Kevin & Natalie Talistu's Story

Brother and Sister share how their lives have changed by God.

David Bromberg's Story

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year and a half since I've joined the community here at PCC. Originally from the east coast, I moved out here after graduating from college because of a job offer- I work as a software developer for Electronic Arts in Redwood Shores. I didn't know anyone out here. I found PCC through a Google search for churches in the Bay Area, and after coming to Sunday Night once, I knew enough that I wanted to keep coming back.

My first experience with the Young Adult community was coming to Mercy Cafe (a summer bbq and hang out on PCC's lawn). I met Frankie Markovich (a PCC Young Adult), who right away started introducing me to people. I know it sounds cliche, but it's true- everyone was so welcoming. The next Wednesday I started coming to our small group gatherings, and the day after that I was hiking with another PCC Young Adult, Evans Leung, and seeing my first redwoods. People really made the effort to engage with me, and as I also made the effort, relationships grew.

Having been involved a lot with my college fellowship, the Navigators, I wanted to not only receive from the community, but also serve, and so I talked to PCC's worship pastor about joining the Sunday Night band. And having led small groups in college, (PCCYA Pastor) Tony challenged me to lead a care group that Fall. The guys that I met in that care group would become some of my closest friends here. And other guys I met in the Young Adult group would become my roommates. We started out not knowing each other very well, but as we trusted God and sought to serve each other, God used us in each others' lives and grew us closer together.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate." And so I would encourage everyone who wants to be involved in a deep, enriching, loving community, to stop looking for it and start making it. Rather than reaching for some ideal, and giving up when we don't find it, we should engage with the people God has already placed around us, seeking to love them and serve them in the ways we've been gifted. Community will emerge naturally. Now, I'm happy to announce I'm engaged to long time college friend, Leah Thomason, with plans to wed in the fall of 2010.

Kevin Talistu's Story

I could say that God has been a big part of my family for generations, but I was not drawn to God entirely by that. I think I first found God at 13, when a friend of mine from elementary school invited me to come hang out at the PCC middle school group called T.N.T. There were about two months where I found myself seeking God and talking to a "higher power," that culminated when I signed my name in a Bible. I felt like I had done something very important. But after that, I didn't pursue it further. You could say that a seed had been planted, because I forgot about it, but not entirely. Fifteen years later, I've been struggling in my life to find purpose, identity, and direction, among life's daily struggles and came back to the PCC to join the young adults' (YA) group that my sister was a part of.

I was drawn in by the community, much like my first connection to God 15 years earlier, and my own doubt didn't seem to matter. At the YA Fall retreat in October, I finally opened myself up fully and totally to God. He has touched me, guided me, and even pulled me towards Him. In one night, it felt like God changed me forever. In reality, I know He has been there my whole life. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to redeem all our sins. He is healer, guide, and my connection to God. Jesus loves me without question, He is my friend and I believe He is my Savior without doubt. The shackles that held me down were broken. I initiated a covenant with God, I have been baptized, and I want to let the world know that I have been saved!