Quinn Tirrel

Quinn lives in Firth, Nebraska, a town of about 600 people located just south of Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife, Lydia, and their dogs, Wilson (named partly in honor of Lynn Wilson) and Brady. Quinn feels that he is fortunate to get paid for doing what he loves to do--loving and leading high school and middle school students into becoming fully-devoted and life-long followers of Jesus. He holds the positions of Norris Area Director for Youth for Christ/Campus Life based out of Lincoln, and Director of Youth Ministries for Firth Reformed Church. When he's not busy fulfilling his duties there, he enjoys hunting, reading, gardening, working his house, coaching high school football, and spending entire Saturdays watching college football in the Fall.

Quinn has been involved with HFtFN since 2005 when he was able to join his then-soon-to-be wife, Lydia, on the adventure and life-changing experience with HFtFN she had talked about so much throughout their relationship. In 2006, Quinn and Lydia brought a group of 10 students from their youth group to join a team from Illinois in starting a HDC in the Rice Lake are of the Reservation. Then, in 2007, the Nebraska team took on the challenge of leading the Rice Lake HDC in 2007 with just their own team of 24 total people, which allowed many of the HFtFN veterans to start yet another HDC in the town of White Earth .  For the summer of '09, the Nebraska team will hopefully be near 40 members strong, and is scheduled to start leading a second HDC in the town of Naytauwaush.

Quinn is committed to continue working with HFtFN for as long as God allows, which will likely be for many years to come. He believes, wholeheartedly, that by working with HFtFN on the White Earth Reservation, his group is able to meet many very important needs with a group of people who, although they live inside the borders of our own country, are often neglected and forgotten. His team members have also bought into the vision of bringing a message of Hope to the people of White Earth. Many of his team members who started out as high school students are committed to come back year after year, even after they graduate, to see and help the ones they have grown to love on the Reservation.  Two are even leading the HDC activities at Rice Lake and Naytauwaush starting in the summer of '09.

In addition, Quinn believes that the leaders of HFtFN are people of integrity, and are committed to serving God and the people of White Earth with a self-less and sacrificial attitude. For those reasons, and many others, it is easy for him to trust himself and his group to their leadership, and partnering with them in ministry has become a source of tremendous joy.

Quinn graduated from Lincoln Northeast High School in the class of 2000, was a member of the National Honor Society , and received several awards for athletics and academics from Lincoln Northeast. In the fall of 2000, he began his post-secondary education at Concordia University, in Seward, Nebraska. It was there that he met his wife and best friend, Lydia. In 2004, he graduated with a B.A in Theology, and a 3.5 cumulative GPA. He is in his sixth year working with Firth Reformed Church and his seventh year with Youth for Christ/Campus Life.