Brayden has been fascinated with homesteading and farming from a young age.  As an 11 year old one of his favorite pastimes was to read gardening books from the library. At 12, Brayden, along with his family, moved to a plain community where their neighbors lived off the land.  There he learned the art of raising wagon loads of organic produce.  Some of these wagons were carted off to market and some were heartily consumed by his large family.  (Brayden is the first of 11 children).

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While on the farm Brayden had a dramatic and life changing encounter with Yeshua.  From that moment on he knew that this person he had learned about from the Bible was indeed as real and alive today as He was 2000 years ago. From the farm he joined his family in the giant leap to Israel to help establish the organization HaYovel. He served 14 years in this volunteer organization that helps farmers on the prophetic hillsides of Judea and Samaria.  Through all these experiences God has placed in Brayden’s heart a desire to connect sustainable farming with night and day worship.  

Brayden is married to Tali, an amazing and spirited woman who has given birth to 6 sweet children.  

Tali grew up on her church’s worship team from 12 years old to 24. As a child and into her twenties she took voice lessons, was a part of numerous community and professional musical productions, and participated in many choirs.  She has a passion for encouraging EVERY person to embrace and learn to use their special God-given voice for His glory.

In addition to vocals, Tali also plays some instruments. Her experience on worship teams over the years has been a huge blessing and she hopes to help others embrace the role of leading worship or supporting a worship leader.

Aaron was born and raised in Tennessee. He is the 4th born in a family of 14 children. He was homeschooled and grew up in the trades. He learned guitar and drums at a young age and loves to worship. At 22 he married Victoria and they have 4 young boys. He has spent over 3 1/2 years combined, volunteering in Israel with a ministry called HaYovel, serving Israel's Small Farmers.

He is a licensed Electrician and has experience in HVAC. He worked for his family's construction company for 10 years, until last year, when he felt God wanted him to give his time more fully to ministry. He is very passionate about the message and work of the Love & Purity Ministry. He desires to share the freedom that comes with walking in The Light to anyone who will listen.

Keith’s agricultural career began at the age of 10 on his family's farm. Around 1980, Keith's dad decided to start the process of leaving traditional agriculture and move toward a reduced chemical and more sustainable nutrient way of farming. This led them through various changes and challenges in crop rotation, cover cropping, tillage, and even the usage of "biologicals."

The Montgomery family started Zone Products Company about the time Keith graduated from College. Since then Keith has worked for Zone Products in products development and production, and has started a cow/calf operation. 

Jeremiah grew up with a smattering of animals and vegetables amidst the hills and waterfalls of Upstate New York. He spent his twenties and early thirties traveling all over the earth for missions, military operations, and visiting friends. His passion is to see lives transformed through the Gospel, and the earth transformed through caretaking.

As far as education goes, he has a BA in Ancient History, and an MA in Linguistics. He is currently employed by an organization that documents and revitalizes Native American languages, as well as shearing sheep in the spring. Prior to moving to Missouri, Jeremiah taught wilderness survival skills for several years for age preschool through adulthood.

The skillset he brings to Harp and Farm include survival, foraging, soil health, forestry, permaculture, land management, Biblical studies, and animal husbandry.

Ellie is the rare individual on our team that was actually born and raised in Missouri. She spent her childhood and teens participating in every musical event she had the time for. She was in several choirs, music ensembles, her church worship team, musical theater, and marching band. She began her college career as a music major with the desire to be a music and voice teacher. During her sophomore year, she took an anatomy class and changed her life's trajectory to become a veterinarian.

To gain more animal knowledge, she interned for a few years at a teaching farm in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. She then went on to 4 years of vet education at Cornell University where she met her husband Jeremiah.

After graduation and marriage, they landed in Arizona for 2 years where Ellie worked at a high volume clinic, seeing 60-70 animals a day. Ellie obtained her certification in veterinary acupuncture and began focusing more on holistic vet care during this time. After 2 years of homesteading off grid in the desert, they moved back to greener pastures to start a family closer to her family. She will be teaching music and animal care skills.

Boaz was born and raised homesteading and farming in different regions of the USA (Southern Oregon /Hawaii/Missouri/Kentucky) and grew up learning the things it took to care for plants and livestock in different climates. At age 14 he started picking up guitar and mandolin, and playing worship and gospel music. Around this time he started working on a construction crew with his father building pole barns and houses then going on to start his own construction business several years later.

When he was 17 he apprenticed with a blacksmith/metal fabricator and learned blacksmithing and metal work.

His passion is to see this generation rise up against the status quo of laziness, apathy, and immorality; and to equip and disciple young men and women in the skills needed to build God's kingdom both spiritually and physically. He loves worshiping the Father through music, hosting athletic activities, and working outside in God's creation.

He will be teaching welding and blacksmithing at Harp+Farm as well as leading work projects, activities, and worship watches.

Rebekah grew up in Montana, where her family has a small farm and home business. She is the eldest of 7 siblings, and from a young age was helping in the garden. She enjoys farming and working with her family. She lived in Montana for 15 years and then moved to Patterson MO in 2020 and served as a volunteer at the Love and Purity campus. She and her sister own a sewing business called Meant to be Modest, making modest swimwear. This spring she married Boaz Sundquist, and they are living on the Love and Purity campus.

She loves worshiping the Father through artwork and music, and has a passion for discipleship and encouraging and ministering to young women. She and her husband have a heart for the young people of this generation and feel called into ministry to help teach and equip young adults with the Word of God.

Russ grew up all over the United States, providing him with a wealth of perspective and stories.  He has lived in many different places from coast to coast (including the Navajo Reservation), but he claims Gunnison, CO as his adopted hometown.  He met his wife, Kimberly, while attending college and they have three children.  Two of those three children are serving as staff for Love & Purity.
 
Russ has a degree in history, focused on Eastern European Jewish history.  He has spent the past 30 years in ministry in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Illinois.  Much of that ministry experience has been as a pastor and teacher, but he has also served as a youth and children's pastor.  In addition to his pastoral experience, he has spent the past twenty years in Information Technology working in technical support and project management.  His family also owns their own digital marketing agency, specializing in website building, SEO, social media management, and digital advertising.  He serves as the Director of Events and Marketing for Love & Purity Ministry.
 
Russ has a passion for teaching and ministry.  Although he is known for his storytelling teaching style, he prefers expository teaching which concentrates on specific texts in order to interpret them.  He will be bringing his experience to help teach different teaching approaches, a Torah-centric Biblical understanding, ministerial ethics, and project management.  He will also teach about digital marketing for farms and ministries.