Who We Are
MEET THE
MINISTRY TEAM
"It is my desire and the heart of Catalyst4Christ
Ministries to communicate the Word of God
with ENERGY, HUMOR & GRACE
C4C's purpose is to:
Whether it is a
introduce Jesus to those who have never experienced the love of Christ, but also to
INSTRUCT & INSPIRE
the believer to
DEVELOP A DEEPER
& MORE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD."
CONFERENCE, ENCOUNTER WEEKEND
or BIBLE STUDY,
- Susan V. Cruz
Dr. Susan V. Cruz
Founder & President
Where do you run when you feel as though hopelessness is winning and you've got nowhere to go? Years of formal religion didn't provide the answer, but in a moment the Name of Jesus became more than an expression. It was The name that brought healing, wholeness and amazing grace. In my darkest hour, I uttered the Name of Jesus and hope arrived. 12 years of an eating disorder vanished and in return I was given a life that would have a new meaning and a redirected purpose.
Whether it's ministering to hurting people as a hospital and hospice Chaplain, serving the woman of Kairos Outside Prison Ministries, or preaching the Word via conferences, Bible Studies or retreats, I am both honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve my God that rescued me. My passion is rooted in my burden - to share what the Lord has done for me and to help others to know what is means to seek the face of God in their lives. Putting it simply, I love Jesus and want others to love Him too.
My journey has allowed me a front row seat to some incredible stories of life change. So, whatever the platform the Lord allows, I’m confident of this – there’s surely a divine interruption in store.
Linda Rueter
Program Director
The first time I experienced God in a very personal way I was about 9 years old. As I sat in church gazing at the stained glass window I felt that first flutter feeling in my heart that equated to a feeling of euphoria. I now know that it was the Holy Spirit. It would be 36 years later than I would learn that I needed to confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I needed to believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, and I would be saved (Romans 10:9).
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I have such a deep appreciation for Women's Ministries because of the role it played in my faith walk. It was my attendance at a women's Bible study where I was saved, and it became my lifeline as I grew to learn more about God and how to trust and obey Him. I entered leadership in Women's Ministry at my church in 2004, and remain committed to serving women to this day.
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The Encounter Weekends with C4C offer women a small, intimate setting providing a serene environment so they can hear the voice of God. I feel honored and blessed to be a part of this amazing ministry that forever touches the lives of women so they keep their gaze on Jesus. Amen and amen.
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Christine Potts
Ministry & Events Director
Knowing who you are changes everything! For the first 36 years of my life I believed God was distant and pleasing Him meant trying harder to be “gooder.” Then the light of His Grace burst into my "religiosity" and a relationship with Jesus Christ my Lord & Savior was born and I realized I could never be “good” enough, but Jesus is! Since that moment, years ago, God has done a radical makeover and I am finally learning not only "Whose" I am but "who" I am in Him.
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I've seen first hand the miraculous work of God, the transforming power of His Holy Spirit and His relentless pursuit to lavish His love upon us. He changed my hardened heart, put His love in it and enabled me to get over myself and love others freely. He's especially given me a heart for women and for them to come to know who they really are, as God sees them. I am a broken pitcher whose sole purpose is to let His light shine through my brokenness and He's seen fit to use me to encourage His children.
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I brag on God, He took that pitiful mess, cleaned me up, robed me with His Righteousness, set a crown on my head, healed my marriage, and lets me teach His Word to women's groups & lead leaders. He brought me into partnership with Catalyst4Christ Ministries where I'm blessed to witness life change over and over as women come into the presence of God and let Him reveal who they really are. And recently, He's called me a scribe and I’m eager to see all that entails. Oh, how grateful I am that our God uses the foolish things of this world...
Crystal Gaxiola
Program Assistant
I was raised in the church but as a teenager coming from a broken home I rebelled and turned away from God. Fast forward to 2006, I was married and then became a nurse. I always felt like something was missing and I tried to fill that space with work, shopping, social activities and everything in between. I was invited to a Catalyst4Christ Encounter Weekend and my life changed May of 2014. I realized the missing part was allowing God to work in my life. It wasn’t religion, but a relationship with God, that I so desperately needed and the beautiful part of this journey with God is He met me in the exact moment, all I had to do was ask and be willing. No pretense, no lists, no perfection, just an open heart! How amazing to think! God filled that missing place and I’ll never feel empty again.
Being part of this ministry has opened my eyes to not just the healing of people’s bodies, as my profession entails, but the healing of women’s hearts and souls - that only God can do! Now that I have experienced both sides of the Catalyst4Christ Ministries I have been able to witness women transformed by God and His presence during these Encounter Weekends, and leave with the tools, love and support as they embark on their own journey with Christ leading the way!
Nancy Bathurst
Hospitality Director
Having given my life to Christ at an early age and later walking down a wrong path, I learned the hard way that it is surely better to be in the will of God than not! Living as an addict for over 8 years, I had a firsthand encounter with a loving and merciful God who reached into the pit I was in and rescued me. I was divinely interrupted. In an instant, Jesus altered the course of my life and changed my path.
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For over a decade, I have had the privilege of fulfilling the desire of my heart by serving in Women's Ministry. I've experienced the joy of serving as a Bible Study Leader and Board Member at my home church, I help minister women who are affected by incarceration with Kairos Outside Prison Ministry and have been a part of this amazing team for Catalyst4Christ almost since it's inception.
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For me, it is the intimate atmosphere that we hope to create at each of our Encounter Weekends that I find the most fulfilling. The weekends allow me to use the gifts that the Lord has given me to be a vessel in sharing the love of Christ. While getting to witness life change in the women who attend our Encounters I'm given a first hand view of how the Lord meets us where we are at... but won't allow us to stay there.
