Head
Finances
Personnel File
Subject's own statement
my name is rob. i am a servant of God, in desperate need of the character of Jesus, and a keeper of the biblical seventh-day Sabbath.
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My Head
How I think.
Current activities
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My Advent Movement profile
Advent Assessment
Resources, practical skills, and ministry.
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79%
Hand
Manpower
Heart
Ministry
Discover your Head, Hands & Heart.Register on Advent Movement and complete your assessment.
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My recorded scores, from the same Advent Movement assessment.
Area view shows the strongest recorded score in each skill area.
The complete scores are also available in the list below.
View scores: 16 skill areas · 59 individual skills
| Area | Score |
|---|---|
| Gardening | 88% |
| Guidance | 94% |
| Hospitality | 100% |
| Husbandry | 94% |
| Infrastructure | 81% |
| Interior | 94% |
| Land | 81% |
| Ministry | 100% |
| Morale | 88% |
| Outreach | 94% |
| Personnel | 100% |
| Planning | 100% |
| Processes | 75% |
| Resources | 81% |
| Revenue | 100% |
| Wellness | 94% |
| Skill | Score |
|---|---|
| Beekeeping | 50% |
| Beneficials | 94% |
| Botanical | 69% |
| Buildings | 81% |
| Domestic Chores | 88% |
| Electronics | 13% |
| Food Harvesting | 88% |
| Food Preparation | 94% |
| Food Preservation | 81% |
| Forestry | 56% |
| Greenhouse Operations | 81% |
| Landscaping | 81% |
| Livestock | 50% |
| Machinery | 25% |
| Orchards | 56% |
| Plumbing | 75% |
| Procurement | 75% |
| Sewing & Mending | 75% |
| Soil Health | 81% |
| Waste | 75% |
| Wildlife Management | 50% |
| Administrative | 100% |
| Bookkeeping | 75% |
| Communication | 94% |
| Design & Architecture | 63% |
| Employment | 94% |
| Enterprise | 100% |
| Financial | 75% |
| Governance | 94% |
| Inventory | 81% |
| Legal | 69% |
| Management | 81% |
| Readiness | 56% |
| Research & Development | 81% |
| Sponsorship | 31% |
| Vision & Mission | 100% |
| Workplace Safety | 75% |
| Bible Worker | 94% |
| Childcare | 13% |
| Connector | 81% |
| Creativity | 88% |
| Cultural | 88% |
| Education | 94% |
| Engagement | 94% |
| Hospitable | 94% |
| Hygiene | 75% |
| Marketing & Promotion | 100% |
| Medical Ministry | 13% |
| Mental | 94% |
| Mentorship | 94% |
| Missional Business Coach | 100% |
| Music | 0% |
| Operations | 100% |
| Physical | 69% |
| Public Relations | 75% |
| Recognition | 75% |
| Spiritual | 94% |
| True Educator | 100% |
| Volunteer | 88% |
Featured skills
Skills I have selected on Advent Movement.
Vision & Mission
Outpost Leadership & Operations
Enterprise
Outpost Leadership & Operations
True Educator
Ministry & Outreach Roles
Missional Business Coach
Ministry & Outreach Roles
Operations
Ministry & Outreach Roles
Beneficials
Homestead Skills & Stewardship
Food Preparation
Homestead Skills & Stewardship
Governance
Outpost Leadership & Operations
Mentorship
Ministry & Outreach Roles
Spiritual
Ministry & Outreach Roles
Buildings
Homestead Skills & Stewardship
Soil Health
Homestead Skills & Stewardship
Head
Thought Leader & Strategist
- Mindset
- Discernment
- Pattern Recognition
- Systems Thinking
Context matters. Intention > Action.
My mind is trained to spot patterns, look beyond the temporal, and see beneath the surface. I study context, micro-expressions, and the subtle clues that reveal deeper motives, questioning the assumptions that shape our perception of reality. I help people uncover blind spots, challenge what they think they know, and begin seeing with spiritual eyes.
Original models // fresh readings
Frameworks I’ve developed or reinterpreted
Framework RBF-01Type Observed formation pattern
Observed pattern // the experience loop
From perception to action.
