Mike Nichols Ministers to Youth at Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Mike Nichols, youth minister at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Russellville, said it was his wife Heidi's Christian walk which led him to ultimately being a minister. Nichols recognized he needed God, but needed some guidance.

"My heart is in student ministry," Nichols said, "because I was a teenager when I recognized my need for God, but no one took the time to help me understand what that meant and I continued to live like I always had. Then I meet Heidi, who had grown up in the Russellville community, where Christians invested and mentored her in her relationship with Jesus. They taught her how to serve others and live with integrity. After we meet, I realized how different our walk with Jesus was, and I wanted what she had."

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Aaron Izaguirre, Michelle Izaguirre and Jasmine Hardy

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Jeff Espreo and Justin Pitman

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Amanda Chelchowski and Chris Martuscello enjoy a view of the Arkansas River.

For more of this story check out the Jan. 12 issue of the California Democrat.