Biographical Information

Sandi Gwen Rog

I was born in Corvallis, Oregon on January 8, 1971. We moved to Colorado when I was one year old and that is where I grew up. I have one younger sister and a half sister. I was four years old when my younger sister was born. From my birth to the time I was five my father had brought us through the Baptist Church, the Mormon Church, the Pentecostal Church, and he even started a church of his own. By the time I was six, my mother left my father. My younger sister and I then lived with my mother. During the next several years on our weekend visits, my father continued to take my sister and me to one church after another, this time they were usually different forms of Pentecostal denominations. Some were "non-denominational" but I like to refer to them as "all-denominational." Everybody agreed to disagree.

My mother is a Baptist although that doesn't mean we had to go to church every Sunday. We moved in with her best friend shortly after the separation. For purposes of this biography I shall call her Pam. Pam had eleven brothers and sisters. Pam's mother basically took our mother in as one of her own children. So, Pam's mother became our grandmother, while Pam became like a second mother to my sister and me, and her brothers and sisters became our aunts and uncles. Of course, my father hated this with a passion. While growing up in this new family my mother and others often referred to my father as "the Jerk". Meanwhile, my father accused Pam of being the woman guilty of breaking up his family. My mother did have her own family, but they lived in California at the time, so the help and love from this new family was a very welcome outcome for her.

By the time I was twelve, my father re-married and had a baby girl. When she was one year old her mother left my father. The last time I saw my half-sister she was two years old. We weren't allowed to have any pictures of her for fear that my father would see them and know what his daughter looked like. I recently attempted to find her and I was successful. She is now sixteen years old, but her mother doesn't want to have anything to do with me so I am keeping my distance. My father, being too hurt to go through another custody battle let them go on their way and to this day he hasn't seen his youngest daughter or her mother. After this, he continued going from one religion to the other and took my sister and me with him to church on our weekend visits. His search for truth was like a roller coaster ride for me because the "rules" were constantly changing. I experienced "healings" so that I wouldn't need glasses anymore ... I still need glasses. We also waited for Jesus to show up in the clouds because someone said He was coming on that day. As you know, He never showed up. By the time I was fourteen my father ended up in prison for tax evasion. While in prison, my father met a man named Blake Williams who taught him the truth (finally). My father became a Christian while in prison and let me tell you, how all these men became Christians in prison without any outside help from the church is a whole story in itself! When my father got out he taught my sister and me the gospel. I was sixteen years old when I was baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. Since then, my life has changed rapidly. I grew a lot in Christ and continue to grow.

At age seventeen I moved in with my father and, not long after that, with my encouragement, he took in a fifteen year old boy who had run away from home. My father has always wanted a son and with the consent of the boy's mother he took him in as one of his own. To this day, this boy, now a man, is the son my father has always wanted. This boy recently graduated from O.C.U.S.A. and is a very strong and faithful Christian.

In 1989, when I was eighteen, I decided to attend Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts. Officially I majored in Advertising Design but was more interested in an "Mrs." Degree. I knew exactly what I wanted in a man and even made a list on paper of what I was looking for. I prayed to God day and night for a God-fearing man and knew God kept His own list since it was impossible to get everything down on paper. I figured, if God can part the Red Sea, then finding me the right Christian husband shouldn't be a problem. I prayed for a man who was strong in the Lord, I wanted more than just a pew warmer. I'm sure God was getting tired of hearing my pleas because after a year and a half of school God answered my prayers, only He surprised me. My husband-to-be was not at O.C.U.S.A. but at home in Colorado attending Bear Valley School of Biblical Studies at my home congregation. So naturally, after completing two years at O.C.U.S.A. I stayed in Colorado. While there, I went to Intermountain College and got a diploma in Floral Design.

In 1992 I married Karsten Rog, and God literally gave us a fairy tale wedding. People in the congregation are still talking about it to this day. In June of 1993 we moved to Holland and I now have 2 little girls and am a homemaker. My husband, his family and our friends all think that I am adapting well to Holland. I have learned to speak the language fluently and will soon receive an official certificate from the Dutch Government for "Dutch as a second language." We have worked with the church in the south of Holland and currently reside in Utrecht, the central province of the Netherlands, and work with the church here. Much work is needed in Holland because we have very few full-time workers for the Lord. I am involved in organizing Ladies Bible studies and retreats. I do as much personal evangelism as possible, some through Bible correspondence courses and through friendships I make. We often aid in the organization and work for summer Bible camps and youth rally's. Whatever is needed to build and strengthen the church, we try to be there to help.

I have many interests, in fact, too many to mention. The thing I enjoy most is studying the Bible with non-Christians and new Christians. I also enjoy being a mother and a wife. On the side, I like to sing, sew, draw, wood-burn, ride my unicycle, walk, decorate cakes, etc., etc. Last but not least, I really enjoy writing. With all my interests, maybe I can work each one into all the stories I end up writing in my lifetime. I've written poetry and stories since I was in elementary school. I certainly do not claim to be a master at writing. I have much to learn. But I enjoy it and believe I possess a talent for it.

Whatever I end up doing with the rest of my life, I just want to give God the glory and the honor He rightly deserves, and never forget where I have been and what He has done for me.