Hey! Is that Ryan Suzuki…our new Jr. High Pastor?

Published on May 01, 2007 by Brent Eldridge

For the past eight years, our Jr. High Department has experienced a dynamic and exciting trek, led by one of the most fun guys I know — Joe Koski.  Joe has done an AMAZING job as a pastor, team-builder, mentor and friend to so many students.  Some of his old Jr. High students have come full circle to serve under his leadership as volunteers or interns in his department.  Our church has been blessed to have such a faithful servant who has beat the odds by staying settled in this ministry for so long.

Even though that paragraph makes it sound like Joe is leaving us — nothing could be further from the facts!  Joe is staying put in our Student Ministries department, but he is shifting his focus to our College Ministry.  Though we will miss his leadership in our Jr. High Department, we are thoroughly excited that he’ll be running quick and hard with our college students (once again, many of whom knew Joe as their Jr. High Pastor!).
As we considered this transition, Joe became pivotal in bringing qualified candidates to the table for us to consider as his successor.  After much dialog, prayer and consideration, we decided to go with one of our very own — Ryan Suzuki.

So sit back and enjoy this brief overview of our newest teammate here in the Student Ministries Department!

Ryan grew up at Neighborhood Church, where he attended both our Jr. and Sr. High ministries.  He was active in student leadership, and was always game for enhancing an event through his expertise in creating cool videos.  He graduated from Castro Valley High School in 2003 and started banging away at his general education courses at Chabot College.

During his Senior year of High School and his first year in college (at Chabot), Ryan spent A LOT of time up here on the hill with us, serving as an intern in our Jr. High Ministry under The Joe.  Those two years galvanized the bond between Joe and Ryan, and ultimately, showed us we’ve got a great guy out there “just in case the time ever came” – and low and behold – it did!

Back to our story… Ryan was accepted at Biola University in Southern California, where he has just completed a Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies.  During his time at Biola, Ryan spent his spare time with our old High School Pastor, Chris Lankford, as Chris’ pastoral intern.  Knowing Chris, Ryan picked up many great ministry tools to put into the shed for just the right moment.  We are totally confident that Ryan will bring “the right stuff” to our Jr. High Ministry and we are all excited to have him  join our crew.

Here is some random knowledge on Ryan
His full name: Ryan Kenji Crist Suzuki
His all time favorite movie: Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back
His favorite color: Red
The meal he’d eat the night before his execution: Chili and rice (weird I know)
His favorite subject in Jr. High: History
Favorite class in college: New Testament Use of the Old Testament
His favorite sport to play: Ultimate Frisbee
His favorite sport to watch: Basketball
His toothpaste of choice: Crest with Scope
Talent he wishes he had: Artistic ability
Sleeper talent not many people know about (until now): I think I’m a halfway decent cook
Hollywood star he most closely resembles: Kevin from the “Wonder Years”
His favorite band: The Bad Plus
Language he wishes he could speak: Japanese
Number of UFO sightings: 1 or 2
Second favorite person in the Bible (we’ll assume Jesus gets  #1): James (brother of Jesus)
Superpower he’d like to have: Flight or teleportation (I can’t choose)

And now for a little “Ryan Roast”Joe Koski’s favorite memory of Ryan:  “I suppose I ought to say something about when Ryan was my intern and we really reached out and touched some kids’ hearts…but, I’ll take this one all the way back to when I was an Intern and I first met Ryan and his friends on a Jr. High ski trip to Tahoe.  You see the first thing I recall about Ryan and his friends was they were all really, really, small, and yet, all of them had really, really, big heads -  like Peanuts’ Gang characters.  The other thing is Ryan would get really tired at night and start crying.  So, one night while all his friends were playing Wall-ball, Ryan got tired and started to cry while laying on a spare carpet in the gym in which we were staying.  So, naturally, his friends rolled him up in the carpet.  And Ryan continued crying.  ‘Stop crying Suzuki!’ they yelled at him.  But he didn’t.  ‘Hey!  It’s  a ‘Zuki burrito!’ they all cried, and continued playing Wall-ball while a pool of tears collected under Ryan’s big head.  (And of course I suppose that I, as the Intern, could have stopped it, but it was too funny).”

Danny Strange’s favorite memory of Ryan:  My favorite “Ryan memory” is when he was so excited to get his first paycheck (as an intern back in the day),  he went to the Business Office to get his check and the payroll lady, (Beverly Blumert), said to him: “Son, I have no idea who you are.”

Paul Keim’s favorite memory of Ryan: I just love Ryan’s witty humor that comes out pretty much all the time. One of my favorite memories of Ryan is when we were walking around a water park on the College Palm Springs trip, and a little girl ran by and bumped into Ryan as she passed. She yelled out, “Sorry”, as she was running, and Ryan said, “That’s alright,” and then turned to me and in an old man’s voice said, “Lovable little scamp, scurrying about.” For some reason I still remember it like it was yesterday. I jump at the chance to hang out with Ryan, because he’ll make you laugh in one breath, and in the next talk about deep issues that challenge your walk.