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My name is Emily Armentrout. I am currently an Adapted Physical Education Teacher at Freedom Acres (Ionia ISD) in Ionia. I work with students ages 3-26 with a wide range of abilities including Cerebral Palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Emotional Impairments. I have a passion for inclusion and teach my students that they too can accomplish all things. [Click the title to read Emily's story.]

My Name is Steve Anthony; I am a husband and father of 2 little angels in Heaven and 1 soon to be on Earth. My Catholic life did not start for me until I met my Wife (dating at the time) Annie, who is a devout Catholic and comes from a family of devout Catholics. She made it clear to me that she would want to raise a family Catholic and because Catholicism is part of Christianity, I was ok with that concept. I did not know how important it would become in my life. [Click the title to read Steve's story.]

My name is Sarah Beckham-Marshall and I am a wife, mother of 2, and licensed mortician in the state of Michigan. Since before I can remember I have been fascinated by theology and how we experience the Divine. I was raised Baptist, but felt myself being pulled to some faith unknown at a young age. I always felt a pull towards the Catholic Church and to Our Blessed Mother, especially in my own motherhood, but never fully committed to conversion. [Click the title to read Sarah's story}

My name is Markus Martin, I am new to Catholic faith. [Markus is a Catechumen who will receive Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil] I was drawn to the Catholic religion for the understanding of strong faith and living life through God's Word and teachings. I am looking forward to being baptized and becoming a member of Saint Andrew's church. Some of my hobbies are art, spending time with my kids and family. I also enjoy going to the gym and traveling. I am looking forward to meeting more people from the church.

I’m Andrea Parunak, a homeschooling mom of eight (soon to be nine!) children, who loves reading, ballet, and gluten-free dessert. I was a life-long, committed evangelical, who studied linguistics and Hebrew in college with a special interest in Bible translation work. But as I went on in my faith, I struggled with an uneasy hunger to go deeper with God. I wanted to know God intimately and be transformed by him. [Click the title to read more.]

Hi, my name is Colton Mallouk. I’m currently a medical school applicant and am working at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor. I’m a pilot, scuba diver, hiker, and I pretty much love doing anything outdoors.  Religious studies has always been a huge interest to me. I grew up in a Christian home and attended a Presbyterian church on Sundays and went to a Baptist elementary school. [Click picture to read more.]

Hey there! My name is Michael Paruank and I am so thankful to become a part of the St. Andrew family. This past year has been a time of learning and growing for me. I went from believing Catholicism was a false religion to being received into the church this week. In October of 2019, my dad went to our local library and picked up a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. [Click picture to read more.]

Hi! My name is Carissa, and I am so, SO excited to be entering the Church! About a year and a half ago now, I started to feel like God wanted His Church to be unified, not only in heart but also in mind, in belief (Philippians 2:2, 1 Corinthians 1:10). But, I told Him that because we all have to read the Bible for ourselves, that was impossible, and I dared Him to show me how we were supposed to be one if that’s what He really wanted. [Click picture to read more.]