• Why do we need premarital counseling?

• Who are the Premarital Mentors?

• How do I get started?

• May I pick my mentoring couple?

• What can I expect from our time with our mentors?

• Where can I download the Premarital & Wedding Packets?

• What is the cost and what does it cover?

• Can I request to be married by a BVG Pastor?

• Can I request to use the church facilities for our wedding?

Rex & Nancy Cline

They say that anniversaries are like birthdays… they’re not only good, but the more you have them the longer you live.  Nancy and I have been enjoying anniversaries for 33 years.  Our hobbies include camping in our RV and going to stage plays.  We also volunteer at the Gallo Center for the Performing Arts several times a month. We both enjoy train rides, especially Rex.

We find joy in spending time with our family.  We have three adult children, Chad, Paige, and Tim; Chad, married to Corinne, and Paige, married to Joey Prescott, live in Modesto, and have children of their own, so joy is spelled “Grandkids.”  Our third child, Tim, is currently in his senior year at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.  He will graduate in May 2010 and continue his education in naval flight school in Pensacola, FL.

During free time, not recess time, you’ll find us playing with our grandsons, Creighton, Landon, and Connor, or volunteering at the church.  Naps are also a great free time activity.  Nancy enjoys a good book while I like to perform community service by picking up litter along Ninth St. Ok, so it just happens to be near some railroad tracks!

Marriage is like a fresh rose, beautiful and aromatic (sort of sounds like romantic, huh), but those thorns are another thing.  Finances were out of control at one time in our marriage, but we learned to live within our means and are now enjoying life without debt.  Over the years, Nancy and I have learned the value of regularly investing in our marriage through dating and weekend get-a-ways.  We are learning to cherish life’s simple pleasures.

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Bill and Gayle Madsen

Bill and Gayle moved to Modesto in 1980 and found Big Valley Grace right away for our family’s needs. Bill is a Clinical Scientist for DMC and Gayle is a substitute teacher.  We have two children, Nate and Kristina and two grandchildren, Elissa and A.J.

We, together, enjoy golfing, the beach, hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, exercising and skiing. Bill is more the avid golfer and also does race/road cycling, while Gayle likes to knit, make jewelry, make greeting cards, exercise and hang out with her friends.

Using the gifts and talents God has given us, our service to Him has come in many forms.  It all started with Junior High teens, then moved down to Early Childhood ministry, then moved up to young married couples. Here we had found our place and our passion.  With unique training, we then embarked on the premarital ministry.  Our goal for premarital ministry is to equip couple to have a vibrant marriage that will last for a lifetime.  This ministry has improved our own marriage, and helped our daughter in building a strong marriage for her and husband, Tim. Our prayer goal is to see God continue to use us in this ministry, and with the couples that come into our home for mentoring and teaching.

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Rich and Bonnie Sasser

Young love and God’s grace is the title of this introduction. I’m Rich Sasser and my wife is Bonnie! I call her the “wife of my youth” since we met when I was 17 and she was 15, and married at 19 & 17 (AHH YOUNG LOVE). We have been married almost 32 years, really for all of our adult lives.

As you might guess, getting married that young came with many challenges! (Especially being married to a guy like me). Soon after we were married, we left home and family and moved to Idaho where I was playing college football and going to school. Living in poverty, no family, not even a church family caused us to start our new relationship in the midst of struggle and conflict.

But our God is faithful! He brought some special Godly people into our lives that helped us learn how to be married. His grace has sustained us and helped us through tons of issues and now we even like each other! I have spent the last 27 years as a Firefighter and Bonnie has done the really hard work of raising our three (now grown) children.

As our children got older, Bonnie has also worked as a store manager and an administrative assistant. We have found that raising our children doesn’t end when they move out so we get the joy of still being part of their lives.  Two of the three are now married so we have been blessed to continue with our mentoring skills without being too intrusive. Bonnie and I enjoy camping and traveling together. We are currently enjoying a bathroom remodel together (you need to see her “mad skills” with a tile saw) and we truly love serving and being part of Christ’s family at Big Valley Grace.

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Jim and Alicia Steward

We are Jim and Alicia Steward.  We’ve been married for 22 years. This is Jim’s second (and last) marriage and Alicia’s only marriage.

We enjoy traveling, especially cruising and spending time in Monterey and Hawaii.  Jim is a golfer of sorts and Alicia desires to learn the sport.  We have many animals around our house and receive hours of enjoyment from them.

Our big passion in life is Marriage and Relationship ministry. We believe every couple can learn, as we have, skills that will help them experience the full blessing of marriage.

Our free time is spent mainly with our family and close friends we’ve met through ministry.  Our family consists of 4 children. Jennifer is our oldest, is married and has one son. James is our older son and serves with the Air Force in Florida. Ben is our younger son.  He is a high school senior this year and also takes classes at MJC. He serves as a summer counselor with the Diabetic Youth Foundation at Bear Ski Meadow Camp. Ainsley is our youngest, a freshman. Our kids were all home-schooled.

The biggest challenges we have faced as a couple have centered around health issues that have affected our children. As a husband, who parents had nine marriages between them, I have chosen to work diligently together with Alicia as a team to preserve and defend our marriage to help insure that our kids never see their parents separate, but rather model marriage as God intends.

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