How perception shapes belief, values, identity, purpose, motivation, and action… and how experience changes what we see next.
Framework RBF-02Type Motive mapping
Below the action
The Why Ladder.
Take one thing a person does and trace it down to the motive underneath it… then weigh that motive honestly across three roots.
Select a box to read its source. Follow the lines down.
Explore my motivationsOr start with the structure.
Weigh the real pull
Not weighedThree roots. One honest total.
Split 100% by the pull each motive has today, not the pull you wish it had. The first two roots subtotal as self.
— self— other-centered
Facilitator notesThe six steps of the Why Ladder
The agent asks. The person fills the boxes.
Output
The question; the ladder row by row with its connections; the three root percentages and self subtotal; one sentence naming what the percentages say about the motive today.
End of framework // RBF-02Head · Hands · Heart
Framework RBF-03Type Whole-person inventory
Nine cells // a whole person
The True Education Matrix.
Three powers across. Three movements down. Explore soft skills at each intersection, or switch to your own words.
ONE CELL AT A TIMEAN EMPTY CELL IS AN ANSWERTHE AGENT ASKS; THE PERSON ANSWERS
three powers →three movements ↓
physicalBody · Hands
mentalMind · Head
spiritualSoul · Heart
REALIZERealize
What are areas that I am ready to serve in?
“that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized”Non-Verbal Communication
Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, Courtesy, Collaboration, Teamwork, Positive Influence, Delegation, Conflict Resolution, Negotiation, Active Listening, Public Speaking, Storytelling
Compassion, Charity, Servitude, Intercessory Prayer, Hospitality, Generosity, Community Service, Meekness, Gentleness, Kindness, Stewardship
DEVELOPDevelop
What areas would I like to develop further?
“to promote the development of body, mind, and soul”Physical Fitness, Disease Prevention, Personal Grooming, Safety Practices, Manual Dexterity, Craftsmanship, Survival Skills, Home Economics
Accountability, Planning & Organization, Time Management, Attention to Detail, Efficiency, Multitasking, Data Collection & Analysis, Decision Making, Pattern Matching, Problem-Solving
Self Denial, Discipline, Diligence, Integrity, Perseverance, Common Sense, Self Awareness, Situational Awareness, Mindfulness, Accountability, Tactfulness, Discretion
RESTORERestore
What areas am I weak in that I would like to form?
“to restore in man the image of his Maker”Cleanliness, Health & Hygiene, Nutrition
Prioritization, Decisiveness, Creativity, Innovative Thinking, Responsibility, Perseverance, Common Sense, Self Awareness, Situational Awareness, Adaptability, Self-Motivation, Critical Thinking, Resilience
Faith, Gratitude, Loyalty, Respect, Obedience, Trustworthiness, Humility, Patience, Faithfulness, Hopefulness, Courage, Forgiveness, Simplicity, Justice, Transparency
On narrow screens, swipe sideways to see all three powers.
View
"the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers"Education (Ed 13.1)
Reading the shape
What stands out?
Count filled cells, not how much was written. A blank cell is information, not a verdict.
BY POWERPhysical — of 3Mental — of 3Spiritual — of 3
BY MOVEMENTRealize — of 3Develop — of 3Restore — of 3
All nine cells are open. Begin anywhere.
The person fills the cells. Answers stay in this browser tab unless you choose to export or copy them. No responses are submitted.
FACILITATOR NOTESSix steps to use the matrix
Name the three powers and three movements. Nine cells, all in the person’s own words.
Row one, one power at a time: “what are areas that I am ready to serve in?” Ready means now, not someday.
Row two: “what areas would I like to develop further?” Strengths with room still left in them.
Row three: “what areas am I weak in that I would like to form?” Name weakness without excuse or having the agent supply an answer.
Count filled cells by power and movement. A cell left blank is information; mark it and move on.
Name the thinnest power and thinnest movement, then let the person choose the first cell to act on.
Read across, then down. The movements borrow their names from Education (Ed 15.2), read from the present backward: what is ready now, what is growing, what has yet to be formed.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”
Mark 12:30 (KJV)
“To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized—this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life.”
