Volunteer Spotlight: Addie Hunt

The Lord blessed me and placed me in a Christian home. My parents both love the Lord and taught me about Christ growing up. When I was 10 I got into an argument with my parents. While I was in my room I realized how sinful I was and asked the Lord to save me. Now I live my life with the goal of glorifying God because he is worthy of all the glory.

During this year with Radical I want to truly grow and live like my identity is in Christ instead of in what I do or who I'm with.

After Gap Year, I plan to major in global studies at Southeastern or intercultural studies at Spurgeon College. I am really passionate about international missions. I love learning about different ways to support missionaries now with overseas missions being my long-term goal.

Volunteer Spotlight: Kyle Bandy

I’ve grown up in a Christian family. Every Sunday we went to church and pretty much just went through the motions of being a Christian. When my dad began pastoring an inner city church in Lansing, I saw for the first time people who wanted to love and follow the Lord with their lives. That really changed my perspective of who Christ is and why I want to follow him with my life.

When I was 15 I saw one of the former addicts in our church family get baptized. I saw first hand how her life was changed by Christ. It then that I truly did except Christ. I recently got baptized back in November, and I’m trusting Christ fully for my future.

Through the Radical Program I'm hoping to gain a better understanding of who Christ, and God is, and just work on conquering my weaknesses in Christ. I want to be able to have the boldness to share the gospel with anyone at anytime.

In the fall I will attend Liberty University. I'll get a degree in Aviation so I can fly for Samaritans Purse. Someday I hope to serve long-term in international missions.

Volunteer Spotlight: Emma Fagerstrom

I don’t have a dramatic conversion story, and it has taken me quite a few years to fully appreciate that blessing. I grew up in a Christian home (in Minnesota), with Bible believing parents who taught me God’s Word my entire life. I have been aware of my sinful nature and known and loved Jesus for as long as I can remember. I was 6 years old when an AWANA leader explained the action I needed to take to accept Christ - admit that I was a sinner and wanted Jesus as the Lord of my life. My mom and I talked about what I had learned, and she guided me through a prayer to accept Christ. Obviously, I only had a child-like understanding of my sin, but it was the first step in my walk with the Lord. One of my brothers is a quadriplegic, and God both humbled me and revealed himself in amazing ways as I learned to help care for my brother. The faithfulness of my parents and my brother’s fragile health taught me to lean on and love Jesus with all that I have.

From the Radical Program I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible, the heart of Christ, and myself so I can effectively share the gospel. My life verse is Acts 20:24 “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” I want to leverage my entire life for the sake of gospel, and the Radical program is challenging me to study, serve, and live for Christ in every moment of every day.

In the Fall, I will attend the University of Northern Iowa to study communication science and disorders. God willing, I will eventually attend graduate school for speech pathology.

Member Spotlight: Deanna Zhu

Hi! I'm Deanna, I'm a software engineer by day, PC gamer by night :) I serve on the Media and Worship teams. I manage our website and write the weekly newsletter while for worship, I put together and run slides for service. I love that in serving on these two teams, I get to combine my passion for technology with my desire to build up the church through words and visuals! The view of the congregation during worship from the slides+sound table is so encouraging to see.

I first came to APCC in 2018 because I wanted to find a church that felt like it truly welcomed all types of people. I didn't grow up in a Christian home and didn't have the happiest childhood, so what called me to faith in high school was the tender love of Jesus that embraced every part of me into His "family". Coming to APCC was a breath of fresh air because I heard the gospel preached every week and saw that people were pursuing the kingdom of God through loving one another. I feel blessed to have found my spiritual home here because I get to bring all parts of myself and grow alongside a community group that is with me through life's ups and downs.

Family Spotlight: The Hoyts

We decided to visit APCC because we needed to find a church closer to home. At our previous church, we lived too far away to be able to stay connected to our church community, serve consistently, and build meaningful relationships alongside people who actually lived in our community. APCC felt like home almost immediately - we felt so welcomed, pursued, and cared for from the moment we walked in our first week. Not only is the church very gospel-focused and Christ-centered, but we can tell the people who attend truly love Jesus and love others. We love how God is at work through the local church and we are grateful to have found a wonderful church plant that is in our community.

