Board of Directors

Laurin Leih

Jean and I have been married for over 37 years. We have two adult children, four grand children. Our son and his family live in Hopkins and our daughter and her family live in Philadelphia.

I started my professional career, after majoring in history education at Bethel University, as a teacher in the Anoka-Hennepin District. After a couple of years, God lead me out of teaching 8th grade government and into marketing. My career in marketing spanned across four decades. In the most recent 20 years I was a partner in one of the Twin Cities leading advertising agencies. Along the way I earned an MBA in management from the University of St. Thomas. Recently, after selling my partnership in the advertising agency, I joined the ranks of the first wave baby boomers who have become entrepreneurs.

Outside of my professional career I have spent most of my adult life serving on boards, both non-profit and for profit. These opportunities have run the gamut from The American Association of Advertising Agencies to Ridgewood Church to The Open Hands Foundation. At Restoration Ministries I have the opportunity to serve in a ministry that, through the power of Jesus Christ, brings healing to people.

To relax, I find that I have more interests than I have time. However, I do find time to enjoy fishing, astronomy, reading, completing crossword puzzles, spending time at our cabin in northern Minnesota and cruising in our 1934 Ford (Jean and I had our first date in this car).

I reflect often on Paul’s words to us in II Corinthians 12:10.

Julie Hokanson

Jon, my husband of 15 years, and I have three school-aged kids. Our kids are a blast. Each stage with them has been more fun than the last!

I graduated from Wheaton College with a BA in history, and pre-med with plans to attend medical school. Conceiving our daughter that first year of marriage, I changed courses and started an appraisal business, in which I have worked ever since. Jon and I also own a real estate brokerage firm.

Years ago I became restless to live my life with greater capacity. I began to earnestly seek God for myself, seeking the truth of who he is. In my search for God, I have been undone by his grace, and healed by the power of his son Jesus Christ, and formed by his tender love and mercy. Restoration Ministries is all about pursuing Jesus Christ, and the healing and wholeness he longs to bring to each of us, and so it is my greatest privilege and joy to serve as a member of its leadership board.

Kim Isaak

I’ve been married to my husband for almost 20 years and we have two delightful children. I find pleasure in calligraphy, hiking and being anywhere near water. As a family, we enjoy travel and adventure and 9 years ago embarked on our biggest adventure yet, leaving our homeland and moving to the United States.

Since my childhood, I’ve been drawn into business and I completed my Bachelor of Commerce in 1988. For 10 years I was involved in the management of a global furniture manufacturing firm. Indelible marks were left on me from this experience within an organization that made room for the marginalized and provided second chances for the convicted beyond learning the fundamentals of leading and working together within a complex system.

From early on I longed to be listened to. My spiritual directors and companions have provided the safe and sacred space for me to own my reality and be honest with myself and God. Gradually I learned to hear the voice of Jesus more clearly in Scripture, in my heart, and in the circumstances of my life that were before me. The lies that kept me bound in fear and shame began to be broken and I could turn away from my feeble attempts to protect myself. The presence of the Lord Jesus has come alive to me in the scriptures and I too have found Jesus to be my healer. I am drawn to truth and I love to listen for it. I consider the opportunity to listen for truth and pray with another to be a sacred and holy space which brings deep joy to my heart and freedom and healing to all involved.

Glenn E. Myers

Teaching spiritual formation for the past eighteen years, Glenn Myers is a pastor and professor whose desire is to see believers deepen their encounter with the Lord and experience substantive transformation in their lives. As well as leading retreats on Lectio Divina, solitude and silence, Glenn offers a variety of courses in the history of Christian spirituality, prayer and spiritual growth.

The focus of Glenn’s study is the spiritual writers of the Middle Ages, and he enjoys sharing the spiritual riches of the historical church with contemporary believers. Currently he is writing a book on the Beguines and other devout women of the 13th century, tentatively titled, “Invitation to Spiritual Intimacy: Exploring Spiritual Formation with Women of Deep Faith.”

For the past ten years Dr. Myers has served on faculty at Crown College, where he provides spiritual direction to many young men in addition to teaching spiritual formation, church history and Bible classes. He received his M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Ph.D. in church history from Boston University and has completed graduate studies in spiritual theology from Regent College.

Before coming to Minnesota, Glenn and his wife Sharon served four years on the mission field in Eastern Europe. In addition to walking and hiking, they enjoy traveling and studying together, often visiting sites in Europe where spiritual leaders of past centuries once walked. Glenn also enjoys wilderness camping in the Boundary Waters in the summer.

Mark Olson

Mark Olson has been in private practice as a marriage & family therapist and consultant since 1980. He is a graduate of Fuller Seminary and School of Psychology. Ministry care has been a focus of his practice throughout his career.

In addition to his practice, Mark consults with individuals and organizations as an executive coach, consultant, and recruiter. Combining his years as a therapist and consultant in both the private and the non-profit arena has brought a wide range of experiences and insights to his work.

Care for ministry individuals and their families has unique challenges. Mark feels passionate about walking alongside these people as they journey, with God’s help, to finish the race well.

Mark and his wife, Diane, live in suburban Minneapolis. They have three adult sons.

Marji Karjalahti

The greatest desire in my life has been to know God…and to be known by God.

The most important thing I would like you to know about me is that I know God loves me, and that God loves you too.

Other than that my bio includes my husband of 40 years, 2 married sons and their wives, 3 grandchildren, a lake home in Wisconsin that we visit year round; and my extra curricular activities include reading (fiction and stories of people who survive great hardship), piecing quilts, gardening (flowers), knitting, puzzles (Sodoku and crossword), and cookies (baking and eating of). Oh! A real treat for me is to sit one-on-one with almost anyone and just visit together, preferably with a cup of good coffee.

I remember as a child sitting in church feeling a growing desire to know God like the minister seemed to know God. The singing (in worship services) was wonderful, the reading of Scripture was alright and the preaching was interesting because of the stories. But it was in the pastor’s prayers and in the communion service that I sensed something more intimate in his relationship with God; and I longed for it for myself. So many years later I finally got serious about knowing God…and found Jesus! And many, many years after that I headed back to school to gain the knowledge and understanding of who God is (like the pastors seemed to have). A graduate of Bethel College (1998) and Bethel Seminary (2003), I was quite literally transformed during an Old Testament class on Genesis where I learned more clearly who God is, and who I am as a very human creation designed for intimacy with God and with others. If only everyone could begin with this understanding!

So here is one of my favorite Scripture verses that says it all for me:
“The Lord appeared to us in the past saying:
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”
Jeremiah 31:3

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