married, Dan gave up a banking career to begin seminary at Southwestern’s Houston campus. He attended Southwestern for a year before he and Jen made the move to Louisville for Southern. Dan currently works at the James P. Boyce Centennial Library as a bindery assistant. He loves reading, fly fishing, and getting dragged to fabric stores by Jen.

Dan and Jen were in the same small group at HFBC. They quickly became friends following some deep discussions on The Purpose Driven Life. One fine day, Dan ran his car into a curb going 60mph in a 35mph zone. Because of his broken car, Dan needed a ride to a church event that night. He purposely set it up so he’d land a ride from Jen. Dan and Jen officially began dating in July 2004 after Dan made his intentions clear in the parking lot of Late Night Pie. Two weeks into dating, Dan declared his love for Jen, and, in January 2005, Dan proposed in a poem. They were married on May 7, 2005 and moved to Louisville in June 2006.