Matt and I both were blessed to be raised in strong Christian homes. Although each of us have had hardships and setbacks, our faith has been deepened through our individual trials. Once we met, God built a solid foundation in our marriage that has helped us weather some strong storms over the last 10+ years. We give all glory to God for providing us each with a firm foundation that we could then build upon together as we began a family of our own. As our children grow, we are so grateful to see how God is using the trials in our family to deepen each of their individual faiths in Jesus. God uses ALL things for our good and His glory even, and especially, the difficult seasons. It hasn't always been easy, but God has been faithful and steadfast!

Family Spotlight: The Seos

Hi my name is Andrew and my wife’s name is Laura. A little bit about myself. I have younger twin brothers who are diagnosed with Autism and I have always helped my parents take care of them. I grew up Catholic, but my family and I did not attend church that often because there was not an inclusive environment for my brothers. I started to grow apart from God because I learned at an early age that I had to do everything myself.

I didn’t have a real relationship with God until after college when I worked at a summer camp at Mclean Bible Church for children with Special Needs. It was there that I met people who had the heart to serve this population for the first time in my life. It was there I met Christians that not only knew God but showed God’s love to others for the glory of God’s Kingdom, not for their own benefit. Because of them, I realized how God uses everyone for his glory, including my brothers. 

My wife and I heard about APCC from a friend who heard Kenji speak at a men’s retreat. At that time, Laura and I were looking at different churches but APCC stuck out because it was the only church where people were welcoming and genuinely wanted to get to know us. We also loved the diversity of the congregation and gospel centered worship. I decided to volunteer in the Children’s Ministry because I have always enjoyed working with children and wanted to serve the church in that way. 

Family Spotlight: The Thoms

We, (Mark, Sydney, Abigail, and Gabriella) moved to Fairfax, Virginia in Spring 2019 and we have been attending APCC since Fall 2019. Finding APCC has been a blessing to our family for sure! We use to live across the street from the school, where services are currently being held. In addition to noticing the church signs on the street each Sunday, we also stopped by a movie night at the school which APCC was hosting (also found out about that through a street sign:) ) and met Kenji. Meeting Kenij got us in the door but the genuine gospel centeredness vibe as well as the authentic people of APCC kept us coming back.

Mark serves faithfully behind the scenes with Worship Team and I (Sydney) serve with the Children’s Ministry. I serve because it’s life giving to me. I also serve because I have a background in education and am a mother of two. I choose to honor God by sharing my gifts with the children and parents in our local church.

Coming to faith in Christ happened at the age of 12 for me. I grew up hearing the gospel every Sunday in church which gave me an opportunity to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior at a young age. My “stay out of trouble” personality also lended itself to me being accepting of the message. In college I had a life threatening experience that redirected my attention to God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I’ve since been intentional about what I build my faith on; the perfect & sovereign God.

Family Spotlight: The Ahns

Hello family! Linda and I, Matt, have been attending APCC since August 2018. Linda is from Maryland, and Matt is from the Hampton Roads area in Virginia. Haven was born on January 1st of this year, so she has been going to the church long as she has been alive. Since the pandemic, we have not been too active (feeling antisocial and all since the pandemic, just kidding) but trust us when we say we love our church. We love the church community and how intentional everyone is about building up one another in Christ. We also love how APCC finds ways to reach out to people in our community. 

We enjoy serving in the Children's Ministry.  Linda is currently on a break from serving because someone has to take care of Haven, but Matt is still doing it. We decided to serve the children because, well, because Matt has always  loved working with children. It is also ever so encouraging to see children growing in Christ. It melts our hearts! ;)  What would be better than pouring our time and energy into our future generation? We have gotten closer to wonderful people by serving alongside them in Children's Ministry. We highly encourage people to do the same and get to know one another better by being in a ministry team together. 

