“Everybody calls me ‘Pops’ which is short for ‘Papa Smurf’ and that’s cause of the way I look.”

Pops describes himself as “angry with a chip on my shoulder” even when he was young. When the unthinkable happened, his understandable response caused more harm than good.

“I lost my son. And then I lost my wife of 30 years to cancer. I went downhill, crawled into a whiskey bottle. I just lost everything,” Pops said.

The church at Elevate Branson became a refuge for him. God took his anger away and gave him an all new perspective.

“I look at others a lot different now. I want to help them because I’ve been there. I want to bring them in and give them that comfort and peace they need.”

You’ll find Pops getting things ready for Sunday service every week. He’s stopped drinking, he completed the Elevate Work course and now has a good job he loves. Best of all, he’s helping others find their way through some of life’s toughest challenges at Elevate Branson.