Biography of Lance Milton, deacon

My childhood years were spent growing up on a farm in South Dakota. Each Sunday I was taken to church and Sunday school after our farm work was completed. Living in a rural farming community in South Dakota, church was a part of the tradition of our family and community. This was my introduction to Christianity and was important in my being led by God to repent and believe in response to His call and election when I was a teenager. I read the Bible periodically during this time, but did not fully understand what I believed until being challenged by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff and students in college. God brought me to a church in Brookings, SD, which taught the Bible expositionally and that salvation was not something merited by man's works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Through these things, God got me on the road to study the Bible, pray, serve and read some credible Christian books like Knowing God and The Gospel According To Jesus. I was called to serve as an executive committee member for InterVarsity as a senior in college as the Small Group Coordinator. It was, and is, my desire to see people read and study the Bible consistently and search it out as the Bereans (Acts 17:11). A favorite verse of mine is John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me."

A few years after completing degrees in Accounting, Psychology and Chemistry, God provided an opportunity to work with a Christian mission for about two years, so I moved to the western suburbs of Chicago. During this time of living in the suburbs, I met my future wife, Juanita, at an evangelical church and earned a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certificate. After our wedding, we attended and were involved in ministries at Grace Church of DuPage in Warrenville, IL. I was led to Grace Church because of their commitment to teaching the Bible verse-by-verse and their strong commitment to doctrine. We lived in Wheaton, IL, from our 1993 wedding date until 1999 when we moved to the Rockford, IL, area. We became involved in the Rockford FLOCK Bible Study which later became Rock Valley Bible Church, the church plant of Kishwaukee Bible Church. We had visited Kishwaukee Bible Church, a church plant of Grace Church of DuPage, several times (which gave us a vision for seeing similar churches planted). There we met lay pastor and worship leader, Steve Brandon (current pastor of Rock Valley Bible Church) and his wife, Yvonne. It has been a joy to be involved in parent, daughter, and granddaughter churches.

We have been entrusted with two children, Alicia (11) and Conrad (9).