Derek married his best friend, Krystal, in 2015. They have three beautiful daughters: Neriah, Gemariah, and Seraiah. Derek, a native of Houston, TX, was saved by God’s grace in his early teens. Due to a lack of positive, godly role models, Christian Hip Hop mentored him from a distance. His exposure to the music led him to embrace sound doctrine he did not find on his side of town, igniting his passion for Christ-centered expositional preaching/teaching, particularly within urban settings. Derek earned an M.Div. in Christian Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently working towards a D.Min. in Applied Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Feeling a calling to move from Texas' Bible Belt to a less church context, Derek and his family relocated to Pasadena, California. Since 2017, Derek has been actively engaged in full-time ministry, including a pastoral internship under Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. He wants to help establish more healthy churches in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, especially in distressed and blighted communities.