John came to know Jesus Christ in 1978, the same year that he began, what he thought to be his life’s career path as a professional mechanical engineer working for a large consulting engineering company in western Canada. He had married Karin the year before and the future seemed clear. However, subsequent to his salvation, God began to work in John’s heart, to move him in a direction he would never have dreamed of. In 1984 after working for 6 years as a consulting engineer, John, now with wife and two children, left his job and began to train to become a professional ballet dancer. The Lord blessed John in his ballet training and allowed him to advance in his abilities as a dancer at an unprecedented pace. In 1985 He landed his first professional dance position with the Spokane Ballet company, and after three years dancing with both classical and contemporary dance companies, went on to dance with Ballet Magnificat sharing the gospel worldwide for 30 years. John’s responsibilities with Ballet Magnificat included the roles of Company Minister, Personnel director, performer, principle spokesman, and bus mechanic.

In 2013, four years prior to his retirement from Ballet Magnificat, God revealed to Karin and John that He was going to move them from Jackson Mississippi to Grand Junction Colorado. Later that same year, the Holy Spirit revealed to John that his role in Grand Junction might be to start an apologetics-based ministry on the CMU campus. Over the next 3 1⁄2 years, in preparation for this calling, John completed a masters degree in Christian Apologetics and is now the chapter director for the ministry of Ratio Christi, and apologetics-based ministry on the campus of Colorado Mesa University. Karin works as a midwife at Blooming Babies Birth Center in Grand Junction.

Oh...and by the way...John and Karin had 5 more children (a total of 7), and 8 (and counting) grandchildren. Two of John and Karin’s children have moved to Grand Junction with their families and a third is planning to move, joining a growing VanderVelde hub in western Colorado.