Family Spotlight: The Precilio Family

Hi church family! For those of you that don’t know us, we are Ariel and Josh Precilio. We moved to the NoVA area in March after getting married in January. We started coming to APCC in August of this year after feeling better about attending church in person. What drew us to APCC initially is the proximity to our new home, but the Christ-like love and hospitality from this community is what made us stay. We immediately felt welcomed and were introduced to many ways that we could be a part of APCC - including joining a Community Group, serving on the Welcome Team, and supporting Children's Ministry as volunteers.

We both grew up in church going to the nursery then kid’s Sunday school, so when we saw that the Children’s Ministry needed more volunteers, we were more than excited to to serve. We know that serving in Children’s Ministry meant allowing more parents to participate in service and be fed the word of God as they are constantly pouring out for their children. As we don’t have any kids yet, we also see how God created us to be naturally joyful through being around the tiny humans. We are very excited to continue serving in Children’s Ministry and can’t wait to get to know the kids and families more!

Family Spotlight: The Tolruds

Hello church family! We are Tyler and Elizabeth Tolrud. I (Elizabeth) grew up in Manassas, Virginia, and Tyler is from St. Pete, Florida. We actually met at APCC. We enjoy spending time with family and friends, cooking, working out, and watching sports (go Rays!). This Sunday’s sermon was on John 10, where it talks about Jesus as the good shepherd. As our shepherd, He is always going to protect us and in Him we find our ultimate security.

We recently got married in September and it can be easy to think of marriage as our ultimate security and safety and while marriage is beautiful and good, Jesus is ultimately where all of our security and true satisfaction lie. Even when we fail, because we will, and even when we sin, because we will; Jesus will never leave nor forsake His children. He will go to the very end to seek and save that which was lost. In Him, we find all we could ever need. Church family, we hope the truth of the Gospel encourages you this week! For those we haven’t met yet, we can’t wait to meet you! - Tyler and Elizabeth

Member Spotlight: Jacob Andrews

I’m Jacob Andrews and I have been coming to All Peoples Community Church for about two years now. I am a student at George Mason University, and I graduate in December! After that I will be working for Cru, a campus ministry, full time as a missionary to College Students. I really enjoy spending time with my friends and my girlfriend; getting my computer to do interesting things; and walking around the University Campus blasting praise music in my headphones. At APCC, I got involved learning to run sound, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do this since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since we have been back in-person, I have enjoyed helping with set-up and tear down, running the slides, and recently, helping in the Children’s Ministry.

In Pastor Kenji’s sermon this past Sunday, I very much related to the Blind Man found in John 9. Not that I am or have ever been blind with my eyes, but I have been spiritually blind. Without Christ, I can’t focus correctly on the world around me. I get the wrong picture. But after God did “Lasik surgery on the eyes of my heart” through his Holy Spirit, He grants me vision to see things in a way impossible without Him, whether that is in how I need to treat other people, or how to understand the Bible. I am still using my imperfect human eyes, I still am tempted and fall into sin, but I have been saved! My imperfections, struggles, and brokenness serve to glorify God; however He chooses.

Family Spotlight: The Burke Family

Hello! My name is Amanda Burke and my husband, Kristopher, and I recently started attending APCC. We moved to the area a few months ago from Lynchburg, VA. We are both teachers. I am an art teacher in Fairfax County and Kristopher is a Bible teacher at Immanuel Christian School. In the next few weeks, you will see my face hanging out with the Teethers!

This past week we took a look at John chapter 8: the story of the woman caught in adultery. In this passage, the Pharisees try to trap Jesus by using the Law of Moses against him. Rather than fall into entrapment, Jesus exalts himself above the Law of Moses, and reestablishes righteousness on the foundation of grace.  We experience this grace when we encounter Jesus. 

This week my prayer is that we all take time to remember and thank God for His abundant grace. It is so easy to take this gift for granted, but I encourage you to acknowledge your brokenness and need of a Savior. Let us be grateful this week for the greatest gift we could ever receive and walk in the freedom that grace gives.

Family Spotlight: The McElrath family

Hey fam, we’re Will and Megan! Will is a “come here”, growing up in Morocco as a missionary kid, and Megan is a “from here” in the NoVA area. We met at William & Mary and got married in November 2019. Will is a software consultant and Megan is a sixth grade special education teacher who maybe tries too hard to stay hip with the kids. We love reading books, drinking hot drinks, watching Star Wars, and helping plants and people grow. Since walking into our first Sunday service in May 2021, we have been so delighted to be a part of what God is doing through the APCC family. Lord willing, we will be a part of planting Redeemer Fellowship early next year.