Education (Ed 15.2)
END OF FRAMEWORK // RBF-03PHYSICAL · MENTAL · SPIRITUAL
Framework RBF-04Type Three-axis readiness inquiry
27 questions // three dimensions
The Readiness Cube.
Past, present, and future × up to God, in to myself, and out to another × head, hand, and heart. One question at each intersection.
Framework RBF-05Type Two-layer formation map
Light received // competency developed
Light & Competency.
Two independently switchable layers on one plane: my Light model alongside the established Four Stages of Competence. Explore either layer separately or examine them together.
Model origins
Light: developed by rob bertholf. Competency: adapted from the Four Stages of Competence, described by Martin M. Broadwell (1969) and developed as a learning-stages model by Noel Burch at Gordon Training International (1970s). [1] [2]
The combined visualization is a mapping of two models; the competency hierarchy is not an original invention of rob bertholf. Neither layer automatically assigns a person to a quadrant.
Framework RBF-08Type Complementary thinking
Six hats // three balancing pairs
Six Hats, Three Pairs.
I use de Bono’s pairs to balance a first response: facts with feelings, benefits with hazards, creativity with process. Choose your first hat, then give the hat across from it equal attention.
Foundation & adaptation
Edward de Bono: the six hats, their roles, and the three color pairs in Six Thinking Hats (1985), chapter “Six Hats, Six Colors.” rob bertholf: the juxtaposition across a head and the use of each pair as a corrective to a person’s first response: notice the hat you reach for, then deliberately put on its complement.
De Bono’s hat roles · Book: the three pairs
My practical reading of de Bono’s pairs. “Hazards” names black-hat caution; “Process” names blue-hat management of thinking. The roles are paraphrased. Hats describe modes to use in a decision, not fixed kinds of people.
Discuss a strategic problem Business, livelihood, or community... the pathways are under Work with me.
Theologian
- Great Controversy
- Three Angels’ Messages
- Sanctuary
- Prophecy
- Present Truth
Theology, with the sources in view.
Investigating prophetic patterns and sanctuary connections I believe God has opened to my understanding, including the Great Court Case, the Sea of Glass, and Christ's closing work. Testing these insights against Scripture, Ellen G. White, and the Adventist pioneers to better understand God's character, the Great Controversy, and the role of His people in the final work.
Logical frameworks of theology
theo-LOGIC-al
adjective · my approach
Logos-driven theology. Grounded in the Word, examined through reason, and expressed in logical frameworks.
Framework RBF-06Type Logical theology framework
Three Angels’ Messages
Three Angels, Three Steps.
One ladder, two scenes · Restore, develop, realize.
Framework RBF-09Type Logical theology framework
Logical theology
Divinity & Humanity.
A visual study, with the sources alongside each step.
Sanctuary & prophetic patterns
Studies in Present Truth
Explore the studies, sources, and interactive frameworks below.
Framework RBF-07Type Sanctuary teaching modelCollection Present Truth
Present Truth
The Sanctuary.
The sanctuary, the ministry of Christ, and the present truth at each stage.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
On the desk
- Author of four books. I am writing Three Babylons, tracing Babylon's system from Nimrod through Constantine and Papal Rome to apostate Protestantism in America.
- Pattern matching, in Scripture and in life. Two of the studies above began as a question about why the same shapes keep turning up.
Slides and recordings open in a new tab.
Missional Entrepreneur
- Real Needs
- Business Strategy
- Purposeful Livelihoods
- Future Readiness
Build something useful. Let it serve what matters.
Applying decades of business and technology experience to help entrepreneurs build around genuine needs rather than manufactured demand. Developing purposeful livelihoods, preparing businesses for what lies ahead, and building ventures that sustain outpost communities and advance the final work.
01 // NeedWho are we serving?
Begin with people and the problems actually standing in their way.
02 // StewardshipWhat is in our hands?
Recognize existing gifts, experience, resources, and responsibilities before starting over.
03 // ActionWhat can we test?
Take a meaningful step, learn from it, and build only what proves useful.
