Our Story:  

 The Banta’s

     Jeff grew up in Lee Vining, California and is the middle child of three boys. The Banta’s have been in Lee Vining for six generations. Jacqui grew up in Tehachapi, California and has three older brothers and six adopted siblings.

     Jeff and Jacqui met in San Luis Obispo in 2003 when Jeff was going through Paramedic school and Jacqui was going through beauty school. Jacqui worked at a coffee shop in the evenings and Jeff would come in to “study”. The first time Jeff met Jacqui, he told his friend “I am going to marry her”. March 19^th 2005 Jeff and Jacqui got married in San Luis Obispo. On that day, they made the commitment to dedicate not only their marriage to the Lord, but their entire life to God and whatever He planned for it. Little did they know that shortly after getting married God would call them into full time ministry and that all of their previous education and goals would look undesirable and that their hearts would be completely transformed for ministry.

     Jeff and Jacqui moved to the Eastern Sierra’s in 2005 where they assisted in their first church plant in 2006. Soon Jeff and Jacqui went back to college, Liberty University, where they have both attained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (Jeff: BA- Religion; Christian Counseling, MA- Divinity and Jacqui: BA- Psychology; Christian Counseling, MA- Human Services Counseling).

     Throughout the years God has used Jeff and Jacqui in several ministries, such as children’s, youth, college, young families, senior pastorate, and special needs ministries.

     Jeff and Jacqui have four children: Elijah- 9, Jeffrey- 7, Maddie-4, and Eden-1. Jeffrey is on the Autism Spectrum which is what started their journey in serving families with special needs. 

            "Having our seven year old son on the Autism Spectrum has given us a unique perspective and understanding of what families experience while building a great respect for what they do every day for their children. We invest a lot into relationships with others and believe each family deserves access to worship, learning and growing spiritually together. We have learned that this journey is ever changing, not because of uncertainty but mainly to meet the different needs of individual children and their families, at different times of their lives. These little people have taught us so much about discovery, imagination, curiosity, joy, the never ending journey of learning, and most importantly, they have taught us how awesome our God really is!!"

And that is where ONE BODY: Special Needs Support comes in! 

     

Ephesians 4:16 “From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

A recent survey found that more than one-fifth of U.S. households with children have at least one child with special needs. We believe that everyone deserves an opportunity to worship, learn, and serve in our community, regardless of their special needs. We offer a Christ centered environment with a relational emphasis to encourage special needs families to grow interpersonally and spiritually towards a Christ centered life. 

 Our hope is to build a community that loves and serves God while building one another up in love and understanding. 

This is not an easy life: We should not have to go through it alone!