Our Stories

There’s freedom in that.

“There’s freedom in that.”  If you found Kimmie serving at Northwoods, that is what she would tell you.  She would tell you that God has the power to free you from your past.  She would tell you that God wants all of His children to walk in freedom.  She would tell you her story.  Kimmie’s…Read More

His last chance was to give his life to Christ. If that didn’t work, then nothing would.

Rock bottom means something different to everyone. For teenager Andrew Langenstsein, it meant a two-year battle with anxiety and depression that took him on a rollercoaster ride to places darker than most of us can imagine. Three years ago, Andrew was both excited and nervous about starting his freshman year at Richwoods High School. He…Read More

God, you gotta help me with this.

Bobbie Colgan practiced praying for other members of her Doing What Jesus Did (DWJD) class at Northwoods church. She specifically remembers being taught the acronym T.A.B.—Thank, Ask, Bless.   Little did she know, her practice would be put to the test when she arrived at a local hospital to show support for a friend and his family,…Read More

Tomorrow is going to be a good day.

Mike Bell had never experienced the sort of prayer he encountered 22 years ago when the Northwoods elders laid hands on him.    “That type of praying was foreign here,” said Mike, who now serves the church as senior executive pastor. “Nobody had ever prayed like that for me.”    The elders were praying for Mike because a doctor had recently found…Read More

I was ready to grow.

When Angela Grafelman signed up for the Alpha Course, she did not realize the people she met would have such a profound impact on her life. By this time, Angela had been attending Northwoods for a couple of months and wanted her church experience to include more than weekend services. “Pastor Cal preached about stepping…Read More

I got really angry at God.

Tiffiny was never opposed to Christianity; it’s just that no one had ever invited her in. That changed several years ago when someone handed her a ticket to the Northwoods Christmas production. While enjoying the program, Tiffiny heard Pastor Cal talk about Jesus and was intrigued enough to start attending Northwoods regularly. She soon found…Read More

I thought Christianity was kind of dumb.

Jeff thought he was checking off all the right boxes. He was baptized as a baby. He was married in a church. And he never missed attending service on Easter and Christmas. But going any deeper into Christianity definitely wasn’t his thing. “I thought believers suffered from a lack of intelligence,” Jeff recalls. “I would…Read More