About me

 

          My name is Brad Fowler and I will be turning the big 3 0 on October 6th. I have been married to my wife Vanessa for 6 years as of March 24th of this year. Together we have 2 kids, Hayden and Hudson. I am a preacher, youth leader, and getting into motivational speaking (talking to local high school sports teams about leadership, motivation, and life). I like baseball, the hstory of baseball, football, photography, and teaching my youth. I follow the Atlanta Braves and University of Georgia everything.

​

          On December 19, 2010, while working the camera at a Christmas play at my church, this feeling came over me that I couldn't fight. I tried, and I had been trying for almost six months. The fight was over and I shared with the entire church that God had led me into the ministry as a preacher. I knew right away it was in the area of youth ministry, I just didn't know exactly what part of youth ministry. How did I know I was supposed to work with youth? I'm glad you asked, there are a few reasons...

​

          Two weeks before I announced my calling at the Christmas play (on December 5th) I started a trial run of a teen/youth adult Sunday School class. My church didn't have one at the time, the man that did it before moved to Florida and no one picked it up for almost a year. That age group needed something and someone to trust and lean on. I went for it. Five and a half years later and we're still running.

 

          Another BIG reason I know that teaching/leading/helping the youth is because of my past. Ready for a TESTIMONY? As a high school Freshman and Sophmore I went through some tough times. I needed someone to lean on but didn't trust anyone enough to go to them, and I made sure not to show signs because I didn't want anyone asking me questions. Thing is, I had a good childhood, my parents took great care of me and my brother, I played on the high school baseball team, I had friends, I had girlfriends, I had a nice car to drive. All the stereotypes of someone who is depressed and going through rough times were thrown out the window.

​

          Funny thing is, God was working the whole time and I had no clue. I got saved at 9 years old so I knew God and what He could do, but at that point of my life I was in and out of church and when I did go I was the oldest in my youth by 3-4 years so I didn't really buy into a "youth group". But little did I know, that when I got to my darkest point and began to have very dark thoughts and stopped caring about baseball/family/my life, that God would step in at the right time. Through my brother, God woke me up to realize that life is not as hard as we make it out to be. No, life isn't perfect and it never will be, we don't live in a perfect world, but if we make the choice to accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior then one day, we will live in a perfect place.

​

          Now, fast forward 8 years from that time period to 2009... I was teaching the teen class during a Wednesday night service and got into my testimony. I talked about life not being hard like we and society makes it out to be, I talked about depression, I talked about suicide, I talked about LIFE... A girl in that class, her first night there, called one of the other youth leaders at the church later that night and asked to be saved. She explained that she had contemplated suicide and been depressed for a while, and now she wanted JESUS!

​

          When I received the text message explaining that the girl got saved after hearing my testimony, I felt like God smacked me and said "THIS IS WHY YOU TRUST IN ME" I went through everything that I went through for a reason, I didn't know that reason until EIGHT years later, but God revealed it in His time. Really cool thing is, as much as I love baseball (and people that know me know that I love baseball and the University of Georgia) my Junior year in high school, just one year after getting out of my situation, I became the captain of the high school baseball team! 

​

Try God and watch your TEST become a TESTimony and your MESS become a MESSage

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

​