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Come and join us... and see what our Lord has for you!
Michelle Stewart
Hospitality Coordinator
I spent the first 32 years of my life in a very traditional religion. When a devastating divorce, a shocking annulment, and single motherhood became my reality, my religion offered no hope and little help. At the age of 33, on the bathroom floor in a puddle of tears and hopelessness, I met Jesus for the first time. In that moment, Jesus gave me a new beginning, a new identity, and gave purpose to my pain.
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I have a heart for women of divorce, in difficult marriages, and particularly for the woman who is ready to walk out. I can empathize with the internal battles that rage in those hidden wounded places. Women's Ministry is a great privilege, and it is my honor to serve alongside an amazing team of wise, godly women who make up Catalyst4Christ Ministries.
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Our C4C Encounter Weekends are not your typical church retreat. We create an intentional, intimate, and welcoming, atmosphere, where women feel safe to answer the divine knock at the door of their hearts. We invite the Holy Spirit to move freely and our agenda is His to change. Life changes happens here! As both a guest and as a member of the ministry team, I have experienced the powerful healing work that Jesus does when women allow themselves to be divinely interrupted. I look forward to serving you and seeing what Jesus has in store...
Brooke Ross
Worship Director
I was raised in a Christian home where my father was an Assembly of God pastor and music was part of our home. As early as 3 years old, I started singing on stage and before long, began ministering in music with my family. Whether is was organizing choirs or leading people in worship to usher in the presence of God, worship is what I was created for.
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I met and married Dave, the love of my life and at the age of 21, together, we answered the call of God to go into full-time vocational ministry. After having 3 incredible children, I went back to school to become an Ordained Assemblies of God minister.
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As the Worship and Ministry Arts Pastor at Colton First Assembly of God, I have a passion and desire to see people go deeper in their worship than they ever have before.
Holly Scroggins
Worship Team
God has used the gift of song to strengthen me in profound, life-altering ways that have allowed me to face many of life's challenges. As a worship leader, my purpose is to proclaim to the brokenhearted that He sees, He knows, He cares, and that He is working everything together for the good of His children.
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I was adopted into a confused and abusive home as an infant. Thankfully, I had a grandmother that shared Jesus with me and I accepted Him into my heart at 9 years old. I needed Jesus and His love to help me deal with the abuse that ensued. Psalm 126:5-6 gave me hope at such a young age. "Those who sow in tears will reap with song of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."
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I didn't start attending church until my freshman year of high school when I was invited to a local youth group. In God's house I found my purpose and calling. The Lord put me in service in areas I never imagined possible... youth, missions, administration, and worship arts. Another treasure that came from youth group was that I would meet my future husband, and together the Lord would bless us with raising 3 amazing children, 2 dogs and a parakeet.
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My testimony is messy and filled with grace. God use all the broken things in my life and I'm humbled that He sees fit to continue to use me.
Kerry Tracy
Ministry Team
Recognizing that the Lord is my Shepard and He will lead and guide me daily has changed my life forever. Dealing with the loss of the dreams of life as I had designed it, has sometimes left me stuck in ruts and pits and the Lord has faithfully pulled me out to victory every time.
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I was raised in church and have known the Lord since an early age. I have benefitted greatly from His "church" who has encouraged and ministered to me continually. I love Women's Ministries and Women's Bible Study as it has been my strength and sustaining community through every experience. Women are the back bones of our relationship and families, what shape that takes, and we can make or break the spirit of the home. God graciously allowed me to oversee the TLBS Bible Study of High Desert Church for several years before moving to the great state of Tennessee - where my husband and our sons now call home.
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I am proud humbled to be a part of the Catalyst4Christ team (as often as I can travel across the country) and the work this ministry does to change lives and drive people to hope and victory in Christ through the power of His Word.
Tracy Lusco
Ministry Team
The day I fell madly in love with Jesus was the worst, and the best, day of my life. Though I had been a Christian since I was 7 years old, as I grew, my relationship with Him suffered. On May 27, 2002 my world came crashing down as my husband and sons were in a tragic off-road accident. It resulted in my husband going to jail, my oldest son being sent by ambulance to the hospital and my four-year-old suffering a broken neck - he almost died. But my God's glory always shines through because He is always good.
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As He began to heal and restore our family and lavish upon us His sweet grace and mercy, we began to love Jesus with our whole heart.
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I have been serving in Women's Ministry now for 15 years and have been blessed to be a missionary for just as long. I have attended four of the Catalyst4Christ Encounter Weekends and I am blown away by the presence of the Holy Spirit and how my life was changed. I am so very excited to be a part of this team, to be able to passionately share the love of Jesus with other women and witness how His love changes their lives.
Therese Noah
Care Team
Growing up in a Christian home in a Muslim country, I knew all about Jesus, I knew of Him, but I did not know Him. In 2006 I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior and I have been forever changed. I’ve had so many encounters with our Lord over the last decade, from physical healing and deliverance to victory over spiritual warfare and miracles too numerous to write down. The Lord has given me a passion to share with others that He speaks, He provides, He heals and delivers just as the Bible says He does.
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I’ve had the privilege of serving women at Kairos Outside Prison Ministry, leading in a Women’s Bible Study, and now Catalyst4Christ. All of these ministries have given me a place where I can live out what our Lord has put on my heart to share.
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Catalyst4Christ is a place where women can connect with one another and encounter The Lord in a special way. Come and be divinely touched, it will forever change you.
Pilar Vasquez
Worship Team
C4C has opened my eyes and my spirit to so much the Lord wants for my life. I am incredibly grateful for the influence and obedience these women have shown me. The Lord is undeniably present at the Encounter Weekends and through the ministry of the team. I am honored to be part of the ministry.