When We Give of Ourselves: Stories of Faith & Transformation
At Summit, we’ve often said, “Your story told truthfully is good news.”
These stories don’t just show what God is doing through Summit. They reveal how lives are transformed when people also give of their time, their faith, their vulnerability, and their presence. They are powerful reminders of how generosity flows both ways—and how the church reflects the transformational love of Christ when we give ourselves to each other.
The Lerner Family: Serving Side by Side as a Family
Cindy Lerner and her family walked into Summit in the summer of 2022 after years of trying to find a church home that was a fit for a family. With four children, it was no simple feat! They found more than a fit–they found a mission.
“We had always made going to church a priority, but hadn’t found a place that really felt like home until Summit,” Cindy said.
On just their second Sunday, her daughter Emerson asked to serve in Base Camp. Cindy, Emerson, and (her middle son) Camden all signed up together. Eventually, her middle daughter, Austen, joined too. “We love spending Sunday mornings singing songs, playing games, and teaching kids about Jesus.”
What started as volunteering turned into a calling. Cindy now serves on staff as Summit’s Preschool Coordinator. “It has been a prayer of mine since I was a child to work in ministry,” she said. “God uses the kids to remind me that every person is precious to Him and that we should all have faith like a child.” Even her youngest, Truman, attends Base Camp and comes home asking deep questions about Jesus. “I know my kids have a sense of purpose and belonging through serving,” Cindy said.
For the Lerners, serving is not just a way to give back—it’s become the heartbeat of their family life.
Sarah: Building a Village Around Foster and Adoptive Families
When Sarah Joseph Land and her husband began the process of adopting through foster care, they knew it would take time. What they didn’t expect was how deeply the waiting would shape them—or how Summit would meet them in the middle of it.
“We were almost a year in, and I started questioning everything,” she said. Then, one Sunday, Summit announced a five-year vision to focus on foster families and local schools. “It felt like God’s confirmation. We signed up right away.” A year later, they were matched with their son, Nick.
Since then, Sarah has served on, led, and been supported by a Care Community, and she now helps lead Summit’s CarePortal response team. “Nick once told us, ‘You have nice friends,’ and we knew he meant the people who showed up every week with meals, prayers, and presence,” she said.
Through adoption and church community, Sarah has learned just how essential support is, especially for families navigating hard stories. “God has taught me that vulnerability and community are both worth the risk,” she said. “The church has an opportunity to be that village.”
The Claxton Family: A Journey That Led to Living Water
Katie and Bobby Claxton grew up believing in God, but they were not involved in church communities. “We believed God created us, we believed in heaven—but there wasn’t a lot of depth,” she said.
As adults, she and her husband Bobby began to feel a pull toward something more, especially after their children, Brayden and Kinley, were born. “We didn’t want our kids to have to figure it all out in adulthood like we were,” Katie said. That pull became even more personal when her father—later in life—shared that one of his biggest regrets was not raising his children with a stronger faith foundation.
While the Claxtons were “church shopping,” they found Summit unexpectedly through Kinley’s piano recital at the Lake Mary campus. “We didn’t even realize it was a church at first,” Katie said. “But when we came back for a Sunday service, it felt welcoming and real.”
Then came the baptism video. The first time she saw it, Katie was overcome. “It brought us to tears,” she said. “We weren’t ready yet, but we knew we wanted to get there.” A year later, she saw the video again—and this time, something had shifted for everyone in their family.
She enrolled her children in the “Why Believe” class, started asking deeper questions, and began to understand what baptism truly represented. “We realized it’s not the finish line. It’s the starting point.” When the Beach Baptisms were moved indoors to the Lake Mary campus, due to weather complications, the Claxtons had to decide where, when, and why they were taking this step of publicly professing their faith—with hearts set, they all stepped into the water. Katie was baptized alongside her husband, children, and her mother-in-law, three generations in one moment of obedience and hope. “Summit gave us a place to grow, and a way to begin again.”
Amber Pereya: A Mission Trip That Redefined Family Perspective
Amber Pereya has been in and out of Summit for years, but when she returned about two years ago with her children, something felt different. “I realized I wasn’t giving them the same faith foundation I had,” she said. So when Summit held its Africa Sunday, Amber didn’t hesitate. Sitting with her three sons during the service, she saw a trip listed that allowed kids to attend. “I turned to them right then and said, ‘Do you want to go to Africa?’ And they all said yes.” By the end of the service, Amber was asking for four spots. “I didn’t need the interest meeting,” she laughed. “I just knew—we were supposed to go.”
But the trip wasn’t just about obedience—it became a window into who her children are, and who they’re becoming. Her youngest cried himself to sleep the first four nights, overwhelmed by the emotional weight of what he saw. “I told him, ‘We’re not here to enjoy this—we’re here to learn,’” Amber said. By the end of the trip, he was waking up early, eager to go. Her middle son surprised her daily: volunteering to pray, jumping into the children’s choir, sharing reflections in front of their team and locals. “He dropped all the middle school fear of what people think. He was bold, kind, and confident.” And her oldest—stoic, serious, reserved—formed a deep friendship with a child who had cerebral palsy. “He stayed by his side all day, took him to the clinic when he wasn’t feeling well, and made sure he had fun. I saw a side of him I’d never seen.”
Through her yes, Amber saw something unfold in her sons that even they hadn’t realized was there. “It brought out the most beautiful parts of them,” she said.
The Sobczak Family: Showing Up Together for the Next Generation
John and Alyssa didn’t meet at Summit—but funny story they both attended, just different services. Eventually, they found themselves attending the same service in 2018, and the rest was history. In December of 2019, they were married.
After welcoming their second child, Alyssa felt a pull toward Base Camp. “Going from one kid to two was no joke,” she said. “But once things settled, I signed up for Team Summer in 2023.” She stayed on through the fall, and by 2024, John joined her. John was no stranger to serving—he had previously been part of the parking team with his identical twin. (“They loved those vests,” Alyssa joked.)
“We asked to be placed with our daughter, and it’s so much fun. The kids love him—he’s way cooler than me.”
Serving has drawn them deeper into Summit’s community and helped them connect their Sunday mornings to their daily faith at home. “We love that our daughter asks if we’re going to be her teachers each week,” Alyssa said. Reading the Bible together as a family now includes Base Camp references and memory verses. Watching John—“a definite introvert”—step up to read and play with the kids has also meant a lot to her. “It’s helped us build friendships with other volunteers we probably wouldn’t have made otherwise,” she said. But most of all, it’s about showing their kids what it looks like to love the local church. “I saw my parents serve when I was young, and it stuck with me,” Alyssa said. “We want our kids to remember that too.”