From success to service.
Entrepreneurship gave me tools to build businesses. Surrendering my life to Christ changed the reason I use them. I want to help people create useful livelihoods and missional enterprises that sustain families, strengthen communities, and prepare others for service.
Earlier chapters
Before the calling... A different kind of building.
Military information systems. Software companies and marketing agencies. Think-tank work. Offensive cyber operations. Each chapter sharpened how I read a situation, connect the pieces, and turn an idea into something that works.
Staff Sergeant, Information Management
Earned promotion to Wing Command, with responsibilities spanning USAFE-wide web-server consolidation and classified battlefield tasking systems for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Military service sharpened my understanding of order, discipline, and accountability... and what happens when the information people depend on has to be right.
Recognition: USAFE Communication and Information Airman of the Year; Air Force Commendation Medal; three Air Force Achievement Medals; Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; National Defense Service Medal; commendation from the Pentagon's J-3 Directorate.
- Intranet & Extranets
- Battlefield Management
- Classified Systems
Technologist Turned Marketer
Invented WebOS[1], a content-management platform, and filed a patent application for its foundational web-platform architecture. The next system that interested me was less predictable than software: how people discover information, form opinions, and decide what to trust. I began connecting technology, search, and brand strategy while the web itself was being reinvented.
During Web 2.0, I taught emerging marketing technologies through the University of Hawaii’s Pacific New Media program. An early Twitter adopter as @Rob[2], I sent what was reported as Hawaii’s first tweet, joined Klout’s advisory group, and developed Klokal to identify local influencers.
- WebOS
- Content Management
- Early Social Media
- Brand Strategy
Schema.org. Enterprise-scale data architecture.
Contributed to Schema.org's General Automotive Ontology, working on the information structures behind the visible web. At enterprise scale, I led SEO and information architecture for what was then the world's fourth-largest automotive website, overseeing more than 2 million URLs on a platform serving 7 million monthly visitors.
For years, my own website ranked #1 globally on Google for “Search Engine Optimization Expert.” The larger the system, the more the relationships beneath its surface mattered.
- Schema.org
- General Automotive Ontology
- Enterprise SEO
Founded. Scaled. Sold. Merged.
Founded Empowered Internet Solutions, grew it into Hawaii’s largest web-marketing firm with 700 clients, and sold the business. Built another agency, then merged a leading regional competitor into it. I was responsible not only for ideas, but for the organizations that had to deliver them.
Across my ventures, served over 1,000 clients, including Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies and national brands such as Time Warner, Hilton, AutoZone, and Domino’s Pizza. The work expanded into international government contracts, including strategy for the Environment Agency of the Abu Dhabi government and its participation at the United Nations Rio+20 summit in Brazil.
- 1,000+ Clients
- Fortune 100 / 500
- International Contracts
Think-tanks. Venture Accelerators.
By then, I had built software, run companies, and worked with major brands and governments. In futurist forums and think-tank collaborations, I brought that experience into conversations with urban planners, community builders, financial analysts, and other specialists. Together we looked at how a change in one field could reshape economies, businesses, and sustainable communities.
I also mentored venture founders through Alchemist Accelerator, a Silicon Valley accelerator ranked Platinum in 2017, and through San Diego State University, helping early-stage teams test business models, emerging technologies, and assumptions about the markets they hoped to serve.
- Think-tank Collaboration
- Emerging Technologies
- Venture Advising
- Strategic Foresight
Behind the curtain.
Developing an on-premise cybersecurity platform for Cylance led to my recruitment as employee number six at Boldend. After years building for recognizable brands and international governments, I stepped into a world whose work was largely hidden from public view.
Boldend developed hacking tools for the CIA. I helped architect the cyber-operations platform behind that work. Only years later did I discover its backing by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund [1][2]. The technical challenge was substantial. But behind that curtain I encountered a question no architecture could settle: not whether I could build it, but whether I should. That question changed the direction of my life.
- On-premise Platforms
- Cyber-operations Architecture
- Hacking Tools
The professional journey
From the school computer lab and IRC channel wars to hospitality, companies, cyber operations, and a different reason for building.
