This Sunday, Mars Hill Church Everett is holding its big launch. Yesterday, we met the pastor of that mission, Scott Mitchell, and heard about his vision for the church and Everett. Today, we meet another leader up in Everett, Darren Larama, who leads a Community Group on Tuesday nights. Here, Darren, pictured below with his daughter and wife, talks to Everett writer Kwame about his faith and role at the church.

How did you come to know Jesus?

I gave my life to him as a youngin. I was raised in a Christian home. When I was about 25, I started heading back to the church and paying more attention to what the spirit was telling me about my life and some of the mistakes I was making and that’s when I started to walk with Christ.

How and when did you start attending Mars Hill Church?

I had been hanging out with a friend of mine and going to church with him. I knew that my friend actually went to Mars Hill I started going there hoping to run into her. I don’t know if I would have known about Mars Hill without her talking about it or going there. We had been working together so she had some good conversations with me about my beliefs and some things that I had gotten wrong. She was helpful in pointing out what the Bible says.

Where are you from? Where did you grow up?

I just grew up here: I was born in Everett and grew in Arlington. I lived in eastern Washington in Cheney for three years while I went to school. The rest of the time I’ve lived between north Seattle and Everett.

What brought you to Everett?

I teach in north Everett so I am getting to know a lot of the families and kids. In some capacity I have been involved with the Everett School District for about five years. Through that time I have really grown to love it and know its needs. I see all these things that could totally be addressed by people who love Jesus.

What excites you most about Mars Hill Everett?

I think the possibilities for God’s work in Everett through Mars Hill are pretty big. I feel like a lot of Snohomish County comes into Everett looking for a city. The physical place where Mars Hill Everett is going to placed looks out on a hill over Snohomish County. You know, it’s almost like a lighthouse sitting right there looking over Snohomish River Valley, up towards Marysville, out to Lake Stevens, those pretty large Snohomish County cities, so I kind of get excited about it.

What does a typical night at your Community Group look like?

We meet at 6:30 p.m. and we spend a few minutes visiting and catching up with each other. We share a meal together and spend that time continuing to fellowship. After that we tend to either do one of two things: We get together as a big group and discuss the sermon, the Scripture that was laid out, and the questions that were provided. I don’t always achieve it but I really try and focus on the application-level stuff, like what God wants us to do from what we’ve learned. The other thing we do sometimes is we split up guys and gals separately spending time confessing and repenting of sin and talking and praying. Regardless, we talk about prayer requests.

What has being in community meant to you?

It’s become a web of friends. From Seattle to Everett, people I know and love that have helped me overcome sin and that I have fought with on issues—people I trust for help and guidance, and people that look to me for the same. It’s more than just the other six or seven people in the group, it’s a whole bunch of people that I’ve gotten to know over the years that form this kind of larger community. And, it’s just this really cool interconnected web of people with different interests who might never get to know each other that God has brought together.

How can we pray for you?

Pray that our group would really understand what God’s mission is for our group and our neighborhood, that we can remain or get on his mission, that people who don’t know Jesus would be able to come and join us and learn about him from us.

Do you have a family?

I have an amazing wife, Kryssa, she’s my best pal and my best critic—she’s awesome. We just had our five-year anniversary. Two and a half years ago we adopted our daughter, Tegan. She’s great, she is an absolute blessing and joy. It’s just one of the ways that we kind of stand in awe of how good God is. The adoption was such a cool process that God just gave us such a great kid. Another prayer request we could throw out there is that, through our second adoption, [that] God’s hand would be on it and that we would be able to rest in his timing and the knowledge that he loves us.

Interested in Darren Larama’s Community Group?

Here’s what you need to know: Day: Tuesdays Time: 6:30 p.m. Contact: Darren on the City This post originally appeared on the Mars Hill Everett blog.