Luke Rhee (Laura)
LEAD PREACHING PASTOR; ELDER
Contact: 208.777.9654 luke@hisplace.org
God graciously saved me at the age of 17, the summer before I left home for college. I had been living a life devoted to my own glory and pleasure, but sin could not satisfy the deepest longings of my soul. My conscience was guilt ridden and I knew that I was separated from God. God drove me to my knees and I called out to Him to save me.
God answered my cries and transformed my life. He made me see that only He could satisfy my thirsty soul. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world as a man to live a perfect life, die, and rise again so that I could be forgiven.
I began attending Foothill Bible Church, in Upland, CA, where I experienced the love of the body of Christ, and was discipled and trained for ministry. At church I met the love of my life, Laura, and we got married in 2012. God has richly blessed us with four children, Daniel, Seth, Juliette, and Josiah. Laura is my best friend and an excellent wife. What I love the most about her is that she worships Christ and points me to Him.
After God saved me, I was hungry to know His word and tell others about Him. I attended the Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, CA, and graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2015. I also had the privilege of being the Pastor of Student Ministries at Foothill Bible Church before I came to His Place Church.
God brought us to His Place Church in 2021. Our family has been so blessed by the love of the body here. Laura and I look forward to living life with our church family here for many, many years to come.
God has called me to teach the word of God and love His people. Like the apostle Paul, I am amazed that God would call a sinner like me to declare the glories of Christ. Paul wrote,
“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).
If you come to HPC for a visit, I’d love to meet you.
David Smith (Melissa)
EXECUTIVE & FAMILY MINISTRIES PASTOR; ELDER
Contact: 208.777.9654 david@hisplace.org
Patrick Poole (Margaret)
ELDER
Contact: patrick@hisplace.org
Pat & Margaret met in the 8th grade in Medford, Oregon and remained friends until they graduated from high school. They established a lasting relationship as they began corresponding by mail while Pat was away in the Navy. After Pat was discharged from the service, they were married.
Pat Served for 27 years as a member of the Oregon State Police at various locations around the state. He retired from law enforcement in 1999, having served as the commander of the patrol office in Portland, the Director of a statewide division and then as a member of the National Security Division of the FBI in Washington D.C.
Margaret had become a follower of Christ while a teenager. Pat became a Christian early in 1969. The dynamics of marriage, a new career and raising three daughters gave the couple ample opportunities to rely on Jesus.
The family was required to move several times during Pat's police service. Pat has been privileged to serve as elder in two churches they attended over the years. Most recently, he served in an operational and spiritual leadership role at Koinonia House, a Christian ministry in Post Falls. Margaret has also been involved in touching the lives of others. She has been teaching the Word of God in women's ministry for several decades. The couple has taken part in leading small groups in each of the fellowships they attended.
All three of their daughters live in North Idaho. Pat and Margaret have twelve grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Kent Blanton (Marlene)
ELDER
Contact: kent@hisplace.org
I moved to Post Falls in 1977 from Klamath Falls, Oregon where I had intended to finish my last couple years of college. Upon arriving in Post Falls, I met several young folks my age who attended a Bible College at 4th Memorial in Spokane. Funny thing is within the week, I was enrolled in Bible College and I wasn't even born from above yet. This set my life on a whole different trajectory than I ever knew. I was not raised in a Christian home but my older brother was a great example of Christ and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with me while in my first years of high school. God was calling me, but in sin and rebellion I was not responding; because I was dead in my trespass and sin, which I learned later.
During the Winter break from Bible college I travelled home for the holidays and the Lord began to reveal Himself to me in such a way that I could not resist His love demonstrated to me through His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Through the church I attended in Hayden Lake and the influence of Gods Word and faithful believers in Bible College every week, I put my complete trust in the One who paid my penalty for my sin, even though He had never sinned, and as a result His Righteousness was imputed to me. Like Abraham, God's promise is to me (and you) and I believed the Lord, and He counted it to me as righteousness, Genesis 15:6. Praise the Lord!
My second year at Bible College I met the woman God gave me to be my help meet. It's a funny story and I will share it with you if you ever ask me, or Marlene will.???? We both went opposite ways for the summer of '79 to serve in Haiti and Alaska/Yukon on short-term mission trips. After the summer away from Marlene, I asked her father if I could marry his daughter; and the rest is history; again if you ever ask me I will tell you the story.
After three decades working for an aircraft manufacturer in Western and Eastern Washington we moved back to Post Falls to retire from the rat race. During those "career years" we served in Baptist churches, non-denominational churches, a Village Mission church, and a Calvary Chapel church in the roles of deacon, Sunday School teachers for children, elder, Awana leaders, youth leaders, adult teacher, etc. After retiring I read a small pamphlet titled, "Rethinking Retirement: Finishing Life for the Glory of Christ" by John Piper (I can send you the free PDF if you'd like). This influenced my thinking on retirement, and helped me adjust my vision for the future. In 2019 I started working on my Masters in Creation Apologetics, but I am a slow learner...
Now we have been at HPC since late 2017 and we love the flock gathering here at His Place and enjoying the work Christ is doing in our collective lives. Several of our children and grandchildren are here in the Inland Northwest, and we enjoy spending time with them every chance we get. I am encouraged by God's Word and specifically where Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Amen? Amen!
I am always willing to talk with folks and get to know one another, but my social skills have been handicapped by my sin, so bear with me as Christ is still working in me. I leave you with this passage, which is near and dear to me. The apostle Paul tells us "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:12-13
Eric Obendrauf (Jeanette)
ELDER
Contact: eric@hisplace.org
Brandon Billing (Julie)
ELDER
Contact: brandon@hisplace.org
"Julie and I have been involved at HPC since 2016, when we moved to the Post Falls area from Bellevue, Washington. I grew up in the small towns of Plains and Cut Bank, Montana and Omak, Washington. Julie was born and raised in Moscow, Idaho. We met each other at church in Issaquah, Washington while we were both living in the area for our jobs after college. After getting married, we started a family and as our oldest child was approaching school age, God provided for us to move "back inland" and He placed us in Post Falls, Idaho. We now have 4 lovely daughters.
I was raised in a home that "became Christian". Early in their marriage, the Lord called my parents out of darkness to himself. By His grace they followed His call, committing their lives and their family to the Lord. Always a "good kid", I grew up knowing about Jesus and knowing how to "stay out of sin" (or at least how to avoid being caught!), but it wasn't until God used a rocky patch in my life to truly bring me to repentance and a saving and regenerating relationship with Jesus. I was particularly convicted when a man who would become a pivotal mentor confronted me with a passage from Revelation 3:16 written to the Laodician Church: "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." I repented of living a two-faced life, and that very day I found the Bible, which I had been reading all my life, came alive for the first time. The Holy Spirit began to use scripture, as well as several key mentors, to teach me what it is to follow Jesus, every day. I continue on that journey of discipleship to this day, and my heart is to help many others find a new life in Jesus the same way I did.
Julie also grew up in the church, the daughter of a pastor. She would say there might not be a "magic moment" when she "came to Jesus", but rather the testimony of her parents' faithfulness and the obvious works of the hand of God in their family persuaded her from a young age that Jesus is the only way, truth, and life.
Together, we view our family as one of our primary ministries, followed by ministering the practical truths of the gospel to other families and anyone else who is ready to turn from a life of bondage in sin to a life of freedom in Christ."