Brian Aulick

Lead Pastor

Brian is Engedi’s lead pastor and teacher. Before he came to Engedi, Brian was the pastor of young adults at Central Wesleyan Church for five years. He received his Bachelor of Science in business from Indiana University in 1997 and his Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 2000. He and his wife, Christina, have two sons, Jared and Evan, and a daughter, Kaylyn.

Brian loves reading, coffee shops, various styles of music and practical jokes. He claims to be able to hold his breath for almost three minutes, which may explain a few things.

Get in touch with Brian.
Find him on Facebook.

Josh Blom

Director | Worship

Josh is Engedi’s director of worship. He coordinates the worship and tech teams for Sunday worship gatherings, where he can usually be found onstage behind guitar, keys or squeezebox. After receiving a degree in religion from Hope College, Josh served as the worship director and youth pastor for a church in New Jersey.

He and his wife Erika enjoy playing music together, drinking coffee and hanging out outdoors with their dog, Laney. Josh loves playing board games, yard games and pretty much anything competitive. Foosball, anyone?

Get in touch with Josh.
Find him on Facebook.

Bill Bredemeier

Director | Administration

Bill is Engedi’s director of administration, but everyone knows him as The Budget Curmudgeon. Before being called to Engedi as a full-time volunteer, Bill owned two businesses (one in Zeeland, Michigan, and the other in Chicago) and specialized in sales, marketing, financial bookkeeping and general management. With a Bachelor of Science in economics from Denison University and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Bill is excited to bring his business experience and expertise to Engedi.

Bill has been married to Barbara since 1974, and has two sons, two daughters-in-law and twin grandchildren, Kate and Lucy. Bill is a proud granddaddy!

Get in touch with Bill.

Tonia Bybee

Coordinator | e/kids

Tonia is Engedi’s e/kids coordinator and assists Jenni in overseeing the children’s ministries. She was a licensed foster care provider for three years before deciding to use her passion for God’s children within the local church.

Tonia and her husband Shane have three daughters—Madison, Regan and McKinley—and a son, Ford. Tonia enjoys skiing, traveling and attending her children’s activities.

Get in touch with Tonia.
Find her on Facebook.

Mary Dykstra

Administrative Assistant

Mary is Engedi’s administrative assistant. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Doug, and is a mom to three amazing children. In the last few years her family has added both a beautiful daughter-in-law and a wonderful son-in-law. Mary has held various volunteer ministry positions as well as staff positions, but her passion is discipleship. She is excited and honored to serve at Engedi.

She loves to read and run, and loves Michigan summers!

Get in touch with Mary.
Find her on Facebook.

Jeff Konfara

Young Adults Coordinator

Jeff is Engedi’s coordinator of young adult ministries. He is fascinated by the major decisions many young adults make between the ages of 18 and 29, and feels privileged to have influential conversations with college students as well as post-college young adults. Jeff graduated from Hope College with a bachelor’s degree in business management and from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary with a master’s degree in counseling. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Counselor Education at Western Michigan University, and hopes to someday teach at the college level.

Jeff is married to Lindsey, and has two boys: Gabriel Preston and Elijah Peyton. In his free time Jeff enjoys playing tennis, watching NFL football and eating Qdoba burritos!

Get in touch with Jeff.
Find him on Facebook.

Lindsey Konfara

Coordinator | Kid’s Hope

Lindsey is Engedi’s Kids Hope coordinator. She strongly believes in the positive impact mentoring can have on a child’s life. While studying communications at Hope College, she never thought she would marry her good friend, Jeff, but God had other plans. They married two years later, and now Lindsey enjoys being a mom to their sons, Gabriel and Elijah.

Lindsey loves living close to Lake Michigan and enjoys reading, journaling, baking and the sense of satisfaction after a good workout or a thorough vacuuming. (Her four sisters claim she is a bit of a neat freak.)

Get in touch with Lindsey.
Find her on Facebook.

Karen Kinne

Facilities Manager

Karen is Engedi’s facilities manager. She works hard making sure things are clean and in working order. Karen writes a daily blog and loves to rollerblade. She enjoys walking on the beach with her dog, Izzy, hoping to meet the thousands of other people walking the beach at sunset. She has developed a product for scrap booking and is patiently waiting on her patent. She is single and has three adult children (proving that you can survive the teen years).

