Ryan Kelly

Ryan James Kelly

Ryan "Cheesin' it" In some California sunshine.

Hometown:

Elgin, Illinois 

(And, folks, he would like to clarify… He is a CUBS fan!)

Favorite Place:

The West Coast

Favorite Quote:

"I cannot live in mediocrity, content with merely knowing that there is more of God to experience and explore--and then do nothing about it"
-Bill Johnson, Face to Face with God

What We Love About Ryan:

We LOVE Ryan’s quirky sense of humor, his passion for Baseball and the Cubs, (or his “Cubbies” as he lovingly refers to them) his loyalty to his friends and family, (Ryan may very easily be one of the most dependable people we know) as well his undeniable desire to be a man set apart from the rest of the world!

What sets you apart? What is it that makes you different from the rest of the world? Are you living a life where you are a light that’s “hidden under a basket,” as the gospels say? Or do you fall more into the “light of the world” category? Whatever your response may be in answer to these questions, we are here to tell you that the latter is not an unreachable goal. To be a “city on a hill that cannot be hidden,” or to be someone worthy of following, of depending upon, is no easy task—but it is doable. We know because we see it exemplified every day, through individuals that have heard the call of God and are unwilling to settle for anything less than how He’s called them to live. Ryan Kelly is one of these individuals we have the pleasure of serving alongside of!

Have you ever met someone that was just… different from anyone you’ve ever known? A person who for some reason you couldn’t quite put your finger on, naturally drew people to themselves? Ryan describes one of these people to a “T!” His life brings inspiration and meaning to many, and his love for others sparks an unmistakable, “Hey! I’ve never felt anything like that before!” Ryan will give anything to anyone to ensure his or her comfort and happiness—even if it’s the shirt off of his own back, and it’s obvious he loves to do it!

Ryan and his twin brother, Justin, (Who Ryan would like us to tell you, is awesome.) were born in Illinois in July of 1988. In reminiscing about his upbringing, Ryan tells us that life was relatively ordinary.  

Ryan and his twin brother, Justin at their High School Graduation

“I was a normal kid. Normal life. Normal friends,” But after a moment of deliberation he recanted, “Well, normal for me… I definitely had my hurts and my issues.”

He always had exposure to church and to God, as Ryan had been baptized catholic at a very young age, then confirmed Lutheran in 1997, but that was about the extent of how he related to Father God.

“…I had a vague idea of who He was, but didn’t really know or care to let it change my life.” Ryan told us very plainly. “[Christianity] wasn’t ever a strict thing and standards were never kept in the home, so it wasn’t something I could model myself after.”

At the age of three, Ryan’s parents divorced. Although she remarried a few years later, it was mainly just the influence of his mother that contributed in Ryan’s upbringing. He saw his father sporadically through his childhood, mainly weekends and in the summer if anything and this had a very dramatic effect on young Ryan.

“My Dad [wasn’t really] around a lot and that caused me to harden my heart and not trust fatherly figures… it became “normal” to me for them to not be there.”

Although he never saw it in the home, Ryan's parents both struggled with drug addiction while he was growing up. Seeing the way it governed the life of his mother and father, Ryan resolved at a very young age that he would live in a different kind of way.

"I never wanted to do drugs, and I wanted to be responsible [with my life]." Ryan told us.

And responsible, Ryan remained! He was heavily involved in sports all throughout the extent of his schooling-- playing basketball, football, and of course, baseball. In addition to that, Ryan was an excellent student, pulling good grades and devoting time to his studies. He had many friends in High School, not faithful to one specific clique. Also, because of his determination at a young age to live a life set apart from what he knew, Ryan never got involved with the “party scene,” but kept diligently plugging away at his schoolwork.

“I was a good kid… loved by everyone, but I was REALLY shy and held back.” Ryan recollected.

            Despite his success at his school and in his resolutions, there was still pain that was buried deep inside of Ryan’s heart from the absence of his father in his life. This pain had no recognizable way of being seen except a residual feeling of emotional apathy that Ryan often experienced. During his interview, Ryan thought back to a memory where that numbness was undoubtedly experienced:

“I remember for High School graduation, my mom threw us [my brother and I] a party, and my dad was going to throw one as well. When we showed up for his party, everyone was there except for Him-- But I wasn’t hurt, which was odd. I didn’t care at the time… well, I did, but thought that I didn’t, because I was used to it.”

            Ryan, stuck in the rut of indifference and “normalcy,” kept plugging away at his life, unsure if he would ever experience something truly real. The love of God was hot on his heels, though! His junior year of High School, one of his buddies, John, invited Ryan to come to church with him. Ryan consented, and when he went was hit by the reality of how genuine, and unmistakably different the people there were.

            Given Ryan’s background of church, he was taken aback by the love these people had for God.

“[I encountered] people who were hungry and passionate for God. This was odd!” and went on to tell us, “Worship wasn’t out of a hymnal, and wasn’t boring!”

As he continued in his recollection of his first experience in this church, he disclosed that it was in this “un-boring” time of worship that he first encountered that something different he’d been searching for his whole life. The feeling of community that he felt there, and seeing the people around him experience the love of God led Ryan to keep going back.

            Just a couple months later, Ryan accepted Jesus into his heart—led by his friend, John, as he was dropping Ryan off after a service. As he remembered this experience, Ryan stated,

“I didn’t even know the extent to what had happened then … but um… something changed. I didn’t talk the same—I stopped swearing. I started hanging out with different friends, started going to church… I started loving Jesus.”