- 1993 // first programs
The smallest game changed everything.
My first racing game was little more than a letter “V” navigating obstacles on a Texas Instruments calculator. From there I moved into QBasic and built a text adventure in the spirit of Zork. I was learning something that would stay with me: if I could understand the rules of a system, I could make it do something new.
- 1996 // 7th Sphere & IRC
Hacking with the 7th Sphere group.
Before social media, people gathered in live, text-based channels on Internet Relay Chat (IRC). I got into hacking with the 7th Sphere group, using mIRC and writing channel-takeover bots. Channel operators held the permissions that determined who controlled a channel, while automated scripts and bots could defend that control or challenge it. This was my early education in network protocols, permissions, automation, and adversarial programming... learning how systems worked by discovering where they could be pushed, manipulated, or broken.
- 1997 // zeppo.com
The school library became my first publishing platform.
The name Zeppo came with me from IRC, and in 1997 I built zeppo.com using Perl and CGI. Other students could log in, manage their profiles, and contribute categorized updates... books read, jokes, and athletic personal bests. I kept it running from the school library. We weren’t calling it “user-generated content” back then. I just wanted students to be able to publish for themselves. Lycos named zeppo.com Teen Built Site of the Month, and Yahoo! featured it as Site of the Day.
- Oct 1998 – Mar 2003 // U.S. Air Force
From the 606th to Wing Command and the Pentagon.
I joined the military just out of high school. Serving with the 606th Air Control Squadron, I supported Operation ALLIED FORCE during the 1999 Kosovo campaign. I later deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH, where I developed the base's first intranet. After returning, I was promoted into a Wing Command assignment and joined the SCIP team for USAFE-wide server consolidation and implementation. That work opened the door to contributing to a classified battlefield-management tasking system for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.
My service brought USAFE Communication & Information Professional of the Year recognition in both 2000 and 2001, an Air Force Commendation Medal, three Air Force Achievement Medals, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and National Defense Service Medal, and a commendation from the Pentagon’s J-3 Directorate. - Dec 2003 – Jun 2005 // Aston / ResortQuest Hawaii
From military systems to the business of travel.
As a civilian, my first move was to join Aston Hotels & Resorts in Hawaii in 2003 as Director of Web Innovation. Travelers were increasingly finding and booking rooms online, while most established hospitality operations were still figuring out how to make the web part of the business. I led corporate and property-level web services, bringing together online commerce, guest-facing experiences, and intranet and extranet systems. It was less about launching another website than helping a hotel chain operate in a new digital economy.
- 2004–2008 // WebOS & Empowered Internet Solutions
Invented WebOS. Built and sold the platform.
I kept encountering the same inefficiency: each new website required too much repetitive development. By 2004, I was developing WebOS[1], a content-management platform that standardized publishing, and later filed a patent application for its foundational web-platform architecture. I took the product to market, founded Empowered Internet Solutions, grew it to 700 clients, and eventually sold the platform. What began as a way to build sites more efficiently became a software product and an operating business at scale.
- From 2009 // Agency & consulting work
Not just the platform. The people and business behind it.
Across the software and marketing agencies I founded and led, I served over 1,000 clients. The work ranged from establishing teams and repeatable delivery systems to technical architecture, search, analytics, and brand strategy for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies and national brands... including Domino’s Pizza, Hilton, LegalZoom, AutoZone, and Time Warner Cable. Building a company meant being responsible for the idea, the customer, and the work that happened after the sale.
- 2010–2018 // University of Hawaii & early social web
@Rob on Twitter. Teaching what came next.
As an early Twitter adopter, I used @Rob and sent what was reported as Hawaii’s first tweet. I joined Klout’s advisory group, developed Klokal to map local influencers, and taught emerging marketing technologies through the University of Hawaii’s Pacific New Media program. In 2012, MTV’s Rob Dyrdek sought the @Rob handle; TMZ reported how I had already declined a $25,000 offer[2].
- The agency years // ActivityRez
From booking hotel rooms to booking everything around them.