Get in touch with Karen.
Find her on Facebook.

Johnny McKenna

Director | Students

Johnny is Engedi’s director of students, where he oversees middle school and high school ministries. He graduated from Cornerstone University with a bachelor’s degree in Bible and youth ministry. He has a passion for helping students take the next step in their faith and deepen their relationship with Christ.

He also has an affinity for graphic design, a slight obsession with fonts, and hair that you won’t find anywhere else in Holland. Johnny is married to his wonderful wife Amanda, who has a passion for student ministry as well. They both enjoy music, dancing, Lemonjello’s coffee and snowboarding in the winter.

Get in touch with Johnny.
Find him on Facebook.
Follow him on Twitter.

Jason Ruggles

Director | Communications

Jason is Engedi’s director of communications. He makes sure people know what’s going on and tries to keep communications looking awesome. Jason has been doing visual arts for eight years in both business and church settings. Before moving to Holland, he spent a year using these gifts to further God’s work in Bangkok, Thailand, and throughout southeast Asia with his wife, April. They welcomed their first child, Gwen, in July 2011.

Jason loves the outdoors, design and reading books. If he could, he would read books about design while outdoors.

Get in touch with Jason.
Find him on Facebook.

Jenni Sandstedt

Director | e/kids

Jenni is Engedi’s e/kids director. She oversees the children’s ministries for nursery through 5th grade. Jenni has 14 years of experience in child development that began at Lake Superior State University, where she majored in early childhood education. She and her husband Nate have four sons—Jakob, Logan, Brayden and Grant—and a daughter, Ella Ruth.

In her spare time Jenni enjoys reading, shopping and connecting with friends. One of her biggest talents as a mother of five is actually finding spare time.

Get in touch with Jenni.
Find her on Facebook.

Bob Wollam

Director | Community Life, Missional Life

Bob is Engedi’s director of community life and missional life. Bob graduated from Calvin College with a degree in history and education. After finding out that the world may not need another history teacher, he moved on to serve as a pastor at a church in Caledonia, Michigan, for a few years before moving to Holland to attend Western Theological Seminary full-time. He is married to his beautiful wife Lindsey; they have a son, Cooper John, and a daughter, Emerson Jane.

Bob’s loves music, books, writing and any sports team from Ohio. Rumor has it his skin is impervious to bullets; we’re still not sure if it’s true.

Get in touch with Bob.

Kerry Boyce

Intern | e/kids

Kerry is an intern at Engedi, where she helps with e/kids. She is a junior at Hope College, studying sociology and youth ministry in preparation for a future career in social work. Kerry is from Libertyville, Illinois.

Kerry enjoys making music videos with friends and family, and doing gymnastics. She says she can touch her tongue to her nose and walk on her hands for a good amount of time, but we’re not entirely sure she can do both at the same time.

Rachel Immink

Intern | Students

Rachel is an intern at Engedi, where she helps with the middle school ministry, SUBVERT. Rachel is a senior at Hope College; she is pursuing a composite major in elementary education and science, with a minor in math. Rachel is from nearby Hamilton, Michigan.

For more than a decade, Rachel showed sheep at the county fair, which doesn’t sound all that hard to us. (“Look at this sheep.”) Now she likes running and exercise more than she likes ewe.

Heather Smith

Intern | Missional Life

Heather is an intern at Engedi, where she helps with missional life. A senior at Hope College, Heather is studying psychology, ministry and religion. She hails from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Heather says she’s horrible at most sports, but that doesn’t stop her from swimming, though. (Non-competitively. Recreational swimming isn’t a sport.)

Ryan Tussey

Intern | Students

Ryan is an intern at Engedi, where he helps with the high school ministry, SYNC. A Hope College senior, Ryan is majoring in psychology and minoring in youth ministry. He is from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

He’s a lefty and loves watching football. Ryan and Brian Aulick have first names that rhyme, grew up across the street from each other and graduated from the same high school. Honestly, this isn’t nepotism.