Paul Santi

I grew up in a nominal Catholic family. I knew enough about God to understand that my sin separated me from Him, but I did not truly understand that I had forgiveness through Jesus. In college, I began attending Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, where I learned that God has gone to extraordinary efforts to keep a relationship with me, not to condemn me. This has been my walk for over 30 years now – a bumpy path knowing in my head how much God loves me but not always accepting it deep in my heart.

One of the low spots on this path was in 1989 when my older sister, Karen, was killed in a car accident. I began to question “is God safe?” and “is He really watching out for me?”. I still struggle with these questions and I work hard at reminding myself of how important I am to Him.

There have been many bright spots as well, and I count the One Year to Live retreats as breakthrough times in my relationship with God and with my brothers in Christ.

My Gifts

Coming from a talkative family, I am often in the role of listener. An outcome of this is that encouragement is an important role for me.

As an engineer and a scientist, I struggle to find order out of chaos. Beating back the chaos has helped me develop the gift of organization.

It is with fear and humility that I name these next gifts, because I seem to fail so often, but God has made these into things that I am passionate about: discernment, wisdom, and teaching.

My Mission

I exist to cherish and care for my family, to bring peace and understanding in the midst of chaos, and to help people unleash their gifts. I do this by living authentically with faith in God’s love, by releasing my unique gifts for God’s use, and by serving others