About Jason
So much can be said about Jason Conrad, but in an effort to keep you from being bored to death, I will keep it brief.
I was born on December 10, 1971, along with my twin sister Rachelle. Originally I lived in Reseda, CA, but I moved to Simi Valley in 1975, and have lived there ever since. I now have a younger brother, Jared, two younger sisters, Bethany and Crystal, as well as three nieces, Shelley, Amber, and Breanna, and a nephew, Kevin. Oh yeah, and I have two parents, Mom & Dad.
I went to Simi Valley High School from 1986 until I graduated in 1989. After graduation, I moved to Winona Lake, Indiana to attend Grace College. While there I played baseball for the Lancers. Although I did not graduate from college (not yet back then), I did learn a lot about important things like playing pool and weightlifting. I moved back to Simi Valley in 1993 and began a 10 year career as a florist.
After quickly realizing that floral design was not my life's ambition, I began my present career in real estate. Currently, I work for Keller Williams Realty in Simi Valley (but obviously not while I am in school in Indiana). Initially, I had to remain at the florist until my new career was being established, but that ended years ago, except for the occasional friend's wedding and certain holidays.
In 1999, I went on my first trip outside of the US to Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. This ignited my passion for missions. Since then, I have been to Mexico numerous times, have returned to Africa three times more, have been to Guatemala, Peru, and Mongolia, and have made ten trips to Moscow, Russia. I also took a rag-tag group of teenagers, my "kids", to Belem, Brazil for 6 weeks during the summer of 2006 as a part of Operation Barnabas. I still return to Russia each summer to visit friends and to work with a group of orphans at a summer camp with my YWAM cohorts.
I have studied worldwide missions and two foreign languages (Russian and German) although I am no good at either of them. In August 2007, I returned to Grace College after a 14 year hiatus to finish my Bachelor's degree in History and Biblical Studies, and I finally graduated in May 2009 - it only took 20 years from start to finish. Sadly, my father, James Conrad, was not able to see me finally graduate. He passed away on Dec. 26, 2008 after struggling with numerous health issues for several years. My mother has since moved away from her home in Simi Valley, and is now living in Denver, CO with my twin sister, her husband and their 4 kids. After graduation, I decided to stay in Indiana and I am now working toward a Master of Arts degree in Theological Studies at Grace Theological Seminary and taking additional classes to obtain my teaching credentials.
This May (2010), I will be returning to Russia with a small group of students from Grace College. I am very excited to return and I am looking forward to bringing others with me because I will get a chance to share my love for the Russian people with them.