Our Staff |
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Nate Lanzon
Nate is a recent graduate of Colorado Christian University with a degree in youth ministry, and is now a junior high pastor in Mesa, Arizona. His hobbies and interests include wakeboarding, snowboarding, downhill longboarding, and just about anything outdoors.
Nate came to know God when he was a sophomore in high school, with Ryan Faris as his youth pastor. Shortly thereafter is when he decided he wanted to figure out how to combine his two passions in life, God and wakeboarding. This is how Wake Up Ministries came to be. He loves introducing people to the world of wakeboarding, and he enjoys growing and promoting the sport wherever he can. Providing people with the opportunity to share in his passion is Nate’s way of reaching out and serving the community. He loves sharing with others the amazing and crazy things God has done in his life, and is determined to show others what God can do in their lives. |
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Ryan Faris
Ryan Faris is a husband and father of two children. He and his four-year-old son do everything together. Throughout his ministry career (since 2000) he has been a youth pastor, teaching pastor, and a church-planter. His goal in life is to do everything God-related, and have fun doing it.
Ryan’s favorite name for a band is either “Nothing Rhymes With Orange” or “Everything Rhymes With Orange.” One day he plans to start this band with Nate and make it a Backstreet Boys spin off. His favorite hobbies/sports include motocross, surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding, football, and basketball. His favorite quote is, “Every ghetto has a mansion” by 2Pac, his favorite movie is 300, and his favorite TV show is The Office. |
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Brandon Woodward
Brandon is a recent graduate of Arizna State University with a degree in aerospace engineering; he plans to be the first person to skate on the moon. He currently attends Central Christian Church of the East Valley where he is very involved in both the college group and junior high ministry. He recently married his high school sweetheart, Amy, and they are happily living together in Gilbert, Arizona. He’s into any type of board sport including snowboarding, wakeboarding, longboarding, skateboarding, skimboarding, and surfing (still need some work on this one though). Even though he’s pretty good at most of these, he’s even better at falling down while doing them. And although he’s got the “book smarts”, you would never know it based upon his stupid one liners, laid back attitude and constant dorky smile.
He grew up “going to church”, but didn’t truly find God until his sophomore year of high school. He started going to Christ’s Church of Fountain Hills as a freshman for the same reason that most 15 year old males do… a good lookin Christian girl that goes there. It didn’t take long for him to meet some cool cats like Nate and Ryan who helped him to realize that this whole God thing was much bigger than just “going” to church. Since then He’s developed more of a relationship with God than he could have ever thought possible, and realized that through God there is nothing that he can’t do. |
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Marie Lanzon
Marie Lanzon is a pediatric nurse practitioner and has enjoyed working with children and adolescents throughout her nursing career. Her interest in helping kids and families address today’s challenges led her to return to school to obtain a degree in counseling. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in nursing from Arizona State University and a Master’s degree in counseling from Ottawa University. She is a certified parenting instructor and has enjoyed working with parents to improve their relationships with their children and teens. Marie has an interest in helping children and teens develop a spiritual foundation and strong faith to guide them through life. Her current employment is at Children’s Rehabilitative Services in Phoenix working with children of all ages who have special needs involving physical, emotional, or cognitive development.
Marie has been a volunteer for the Court Appointed Special Advocate program since 2004. Her work in this area has led to an interest in helping foster children find permanency and alternatives to foster care. She is on the board of directors of Hope Village, a nonprofit organization created to help foster children find permanent adoptive homes in a planned intergenerational community. |
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| Wake Up Ministries seeks to use water sports as a means of building fellowship and community while spreading the message of Jesus Christ. |
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Wake Up Ministries
15104 Sage Drive
Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 |
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