While walking to meet students for a bible study on the Tempe campus, ASU alum Trevor Pentecost remembers his period of self-destructive behavior.
“I really thought I had it going on,” he said. “I used to host huge parties and was the life of the party.”
Shifting his focus from parties, girls and his band to ministry, 26-year-old Pentecost seems to have turned his life around.
He was born in Mesa, into a family of six. His mother, originally from England, met his father in South Carolina and the two settled in Arizona. They divorced when Pentecost turned 5.
“It was a very unsettling situation because my mom was living a pretty rough lifestyle,” he said.
His childhood was filled with memories of biker gangs, drugs and alcohol, Pentecost said.
“I felt like I lived in a home where no one guarding it,” he said.
Eventually Pentecost and his four siblings began living with their father. His mother died after approximately six years of dialysis; Pentecost was 11 years old.
“Last thing I said to mom before she passed away was, ‘I don’t want to talk to you,’ then three weeks later she was gone,” he said. “I realized at that point that I was pretty wicked.”
Pentecost began his musical dreams in high school, where he began to attract the wrong attention, becoming dependent on girlfriends to fill his mother’s void.
“My senior year of high school and freshman year of college I was only pursuing everything that was sensual,” he said.
After his mother’s death, Pentecost began reading his mother’s Bible to read her margin notes, but didn’t fully understand what it meant to be a Christian.
During a conversation with a campus minister with Hope Christian Church, he realized he was no longer challenging himself.
“Every inner vow that I made to not live the destructive life I grew up in, I broke,” he said. “I got really humbled when I realized I was setting up my future family for the same disaster I grew up in.”
It was in his sophomore year of college, Pentecost made the decision to “live life completely dependent on God as if He were my father and I was his son.”
Pentecost admitted the turnaround wasn’t easy.
“I felt like I was set free from jail but still had the old ball and chain tied to my ankle,” he said.
Pentecost said he immediately started reaching out to friends, but especially to his twin brother. A few months later, his twin brother, Chad, started living life for God as well.
“I felt that the most important person just joined me in what I thought was the most important decision,” Trevor said.
Pentecost became more and more involved with Hope Christian Church throughout college.
He graduated with a degree in architecture but did not want to professionally pursue it. He also attempted to enlist in the Army Special Forces. After both mishaps, Pentecost said he knew he must become a campus minister despite his fears.
Engineering undergraduate Ted Okpe, a Hope Christian Church student leader, said Pentecost has made an impact in his life.
“To me Trevor is not only a campus minister but also a big brother, a good friend, and a strong servant,” Okpe said.
As a campus minister, Pentecost leads Bible discussions and builds relationships with students.
“(His) story is a great example to others on campus to see how they can change,” said Ethan Roy, Pentecost’s roommate.
Reach the reporter at pjcalder@asu.edu
