My name is Amy Gearhardt, and I am excited to be a part of this new Leadership Committee for the Virginia Provisional District. I have been walking with Jesus since I was about 4 years old, hearing how Jesus had died so I could live and that he would help me to be a good girl. I grew up in the Salvation Army's expression of faith, my parents having been commissioned as officers (pastors) when I was ten years old. I have been serving in some version of ministry pretty much my whole life, through music, through leadership, through service. My husband, Ben, and I met at the Salvation Army summer camp and we were married a year later, almost twenty-eight years ago. We have served together, usually in youth ministry, throughout our many moves and children. Having settled in Virginia, we have attended Wilderness Community Church and been serving in youth ministry and music since 2008. Our four children, Wesley, Jacob, Nathan, and Abigail, have joined us in our many adventures with youth activities and mission trips. Our three sons have all graduated from our homeschool and our daughter is starting high school. I teach in our co-op and serve on our Leadership team. I am also on staff at our church as our Executive Administrator. I am gifted with gab and a passion for connections. My favorite part of youth ministry is the privilege of being a voice in their lives, by walking alongside them through whatever they figuring out. I love speaking and sharing with people with a desire for others to walk away, knowing that they were heard. I am also a Certified Lay Minister in the GMC.