Caleb Gee

Ministry Focus: Cleveland Outreach

Caleb Gee grew up in Rochester, Minnesota along with his two parents and two younger sisters. He grew up in a household that held faith as a high priority and from a young age he found the church to be a second home. Not only did spending much time at the church help to cultivate a faith in Jesus Christ it also helped Caleb seek God’s calling on his life to ministry.

Caleb’s calling led him to Crown College in Minnesota where he studied Youth and Family Ministry. While Caleb still has a great passion for youth ministry, he feels God is calling him toward local and Cleveland outreach for his time in residency. Caleb is excited to work with the local church in building bridges between congregations and communities. He finds great joy in listening to stories from others and learning about different cultures and experiences.

In his free time, Caleb enjoys photography, sports, video games, cooking, traveling, music, and movies. If you’re looking for a more serious conversation, Caleb shares that he is always willing to dive into the topics of theology, Scripture, philosophy, and culture. Caleb gives a fair warning: he has a sarcastic sense of humor. Caleb also has an adventurous spirit with an eagerness to invite others along with him on his many journeys.

Sarah Hardman

Ministry Focus: Cleveland Outreach

Sarah is 21 years old and has been around the church her whole life. Recently in life, Sarah has felt a deeper connection with Jesus than ever before. She’s entering the residency program to grow and learn more about how to listen to God.

Sarah is not currently enrolled in a school and has been working full-time since she graduated high school in 2018. During high school, she also attended the Medina County Career Center for Video Production.

God has given Sarah a passion for helping people and meeting them where they are, doing her best to remind them that they are not alone. During her residency, Sarah hopes to see life change happen and help in any way the Lord wants to use her as his hands on earth.

Becky Hetrick

Ministry Focus: Worship, Marriage and Family

Becky, her husband Ed, and their 5 daughters came to Grace in 2007. She has spent much of that time serving in the Worship Ministry – playing piano and keys for worship services and various church events, helping with both the adult and Grace Kids’ choirs, and even running a video camera a few times when needed.

Becky and Ed currently attend Grace Olmsted. Becky appreciates the opportunities she has had to grow in her faith here at Grace Church and is excited about going deeper and serving in new ways through the residency.

Becky has a BA in Business Administration from Kent State University and is currently a Virtual Executive Assistant for various clients locally and around the country. She also teaches piano and voice lessons from her home in North Ridgeville. In her spare time, Becky enjoys being with her husband Ed, her daughters, sons-in-law, and especially her wonderful grandchildren!

Nikie Jezek

Ministry Focus: Outreach

Nikie Jezek grew up in Strongsville, Ohio and is a Mustang through and through.  She attended Cuyahoga Community College for her A.A., Akron University for her B.S.E. in Middle Level Education for English Language Arts and Social Studies, and Grand Canyon University for her M.A.Ed. in Educational Administration. Throughout her eight years of teaching, she worked with students at a private Islamic school, a charter school, and a public inner-city school.

When Nikie ran past the Grace Church building in Middleburg Heights one Sunday in 2011, she loved seeing how Sunday services were stopping traffic. She visited to check it out for herself and has been attending ever since. Nikie serves on the Grace Worship team and is the coordinator of Alpha at Grace. Through Alpha, Nikie has met and journeyed with many others – now friends – as they have learned and begun a relationship with Jesus.

Nikie lives in Moreland Hills with her husband Justin, who she met at Grace Church, and their son, JT. She is beyond blessed to be a stay-at-home mama for JT and The Chief Logistics Officer for the Jezek Household. Despite no longer teaching outside the home, Nikie knows the impact for her son JT is not only academic, but also a foundation of biblical and spiritual truth for his life, which is priceless.

Nikie has many loves, which include Jesus, coffee, and sushi. God continues to use her joyful heart and passion for loving on others to build trusting friendships to be a light for Jesus. Her prayer – time and time again – is that through her others will see Jesus, feel loved by Jesus, and accept Jesus.

Hope Nearhood

Ministry Focus: Communications and Production

Hope is 20 years old, and fully dedicated her life to the Lord at the beginning of 2021, after a troubled season of depression and loneliness. Since Hope gave her troubles to the Lord, and surrendered control to him, she’s never felt happier. She now knows she’s not alone.

Hope is currently taking some time off from college, after spending a year and a half at Ashland University and a semester at Lorain County Community College. She’s using her time off from school to dig deeper into her relationship with God and grow in the local church. Hope is grateful to God for the talents and gifts she’s been given in film technology and production. Serving on the Grace Tech Team has brought her so much joy and great friendships with other Christians that she sees as both mentors and friends.

During her residency, Hope is excited to get to grow in her experience with video tech and producing, all while serving Grace Church and God. True to her name, Hope has great anticipation for all the things God has in store for her in the residency over the next two years.

Sheran Ranasinghe

Ministry Focus: Youth Ministry

Sheran is originally from Sri Lanka and migrated to the United States with his family in his late teens. He attended Johnson & Wales University for his Bachelors in Food Service Management and was an Executive Chef in many facets of the food industry. Currently, he runs his home renovation business while making furniture as a hobby/side business. At a young age, he caught the travel bug and has been to more than 30 states and lived in 7 states, and appreciates the life experiences he gained by experiencing the wide variety of cultures and diversity that is America.

Sheran started attending Grace Church in 2019 at a very crucial time in his life, and encountered God’s immense love and compassion in a powerful way. His encounter resulted in a passion to serve the Lord through his creative talents by serving in the worship team, his love for others, and Jesus through hosting Alpha Course groups, leading small groups, and being an advisor in the youth ministry. Sheran has made and continues to make amazing friends and has finally found the community in Christ that he was desperately searching for.

Sheran loves cooking, playing musical instruments, woodworking, interior design, plants, road trips, and traveling. More importantly, he loves seeing God touching and transforming people’s lives through showing His amazing love by taking a leap of faith with humility and simply saying “Hi” to one person at a time.