Focus on Our Families: Russell Bergen
- Russell Bergen
- Apr 8, 2009
- Series: Newsletter Vol. 2 Num. 1
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Chimes: What is your full name? If you have any nicknames, include them and explain.
Russell: Russell Bergen. I also have been given the nickname "Zerg" during my college dorm initiation ceremony, where Zerg is taken from a popular 1990's computer game.
C: Where are you from, and how and when did you get to where you live now?
R: I was born and raised in San Diego, California. I came up through the public school system, and then left home at the age of 18 to go to a private Christian university in Longview, Texas (LeTourneau University). I graduated in 2007 with a B.S. in Computer Information Systems and moved back to San Diego to work for my church in Information Technology for the summer of 2008. During that time I was looking for a career opportunity and praying hard for one to pop up locally. However, God opened some very obvious doors that led to receiving a job offer in Reston, VA this past November, and that is where I work now!
C: Tell a little bit about your job.
R: I am a contracted employee of the US Federal Courts, with the title of Intrusion Detection System (IDS) analyst. In more understandable terms, I am part of a 24/7 team of computer security specialists which provide mitigation and protection for 250+ federal court houses across the country from "cyber-attacks".
It is a new experience for me to be in that kind of mission critical environment with its unpredictable periods of high stress alerts in what is normally a fairly quiet atmosphere. However, the type of work is something I enjoy, despite the commute.
C: What are your hobbies and interests?
R: Up until my move to the east coast, my dad, brother and myself would SCUBA dive periodically. I have yet to pick that back up. I also am an aspiring photographer, and enjoy reading all kinds of books when I find the time.
Aside from hobbies, I have a strong interest in missions with both a localized focus and towards the global expansion of God's kingdom. Locally, God has given me a heart for reaching Mormons, and have been given opportunities everywhere I end up living to reach out and witness to the lost in the LDS church. Having also spent a summer as an intern with SIM ministries down in North Carolina, I became much more aware of the need for supporting global missions. My hope is to one day become a full time missionary and help further the Kingdom through using the skills I've developed in the secular world to support missionaries on the field. While the Internet has brought new levels of communication and resources to missions, finding people who both support that cause and are willing to give up lucrative careers is difficult.
C: Tell me one random thing about yourself that people probably don't know.
R: My sense of direction and ability to navigate unfamiliar territory is strangely lacking. Ending up in the wrong state or even at the border of Mexico has been known to happen when I am driving to somewhere new to me.
C: What is one daredevil thing you would like to try, and why?
R: Skydiving. Why not?
C: What is one place you would like to go if money was not an object, and why?
R: The Orion Nebula. Because it is the Orion Nebula.
C: How did you come to know Jesus?
R: Around the age of 5 or 6, my dad would read Bible stories to my brother and I every night before bed from an illustrated Bible (to keep our attention). I remember one night my dad worked in the plan of salvation to what he was reading, and then afterwards simply asking my brother and I if accepting Christ as my Savior was something I wanted. I remember saying "yes," and then being so excited that I ran and found my mom to tell her what I had just done.
Whether or not I was actually saved in that moment is something I won't know till Heaven, but years later in my High School youth group I made this faith my own and began to develop a personal relationship with God. Having a date is not important for me, and the Holy Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God.
C: What has been your ecclesiastical journey (i.e. what is your church background)?
R: I was born and raised in a Covenant church. At around 3rd grade my parents moved us to a Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) Church, where I stayed till 9th grade. My family moved to Shadow Mountain Community Church, which at the time was an independent Bible church, taught by Pastor David Jeremiah. SMCC soon decided to become part of the Southern Baptist denomination. While at college in Texas, I jumped between another Southern Baptist church and a CMA church. I then spent a summer going to "Church at Charlotte" in Charlotte, NC while interning at SIM.
All of them have been good for me, but also have helped strengthen the thought that denominations within the Church should not exist.
C: When you get to heaven, what is one question you would ask Jesus?
R: How many licks does it *really* take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
