DON STRAKA

Don Straka is a Pastor at Table Rock, recent graduate of Bethlehem College & Seminary, and former missionary to Nicaragua.

I was born in Nebraska but shortly after my parents divorced and both moved to Colorado Springs, CO. My time was split between each household as equally as possible. The spiritual climate in each was as different as my parents’ opposite personalities. My dad and stepmom were Roman Catholic and took us to confirmation class. Meanwhile, my mom and step-dad were non-religious and began to pursue paganism when I started high school. By high school, I was bored with the rote of Roman Catholic Mass, so I sampled paganism with my mom. But then God, through some faithful friends in my high school, broke through my hard heart and made me alive together with him. Jesus became my treasure, my joy.

From early on, I felt a call to ministry. Not having grown up in church, I had little idea what that meant. I decided to pursue an inexpensive undergrad at a secular college so that I could spend the real money at a Master’s Program. I eventually made it to that Master’s program, but not without first meeting my wife and moving to Nicaragua for three-and-a-half years. God was kind to use those years in Nicaragua to confirm a call to pastoral ministry in a local church and to also give my wife and me a passion for the nations. We returned back to the States to receive training from Bethlehem College and Seminary, and after graduation we felt led to join a church planting team in Boise. We followed God’s call, and landed here in the Treasure Valley on June 1, 2018.

Jacque and I have been married for more than thirteen years. Five years ago our family grew with the addition of our son Landin. Landin now wears the badge of big brother with the addition of Eli and Emery to keep him busy. Our family loves being around people, enjoying daddy’s homemade bread, and playing board games. I even have an app to keep track of all the games I play.

My prayer for Table Rock in this next season is that our joy in the Lord and “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment” so that many here in Boise would know the boundless love of God (Philippians 1:9).