MEET OUR PASTORS
Pastor Michael Oxentenko, Senior Pastor
Michael David Oxentenko grew up in the Appalachian foothills near Galax, Virginia. At the age of fifteen, he was sponsored and left home for a boarding school in North Carolina to pursue a better education. There he was miraculously reunited with his estranged father who led him to Christ before passing away. Inspired by the faith and witness of his father, he fully committed his life to Jesus Christ and the study of the Bible. As a young adult, Michael Oxentenko toured churches in the south preaching the Word of God and directing people to Jesus Christ as the only answer to life’s problems. Pastor Mike has been pastoring churches for over twenty years, helping to grow congregations along multi-ethnic lines.
Pastor Nick Stephenson, Associate Pastor
Pastor Nick Stephenson grew up a Seventh-day Adventist but left the church as a youth. However, he attended academy through graduation during which he experienced spiritual conversion and made a recommitment to faith, returning to the church while he was still in high school. After meeting his wife, he spent three years in Germany where he and his wife were married. They came back to the U.S. where he worked in the tech industry for over 20 years. He received his calling to pastoral ministry in March 2020 and began as a lay pastor in McMinnville, Oregon. A year later, he had the opportunity to lay minister for the church he had attended for over 15 years in Salem, Oregon. He was called to Reaching Hearts International SDA Church in December 2022. Following God’s call across the country, his family officially became part of our family in March 2023.
Pastor Nick brings a wealth of business, finance, product management, marketing, and IT experience to his calling to pastoral ministry. He is passionate about magnifying God’s grace and showing God’s infinite ability to meet us where we are at so that we may be elevated beyond what we could imagine. As the Associate Pastor for Reaching Hearts International SDA Church, he is committed to assisting all generations with a particular focus on young adults and youth. He lives with his wife and three kids in Maryland.
