Lee Burkardt

Lee Burkhardt was saved as an eight-year old growing up in the state of New Jersey. One Sunday in the summer of 1988 he sat listening to his pastor deliver a message on hell. Lee was convicted about his sinfulness. Although he had grown up going to church, he saw his need for Christ for the first time. On the way home from church, Lee discussed how he felt with his mom. When they arrived home, she took time to show Lee from the Bible how to be saved and that afternoon he trusted in Christ.

As a teenager Lee became involved in his church's bus ministry. As he began serving God, he felt God begin to speak to him especially when attending youth rallies with his youth group.

It was about this time that Lee and his mother took a vacation to Alaska. They enjoyed this trip so much that they moved to Homer, Alaska, about a year later. In Alaska, the Burkhardts came into contact with Pastor Stan Roach. Lee attended Pastor Roach's summer camp and felt God calling him. It was at this time that he surrendered his life to God.

Knowing that God wanted him to do something for Him with his life, Lee began searching for a Bible college to be trained for full-time service. He sought counsel from Pastor Roach and from Pastor Siebold, his former pastor in New Jersey, and found that they both recommended Fairhaven Baptist College. As he continued to pray, Lee knew God was leading him to Fairhaven and enrolled in the fall of 2000.

Lee says that the experiences of Bible college have helped him to learn to rely on God, a lesson he has been learning since losing his dad in an accident as a small boy. His dad was a Bible college graduate only about six months into an assistant pastor position when a young person running a stop sign claimed his life. Without his dad around, Lee learned to look to his Heavenly Father.

While attending Fairhaven, Lee has been involved in the bus ministry, nursing home, and as a helper in a Sunday School class. He says that involvement in the ministries has showed him that the ministry is hard work, but well worth it.

Also while attending Fairhaven, Lee met and in the summer of 2003 married Rebekah Thompson. Rebekah came to college from East Moline, Illinois, and has graduated with a secretarial degree. Upon graduating this May, Lee is looking for the opportunity to be an assistant and to see God continue to work in and through his life.