Summer Stories Podcast – Desert Spring United Methodist Church

Maria Astete-Letelier

Maria Astete-Letelier was born in Chile and moved to Las Vegas, USA when she was 12 years old. She has been attending the Methodist church since she was very young and has loved to help in the Children’s ministry. Maria volunteered to help with the nursery when she was 15 years old. She then transitioned to help with Sunday School and eventually became a youth leader. Due to life changes, Maria took a step away from the children’s/youth’s ministries, but God had another plan for her and brought her back to Early Childcare Education here at Desert Spring. She has been attending Desert Spring for approximately 8 years and enjoys her time serving the church and the children as they are our future.

“Train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Chris Devereaux

Chris Devereaux serves as the Director of Worship Technology at Desert Spring and holds a B.A. in Graphic Design from UNLV.

Chris has lived in Arizona, Texas and Nevada and considers Las Vegas as his home town. His favorite things about the city are its easy access to outdoor activities like hiking and camping and the diversity of Las Vegas residences.

Chris came to Desert Spring in 2013 after living in Texas for 5 years and loves helping the church navigate the ever-growing world of technology by helping to improve our livestream, our in person worship experience, and our tech capabilities for bible study and other church events.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 – Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Laura Younger

Laura grew up in central Ohio and moved to Las Vegas in 2015. She is a true Buckeye.

Laura has two children who are young adults. She enjoys cooking, reading, gardening, and traveling in her spare time.

Jake Skarin

Jake Skarin has worked with several Choirs and Show Choirs across the Midwest. Then moved to sunny Florida to work for a mouse. Currently, Jake works as a Flight Attendant for Spirit Airlines.

Jake grew up in the church and has always found a Church Home wherever he was. Ankeny First United Methodist Church (Ankeny, Iowa), Lutheran Church of the Cross (Altoona, Iowa), Antelope Park Church of the Brethren (Lincoln, Nebraska), Community Presbyterian Church (Celebration, Florida), Church By The Sea (North Miami, Florida). He is so excited to be a part of the Desert Spring Church Family.

Jake has sang on stages across the world from Carnegie Hall, Beijing Opera House, Notre Dame, Mont Saint-Michel, even singing at Disney World! (just to name a few!!). He is so excited to share his musical talents and share the musical talents of our members.

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations” Psalm 89:1

Linda Rizzuto

Linda grew up in Michigan and has lived in Las Vegas for 20 years.

Linda enjoyed six years of retirement, and after much persuasion from Desert Spring Church, she agreed to return to work to be Desert Spring’s Accounting Manager.

Linda enjoys volunteering at The Smith Center and spending time with her two daughters and four grandchildren.

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Rev. David Devereaux

Our Senior Pastor, the grandson of a Methodist Elder, was born in North Chicago and grew up in Phoenix Arizona. (He moved to Phoenix when he was 6 years old.)
He attended Glendale Community College, The University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. While studying at Northern Arizona University, he met Geri Dodge; they were married on November 4th, 1978 and have nine children (4 by birth, and 5 by adoption), and thirteen grandchildren.

Pastor David graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, and later attended graduate school at Princeton Theology Seminary, where he earned his Master of Divinity Degree. He felt a call to Ordained Ministry when he was 16 years old, however he did not act on that call until he was 32.

Pastor David was ordained an Elder in the United Methodist Church in 1992, and has served churches in Camp Verde Arizona, Tucson Arizona, and Las Vegas Nevada. He is trained as a church growth consultant, and has assisted numerous congregations in revitalization.

He has a passion for preaching and teaching, and for encouraging people to answer God’s call upon their lives. Pastor David has also served as the North District Superintendent from 2003-2008 and as Dean of the Cabinet from 2006-2008. Pastor David became the Senior Pastor to Desert Spring UMC, Las Vegas, NV on July 1, 2008.

Katie Beall

Katie Beall was born in Plano, Texas. She moved to Las Vegas when she was 9 years old, where she began attending Desert Spring Church.

Katie grew up singing in choirs, performing in musicals, dancing, attending concerts & worship festivals and was inspired by everything surrounding music and praise.

She has a great love for her church family and contemporary worship. She watched both form and grow over the years she has been attending Desert Spring.

Katie and her Husband, Stephen, have two adorable boys – Stevie and Loran.

Lori Wilhite

Lori grew up in California where she met her husband Mark. They left California when Mark earned an Army commission; and during their military career have lived in 8 states, and 3 countries, on 3 continents.

Lori has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication, a naturally optimistic outlook, and a very diverse work background, bringing more than 30 years administrative experience to Desert Spring. She has worked in personnel, customer service, federal civil service, travel industry, medical billing, and in curriculum development. She has 13 years’ experience teaching personal and professional development topics for government, military, and nonprofit organizations.

Lori, Mark, and their two brave, resilient, adaptable, tenacious kids, Grant and Amanda – who made being Military BRATs look easy – now call Las Vegas home and are thrilled to be members of the Desert Spring family.

Julie Hart

Julie Hart is the mother of two sons, Lewie and Giovanni. She has worked in child related fields since 1997.

She served five years as Director of Children and Youth Ministries at University United Methodist Church. During her time at UUMC, she was also involved in outreach ministry and the launch of the very first Sidewalk Sunday School in Nevada. She spent one year at UNLV as Protestant Campus Ministry Director at the Interfaith Center. After the birth of her second son, she started a licensed in-home day care, where she provided a loving, nurturing environment for infants and toddlers. Julie has been involved in the camping ministry at Potosi Pines Camp since 1997, where she has served as dean and co-dean for Elementary, Jr. High and Sr. High camps. She has spent the last eight years supervising the Background Check Unit for the Clark County Department of Family Services.

She is now on staff at Desert Spring United Methodist Church as Director of Youth Ministries, where she is excited to share her spiritual gifts of faith, hospitality and evangelism.

Ann Hardy

Ann serves as Outreach Director, helping our church body extend beyond itself to meaningfully connect with neighbors, our community and engage the next generations.

Ann and her husband Alex have two stellar kids, Victoria & Timothy. Ann says the best part of her job is meeting newcomers to Desert Spring and helping them make connections with others in our wonderful church.

“Gloria Dei vivens homo.” The glory of God is a human being fully alive. – St. Irenaeus

Voltaire Verzosa

Voltaire Verzosa, pianist/countertenor, received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree from the University of Montana and his Master of Music in Voice Performance degree from the University of Colorado. He pursued further studies in piano at the Eastman School of Music and at the Dorothy Taubman Piano Institute.

Voltairehas performed Internationally for many years. Currently, he holds the post of Principal Pianist for the Las Vegas Philharmonic.

Also in demand as a collaborative pianist, Voltaire coaches classical vocal repertoire, with special emphasis on Baroque vocal performance practices. He has served as musical director for several local productions in musical theatre.

Voltaire teaches voice and piano privately at his home as well as at the College of Southern Nevada and at Nevada School of the Arts. As an all-around musician, his extensive piano and voice background has enabled him to maintain a dual career as solo pianist and singer.

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