We were encouraged by Kenji’s exhortation rooted in John 6 that “God doesn’t want us to do more—He wants us to be more like Jesus”. It was reflected this week as we were challenged to pray through all our strivings in work and marriage and the temptation of “If I just do more, I will find favor with this or that person”. What a joy we have in Jesus! There is nothing we can do to earn the favor of the Creator of the heavens and the earth—He has already given it to us by His death and resurrection on the cross. Jesus has also given us the gift of a new mission (His mission) of living a transformed life for His glory. May we be a faithful people to make a mature family of disciples.

Family Spotlight: The Jones Family

Hi church family! Raymond and I, Camille, were introduced to APCC by some friends in February of 2021 and have really enjoyed gaining new friends and growing as mature disciples of Christ. Me, self-proclaimed baller from Gary, Indiana, and Raymond, a pragmatist from Christiansburg, Guyana met at Howard University (the mecca). After being paired in an Engineering project we bonded over our love of Christ. Married, we found ourselves at the same tech company focused on work and climbing the corporate ladder, but some years later we felt God had other plans for us. We quit our jobs during the pandemic, headed back to the DMV, and started our journey to becoming Kingdom Builders spreading the message, power, and advancement of God's Kingdom by developing Christian mobile apps and streetwear.

Daniel Dixion's sermon "Like Father Like Son" really spoke directly to our everyday life. He taught that as Christ lived to do only the will of the Father, we should find our true identity in Christ. What identifies us is God's love; a love that leads us to repentance and to pursue the things God loves - pursuing the outcasts and unlovable as Christ did. If we believe in Christ as Lord and that all that He said and proclaimed is true, then we can go to Him for anything and trust in His will. It's only in that faith in the promises and love of God that we can freely commit to marriage even in times of disagreement or leave a comfortable job and believe He will provide because He said so...because God is our Father and we are His children.

Family Spotlight: Tim Cheng

Hi APCC family! I'm Tim and I've been attending APCC since early 2017. I was born and raised in Maryland and moved to NoVa after graduating from the University of Maryland in 2015 (go Terps!). I work as a software engineer but also enjoy teaching piano in my spare time. I love playing basketball, tennis, and working out with my friends. My biggest weaknesses are sushi and ice cream, and I'm constantly on the lookout for new flavors to try.

This past week's sermon on John 4 about Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well was a beautiful reminder of Jesus' love for the lowly and hurting. It's so easy living in this area in my 20's to put my hope in a good career, finances, or reputation, but I'm learning that those things only satisfy temporarily. This thirst that I have deep down for acceptance is only met in my relationship with Jesus. He will quench my deepest longings for peace and joy because He already accepted me into His family. My desire is to grow to treasure God's Word and get to know Him better alongside my brothers and sisters in this community.

Family Spotlight: Haller Family

Hi APCC friends, we are Dave and Chelsea Haller. We moved to Fairfax Station from Florida this past spring with our two boys, Simon and Jude. For us, the past year+ has been a time of learning to trust God through uncertainty, allowing Him to expose the idols in our lives and reshape our priorities. Today we can see His faithfulness and goodness on display as he uprooted our family in unexpected ways. The change of scenery has given us much more time together, and we’ve taken advantage of all the outdoor beauty in NoVA.

Tyler’s sermon this past week was a vivid reminder that we are fully known and fully loved by Jesus. It called to mind something we read years ago in Tim Keller’s “The Meaning of Marriage” that has become a foundation for us. Since we are sinners, our love for each other (and even our children) can ebb and flow, or hit rough patches. But Jesus knows every bit of us and STILL loves us. He loves us even when we dump all of our toys and refuse to clean them up (looking at you, Jude). He’s also not impressed if we memorize all the disciples at age three (Nicodemus…I mean Simon)! He loves us exactly where we are, and nothing we do, good or bad, can change the way He feels about us. 

