Hello Friends,
My name is Don Vanderlip. I am the Youth and Christian Education 
Director at Hilltop United Methodist Church. My hometown is Downingtown, Pennsylvania, which is about 45 minutes northwest of Philadelphia. Being a huge Philadelphia sports fan, my teams are the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and Sixers. I grew up in an American Baptist Church where, at age 13, I was baptized along with my younger sister and brother. Being baptiized didn’t make me feel like a Christian, though, because I didn't really take the time to follow Jesus. One summer on a mission trip with the church youth group a profound evangelist had a huge influence on my life. Billy Wayne was the evangelist who had a way of presenting the saving grace of Jesus Christ that made me start thinking about the way I was living my life. At the end of the trip Billy had a service of dedication for all the youth groups that were present. Billy said “Anyone who wants to turn their life over to Christ, come down to the cross and lay your life down in front of Jesus.” Hearing those words, I was convicted and went to the cross to give my life over to Jesus. It was at this point of my life that, for the very first time, I considered myself to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I was sixteen years old when I made that commitment to Jesus.
Through the rest of high school I did a lot of questioning about what I was to do with the rest of my life. College was definitely part of it, but where that was going to be was the next issue. On a youth retreat in Colorado was where I found out about the University of Sioux Falls, I applied my senior year, was accepted and came for a visit during the winter of 2001. WOW!! South Dakota winters are cold compared to Pennsylvania winters, although now I guess I am getting used to them. During the visit to USF I felt in my heart that this is the place where God wanted me to be. At USF I was a Resident Director, Fellowship of Chrstian Athletes (FCA) president for a year and I played Baseball for three years. I still lead an FCA group which meets at Edison Middle School on Friday mornings from 8:00 to 8:30. I came to USF wanting to major in the ministry field. In 2005 I graduated with a degree in Philosophy and Theology.
During college I started helping with the middle school youth group at Community Reformed Church. One of the girls in the youth group, Kelli Hillbrands, happened to have an older sister who was my age. I told Kelli to introduce me to her sometime. Well to make a long story short, Kelli introduced me to Kristi who is now my beautiful wife. Kristi and I have been married since July 23, 2005. Kristi is an elementary teacher in the Sioux Falls School District.
Currently, I am enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at North American Baptist Seminary here in Sioux Falls, My plan is to graduate with a Masters of Divinity with a Youth Ministry emphases.
In closing, I must say I am very excited to be here at Hilltop. I am looking forward to working with the youth and making life long friends and relationships with everyone I get to meet at Hilltop. Please come and talk to me if you want to hear more of my story. I would be happy to sit down and chat with you.
God Bless,
Don Vanderlip
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