Ryan carver
executive director/usfsp operations manager
I have always looked for ways to live life to it’s fullest. I believed that nothing should get in my way of doing what I wanted to do. My entire life revolved around me and my pursuit of happiness.
Throughout my life, any notion I had about the God of the Bible was pushed out by my desire for freedom and adventure. I was the guy who prayed a prayer to go to heaven but lived as if God didn’t exist. I surfed. I did a bunch of illegal stuff. I partied. I lived for me.
In my college years, I became convinced that there was a higher power and I went on a search to find out more. Despite every effort to reject Christianity, I couldn’t ignore the unique life of Jesus, his words and the evidence for all of it. The concept that “it isn’t about what we do for God but instead what God has done for us” clearly highlighted Christianity as distinct from the other religions and ideologies I researched. This message of grace broke through my hatred for rules and my fear of missing out on life. Then, as I began to see other people who trusted in Jesus and followed his ways, I began to see a whole new way to live that was full of adventure and purpose. Instead of living for myself, I began to live for the glory of God and for the good of others. This new way of living has carried me into adventures I never could have imagined and into friendships that I consider priceless.
In 2010, Gulf Coast Community Church offered to hire me as a missionary to the University of South Florida St Petersburg campus. The many prayers I prayed, during my last years at USFSP, started rushing back to memory as I was blindsided with a job offer I could not refuse.
Fast forward to now and I am a husband and father. I have grown in my love for Jesus and my unrelenting desire to make him known to the ends of the earth. I have become unflinching in my resolve to make disciples who make disciples and I am personally convinced that the campus is the most strategic place to raise up these world-influencers. I hope to die equipping and mobilizing college students who are vital to the church and are relentless disciple-makers both locally and globally. This life is not about me.
I still love to surf. I also love partying with my wife Becca and my three kids Grace (5), Abe (3), and Judah (1). My side hustles and other hobbies include spear-fishing, roasting coffee, and growing edible plants. I have always lived in St Petersburg, Florida and I love this city.
My hope is that COMission will build up more and more local churches. May they know Jesus and love him deeply, and may we take his story and rescue to our neighbors all the way to the ends of the earth.
Throughout my life, any notion I had about the God of the Bible was pushed out by my desire for freedom and adventure. I was the guy who prayed a prayer to go to heaven but lived as if God didn’t exist. I surfed. I did a bunch of illegal stuff. I partied. I lived for me.
In my college years, I became convinced that there was a higher power and I went on a search to find out more. Despite every effort to reject Christianity, I couldn’t ignore the unique life of Jesus, his words and the evidence for all of it. The concept that “it isn’t about what we do for God but instead what God has done for us” clearly highlighted Christianity as distinct from the other religions and ideologies I researched. This message of grace broke through my hatred for rules and my fear of missing out on life. Then, as I began to see other people who trusted in Jesus and followed his ways, I began to see a whole new way to live that was full of adventure and purpose. Instead of living for myself, I began to live for the glory of God and for the good of others. This new way of living has carried me into adventures I never could have imagined and into friendships that I consider priceless.
In 2010, Gulf Coast Community Church offered to hire me as a missionary to the University of South Florida St Petersburg campus. The many prayers I prayed, during my last years at USFSP, started rushing back to memory as I was blindsided with a job offer I could not refuse.
Fast forward to now and I am a husband and father. I have grown in my love for Jesus and my unrelenting desire to make him known to the ends of the earth. I have become unflinching in my resolve to make disciples who make disciples and I am personally convinced that the campus is the most strategic place to raise up these world-influencers. I hope to die equipping and mobilizing college students who are vital to the church and are relentless disciple-makers both locally and globally. This life is not about me.
I still love to surf. I also love partying with my wife Becca and my three kids Grace (5), Abe (3), and Judah (1). My side hustles and other hobbies include spear-fishing, roasting coffee, and growing edible plants. I have always lived in St Petersburg, Florida and I love this city.
My hope is that COMission will build up more and more local churches. May they know Jesus and love him deeply, and may we take his story and rescue to our neighbors all the way to the ends of the earth.