Family Spotlight: Gavin Fung and Linh Chau

Greetings APCC Family! We are Gavin Fung and Linh Chau. We met at APCC in 2019 while serving in the Kid's Ministry, and have been dating since February 2020. By God's Grace, our relationship survived 2020, which was followed by our engagement this Spring, and our Wedding this Fall! We are incredibly grateful for God's guidance in our relationship as He continues to lead us through the COVID Pandemic. Free time has been scarce in this busy season of our lives, but we enjoy spending time with family, occasional workouts, finding new places to eat, and enjoying the outdoors by walking around.....to find new places to eat.


We really appreciated Tyler's message this past Sunday as he reminded our congregation that Jesus Christ is the source of joy in our lives. We are often guilty of pursuing things of this world for satisfaction (a new job, a new relationship, a new house, a new (insert here)), but these things are only present in our lives for a season and ultimately fade. However, as the wedding at Cana demonstrates in John 2, our Heavenly Father saves the best for last, which for believers is an eternity with Him. This gift has been given to us through Christ's sacrifice on the cross for our sins; once this gift is accepted, we are saved by God's grace. Through this acceptance, we recognize that Christ is our source for everything, and that nothing is possible without His presence in our lives. In short, these weekly reminders we receive at APCC are just one of many reasons we are so thankful to be part of this Christ centered community!

Family Spotlight: The Wilsons

Hey everyone! We are the Wilson Family. Erin and I (Tyler) have been married for 7 years, and we have two amazing, goofy kiddos named Ellie Grace (3) and Tucker (2). Our life is crazy, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We recently moved up from Memphis, TN to join the church family here at All Peoples, and we are so excited to be here. Throughout life, our family tries to do as much of the following (in no particular order) as time allows: Travel, be with great friends and family, eat (not cook) delicious food, go to sporting events, and be outside in God's wonderful creation.

This past Sunday, Erin and I were really struck and reminded of the reality that, simply put, God is in control. And that's a good thing. Being completely sovereign, God is in control of every facet of all of our lives. He sees everything, knows everything, and plans everything. But not only is He in complete control, He is also completely good. Because He is both of these things, we can always trust Him. Even when life is hard (which it just is at times), and even when we don't understand what's happening (which we often don't). God is good, we can trust Him and lean into Him.

Family Spotlight: The Lees

Hello! We are Sam and Tricia Lee and have been married for almost seven years after meeting at Rutgers University in NJ many years ago. We’ve been blessed with two kiddos, Willow (4yo) and Owen (2months). Sam works as a firefighter for Fairfax County, while Tricia works in project management at a consulting firm. We’ve been attending APCC for about 1.5 years now and have loved being part of this community! We especially love hearing from Willow all the things she learned from her awesome Children’s Ministry teachers!

This Sunday’s sermon was on Acts 21-26 focusing on Paul’s mission to preach Christ in Jerusalem even knowing that he would face persecution and possibly death. Daniel Dixon preached how our culture today, even within the church, oftentimes prioritizes our comfort and safety over proclaiming the truth. We know that it can be especially challenging while living here in Northern Virginia, and that it takes true intentionality to break through that desire to stay within our own comfort zones. Our hope is that we would continue to learn what it means to genuinely invite others into our lives, in order to share the good news of the Gospel.

Family Spotlight: The Sheltons

We met in college during the first semester of freshman year at George Mason University (GMU). We both became involved with CRU and grew together while pursuing God. We got married during COVID-19 quarantine and today Daniel is pursuing his graduate degree at Marymount University and Tess will be graduating from GMU in the spring. We joined APCC in the fall of 2019 and have really enjoyed becoming part of the APCC community! During our free time, we enjoy biking, kayaking, and playing board games.

Being college students during the COVID-19 pandemic, we came to a greater understanding of how God is sovereign and He can make even the seemingly worst situations a blessing. We were both unenthusiastic about virtual learning and the lack of community that the pandemic forced on us. However, the pandemic made us slow our schedule and allowed us to spend more time with God without the distractions that often put God on the backburner. In the midst of our busy lives, we just have to take a moment to clear the distractions and refocus our lives around God.