Riley Hogan

Riley has been surrounded by Christianity his whole life. He grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in a Christian household, a Christian school, and his mom dragged him to church every Sunday. He had never truly accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior—he just went to the camps and youth groups his mom and dad put him in, never having a personal relationship with Jesus. It wasn’t until he hit rock bottom that he saw the absolute hopelessness in the world and that the only thing that could fill the despair was Jesus.

Two days before he was about to start his freshman year of college at GCU, he received a call from his mom. She told him his dad had just passed away from a heart attack out of the blue… his world was rocked. This was the man he had looked up to his whole life—for guidance, advice, love, and hope—gone in the blink of an eye. He was lost and hopeless.

The first semester, he went home to be with his family and came back the second semester alone. He tried to find community in parties, comfort in drugs and alcohol, and intimacy with women—none of which filled that void. His roommates had been bugging him to attend one of the life groups on their campus. Eventually, he went, just to get them to stop asking. The topic of the life group that night was unwavering joy in Christ. The whole time he was fighting back tears, and immediately when it was over, he walked back to his room and hid in the bathroom, praying out to God that he was done living life his way and gave it all up to Him.

Since then, the Lord has been walking with him through the sanctification process and the ups and downs of life. He has also blessed him with a God-fearing wife and a beautiful daughter. Now He has given him the opportunity to spread the news that saved his life to students in the Phoenix area in hopes that they will receive the same gift he did in Christ.