            After this, Ryan’s life was never the same. He attended the International House of Prayer sponsored “One Thing” conference three years in a row, began leading worship at local houses of prayer, and for the first time in his life had found something worth being truly devoted to. He recalled giddily, “I was so passionate at first! Oooh! I loved it!”

            After High School, Ryan attended community college and obtained a two-year degree in Business and Criminal Justice. “I thought I wanted to be a police officer,” Ryan told us, “But I was also leading worship at the House of Prayer, so I thought I might want to go into ministry as well.” Finally, He took this decision to Jesus and see what HE had to say about it.

“I was praying in church one day, ‘God, where do you want me to go?’ The immediate thought that came to my head was, ‘Toronto.’ —This was before I knew how to hear the voice of the Lord.” He told us. He continued his story: “So I said, ‘Hm…Toronto, that sounds cool, I wonder what’s in Toronto?’ So I went home and Googled ministry schools in Toronto, and came across The School of Ministry** in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I knew absolutely nothing about Toronto or the history of revival or anything, but I saw the website and really wanted to go. I applied and was accepted.”

            

With some team mates at a School of Ministry Outreach.

            During his five month stint in Toronto, Ryan was impacted in many ways, mainly through community and being a part of a group of people all going after God and seeking His heart. In School of Ministry, Ryan gained many new mindsets and revelations of Father God, as well as began the process of gaining healing in his heart. Ryan explained, “It began a new journey, of being, ‘born again,’ knowing that there’s more than I’ve experienced or ever known.”  Also, partnered with the healing taking place in Ryan’s heart, God began to reveal to him how “fearfully and wonderfully made” he truly is. Ryan told us, “The biggest thing I learned [at School of Ministry] was to “just be.” That you were created to be yourself, and if you’re not going to be you, no one else is going to be you for you!”

            When Ryan’s time in Toronto started to come to an end, he began asking God again what was next. In his last weeks at School of Ministry, a team that came to Oroville on outreach gave testimonies about their time here and the lives that were impacted. It was during this time of testimonies that Ryan felt a tug on his heart.

“I felt something stir inside of me and I thought, ‘I WANT TO GO THERE!’ I don’t even know what was said, [all I know] is there was just… something stirred up.”

           

            Wanting to be certain He was following God’s will, Ryan returned home to Elgin after School of Ministry had concluded. Still was unsure of what to do, Ryan brought it again before Father God. Determined to get a clear “go here,” or “do this,” Ryan sought out an answer.

“I was so much about ‘tell me what to do clearly, and I’ll follow you,’” Ryan confessed, “But God wouldn’t give me a specific answer! The only thing basically was that He told me to follow my heart, choose where I wanted to go and go, for He was with me wherever I went. And it was in the unknown where he is often found.”

            The revelation of God being with him wherever he went, coupled with the draw of being apart of community again, (Ryan already knew some people here from his time spent at School of Ministry) Ryan’s heart ended up leading him to Oroville to participate in Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship!  And we are just about the luckiest people ever to have a guy like Ryan around! Ryan is in charge of all the worship and sound for church services, is full time kid’s department. Also, he has developed and leads our brand new EVOLVE ministry, which is directed at 10-13 yr olds, causing them to go deeper into who God is and who they are. In addition, he is a regular worship leader, and helps to feed hundreds of people a week through our weekly food bank.

Ryan has recently signed on for year three of Kingdom Awakening Apprenticeship, and we can say with one hundred percent conviction that Ryan has transformed into a completely different human being than he was when he came!

“What have I learned in my time with Kingdom Awakening? Lots!” He went on to say, “The biggest thing I learned is that God is not hype, and He isn’t a conference… Relationship with God is about day in, day out, one choice at a time. I’ve learned that a standard is worth keeping, that Jesus IS Christianity, He IS what matters, and love IS what matters. I’ve learned about following and submission and how huge that is. If I can’t follow and submit to a man that I can see, then I can’t follow and submit to God that I can’t see.”

And this change in Ryan, although he may not see it right away, drastically affects many people in his life!

“I don’t always see the immediate change, it’s so much easier to see it when you’re looking from the outside in, then from the inside out. But I know there’s change because I don’t think the same, and I don’t live the same!” Pride gleaming in his eyes, Ryan continued, “My family even sees it. Whenever I go back and visit, they know something’s different about me. They’re proud of me, and they see that I’m going after something worth going after.”

The first born again Christian in his family, Ryan has been blazing a trail for them without even realizing it! Since his conversion, his Mother, Father, and Brother have all come into relationship with Jesus. “I may not have led them personally to the Lord,” Ryan told us, “But I think my choices helped them to see something different.”

When asked what he dreams about, Ryan says simply this… He dreams about impacting people and having people look up to him. He dreams about being a man that can be followed, and someone people will say lived like Jesus did. 

Ryan ministering to some children at a weekly kid's service.

“I want to be known as a big ball of love!” Ryan declared to us. He said it with a laugh, but we know that he meant it with his heart. “Seriously, I dream about affecting people, traveling, and going crazy places-- I just want to do missions stuff, really. I want to visit every place I possibly can in the world at least once. I want to see people impacted by God through me, and know that he’s real.”

            Many people have ALREADY been changed by the love that spills out from Ryan onto others, and he is still touching lives every day! Jesus tells us that all men will know we are his disciples by the love that we show to one another, and it is people like Ryan Kelly that epitomize what Jesus is talking about here!

Ryan Kelly, this world is a better place because of people like you! You inspire us and we love you!

**Toronto School of Ministry is a five-month program dedicated to encountering the love of God and learning how to give it away to the world. For more information, check out their website. http://som.catchthefire.com