Meet The Team

Meet the ragamuffin crew of 15 that is making the mission trip to a teenage orphanage in Yurievets, Russia. Most of us are inexperienced in this kind of thing and a lot of us don’t feel too much older than the kids at the orphanage. But what we lack in experience we make up in passion. We are all super stoked to go and to have such a great team…maybe except for that Marshall guy.

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Andy Marshall
(K2 Teaching Guru and Trip Guide)

Andy is a wild adventurer! He’s climbed Mt Rainier; been sneezed on by an elephant, ice climbed the north face of Mt Whitney, and kayaked portions of the Colorado River. On the weekends you can find him enjoying snowboarding, fly-fishing, picnicking with his family or simply laying in the sun. His nick name while growing up was Spanky, and he repeated kindergarten twice (he’s twice as smart now!). Andy once rode a unicycle (very poorly), but now ultimately prefers long motorcycle rides with his wife. This will be his third trip to the Yurievets area and he’s looking forward to the bedbugs.

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Eric Lindquist
(Nuclear Prayer Warrior and Co-Trip Guide)

Born in Jamestown, NY, home of Lucille Ball and 10,000 Maniacs, Eric has lived called Salt Lake City home for the past 12 years. Eric is married (to Sabina) and has two young children, Matthew (4), and Sarah (7). Eric works for a company that makes prescription sunglass lenses. In his spare time he plays the bass guitar at K2 the Church and with Andrew Goldring and the Rosedale Power company. Eric once ran over his bass guitar (accidentally) with a Chevy Van. The bass miraculously survived the ordeal. Eric is on the prayer and curriculum teams for the trip to Yurievets. This is his second mission trip.

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Ian Walters
(Official Tough Dude and Trip Comic Relief)

A pilot by day and drummer by night, Ian is always sure to carry his personal “black box” on him every day. Rest assured that Ian will never stall, simply because his spirits lift everyone else’s. Adventurous by nature, he’s always got his eyes on the horizon and is looking for life’s next barrel roll. He’s looking forward to going to Russia as it’s not too far away from his last mission in Thailand. The only difference this time, Ian, is that there won’t be any elephants to taunt. This is his second time to Russia!

 

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Zach Galanis
(Freelance International Soccer Player)

The youngest commercial real estate agent in Utah at age 22, Zach is already making plans for Galanis Towers. So Donald Trump better watch out! Zach also helps lead YoungLife in Salt Lake City. In case you didn’t know, YoungLife is one of those student organizations that requires zany-brained leaders with an uncanny ability to not get embarrassed. Hence Zach’s bio picture. Zach is helping lead the curriculum team, and this will be his second foreign mission trip.

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Ben and Taryn Wolf
(Cinematography Boy and Grip Girl)

Since moving to Salt Lake City in July, Taryn had only lived in towns that began with the letter “W” (Wooster, Wilmore, Wheaton). Her first video experience was 2 years ago when her husband gave her a 30 second lesson and said “Gotta go, the service is starting!” She’s been hooked ever since, although still rarely knows what she’s doing. Taryn enjoys playing piano and baking bread in her spare time. She’s never been to Russia, but spent 2 weeks visiting one of its near and dear neighbors, Kyrgyzstan.

Ben works as a video editor, but is secretly a gourmet chef. He can work his magic on anything from ribs to pork loin to pizza. He loves to experiment and come up with creative concoctions. Just don’t get too attached to the taste, because whether you like it or not, it will never be repeated. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking for friends and wood carving. He has never been to Russia, but is secretly looking forward to the bedbugs that Andy talks so highly about.

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Keith and Sheri Kreuz
(Picasso Inspired Creative Directors – aka Crafts Teams)

Ohio-farm-boy Keith met California-beach-girl Sheri through a dating service, and they will be celebrating their 50th anniversary on January 8th, 2049. (Lord willing). Their marriage mantra – “We’re on an adventure!” – has taken them many places together, so now they’re trekking around the globe to hang out with Sasha, Sergey, Ksenia, Hamzat, and the rest of God’s beloved at Yurievets. Sheri is Keith’s “Knitting Queen,” and she can be found Friday morning’s with her knitting buddies at Coffee Garden; Keith never met a scone he did not love, and also journeys to Coffee Garden on Fridays … for the scones. At 47 years young, it appears that they will be the elder statespersons on this trip, so hopefully the team will find great comfort in their wise counsel, sage advice, orneriness, frivolity, old-fart jokes, and overall silliness.

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Dave Fuelling
(Production Writer and Keeper of Interesting Facts)

David Fuelling spent the first 30 years of his life in Michigan, before moving to salt lake city in early 2007. He is married to the love of his life, Lenee, and they have an amazing son named Jackson (who, incidentally, likes to pretend he’s about to give you whatever he’s holding, then pull back at the last minute and run away). David is a technology geek (at least according to his wife) who would rather watch a discovery channel expose on the NSA, over a football game. David enjoys history, along with conversations containing a smattering of politics, current events, and random useless facts. He is also fluent in English, and can have perfectly normal conversations in Russian with most American one year-olds, mainly because he enjoys learning new words. This is his first time to Yurievets.

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Kate Mecham
(Hot Glue Gun Queen and Sequins Coordinator – aka Another Craft Team Guru)

Kate is a 21 year old student at the University of Utah. She’s in her junior year at the U studying Political Science, minoring in French and Economics, and living on Ramen (ummm, it’s tasty). In her spare time she likes to sing and play the piano and is trying to pick up the guitar (ooohh, it’s heavy). If she can’t have the ocean in her back yard, the Rocky Mountains are the next best thing and enjoys hiking and skiing, kayaking, rock climbing and interpretive meadow dancing. Kate has been attending K2 for a little over two years now and considers it her church home. She studied a little Russian in high school (he was about 6 inches tall), and is pumped to go on her first missions trip!

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Benjamin Rogers
(Multi-talented Missions Boy and Cultural Expert)

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Shannon Rogers
(Russian Drama Producer and Stage Manager)

Shannon was born and raised Circleville, Ohio, home of the world-famous “Pumpkin Show”. She’s lived in Utah for more than four years now, and can’t decide whether her favorite thing about her state is the mountains of the north, the red rock of the south, or her job as K2’s Weekend Service Producer. Shannon caught the Russia bug from her roommate Amy, who has been to Russia four times with Children’s HopeChest. Speaking of bugs and roommates, Shannon will be getting a new roommate at the end of the summer, after she marries Matt on August 1. In her spare time this spring, you may find her buying everything from centerpieces and tulle to bug spray (to avoid the bug-bitten bridal look, which according to the bridal magazines – is NOT in style this season).

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Quinn McCann
(Linguistics Expert)

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Meg Combe
(Full Contact Recreation Specialist)

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Lisa Scheidt
(Technical Advisor on Recreational Games)

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