While running my agency, I helped architect ActivityRez, a reservation and operations platform for tours and activities. It brought bookings, availability, and fulfillment together for the people delivering experiences on the ground. Expedia licensed ActivityRez to run its Local Expert operation, connecting that infrastructure with travelers looking to book more than a hotel room. This was the next frontier of digital travel: making local experiences bookable, organized, and accessible.
- Semantic data & enterprise architecture
Recognizing the structure under the surface.
I contributed to Schema.org’s General Automotive Ontology, applying taxonomy, semantic markup, and technical SEO to enterprise information systems. At the scale of millions of URLs, the relationships between things matter as much as the individual pages.
- From 2017 // a quieter chapter
Mostly retired. Thinking about the future.
I had largely retired from running businesses. Instead of starting another company, I spent time at futurist meetups and in interdisciplinary think-tank conversations. Urban planners, community builders, financial analysts, and specialists in other fields brought perspectives I could not have learned from software alone. I brought my experience in technology, marketing, and business, and together we explored what would change, what new needs would emerge, and which assumptions might no longer hold.
During that same period, I mentored startup founders through Alchemist Accelerator, a Silicon Valley venture accelerator ranked Platinum in 2017[3], and through a mentoring program at San Diego State University, near where I lived. I was no longer looking to build every idea myself; I enjoyed helping founders think through the future state of their markets, business models, and products. - An urgent assignment // Cylance
The favor that brought me back to development.
I was largely retired and, frankly, a little bored. A team building an on-premise platform for Cylance was facing a tight deadline. They knew I could do the work, so I took the project on as a favor. I wasn't looking for another career chapter. But that short engagement led to my recruitment by Boldend.
- Boldend // three months
Hank McCoy. The house on the hill. What I chose to leave.
I joined as employee number six, recruited to architect and develop the web-based interface for a cyber-operations platform. The office was an unassuming house on a hillside overlooking the Pacific in northwestern San Diego County. Everyone used superhero codenames when committing code; the team assigned me Hank McCoy.
I understood the technical assignment when I accepted it, but not the full weight of what the platform was intended to support. Once inside, I recognized that we were developing offensive cyber-warfare capabilities for the CIA. As I understood more of the work and its implications, I walked into our conference room one day and found a Rothschild there. That encounter crystallized a decision I was already considering: I did not want to continue building it. After three months, I left the week my shares vested.
Only years later did I discover Boldend was backed by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund [1][2]. In August 2024, SIXGEN acquired Boldend in a private-equity-backed deal that expanded its offensive cyber and electronic-warfare capabilities. The purchase price was never disclosed. Looking back, I believe my shares would have been worth a substantial amount. The question that stayed with me was no longer simply what I could build... but what I was willing to build. - After Boldend // a different investigation
From building systems to questioning reality.
After Boldend, I began an intense search to understand a supernatural personal experience I could not explain. I immersed myself in world religions, examining their beliefs, their sources, and the assumptions on which they rested. I questioned what I had inherited, how people reached their convictions, and whether the claims could stand up to careful examination. I wasn't looking for another project. I was trying to understand what I had experienced... and what was actually true.
- The turning point
The question changed. The ability did not.
That search eventually led me to give my heart and hands fully to Jesus. The skills I had spent years developing did not disappear, but their purpose changed. I no longer wanted to measure my life by what I could accomplish for myself. I wanted those abilities to serve the Father, to help prepare a people for what is coming, and to become personally what I was learning to teach.
The next chapter would not begin with another company. It would begin with a different question: what does He want me to build... and whom am I meant to serve?
Mentor
- Perception
- Beliefs
- Values
- Identity
- Purpose
- Motivation
- Action
Helping others see
I look beyond behavior to the perceptions, beliefs, values, and motives beneath it. Through questions rather than ready-made answers, I help young people recognize blind spots, discover their individuality and identity in Christ, and take responsibility for the purpose God has placed before them.
IdentityWho am I in Christ?
Examine inherited labels and assumptions, and arrive at an understanding that is your own.
PurposeWho am I here to serve?
Connect your abilities and convictions with a real need, and never only with an impressive idea.
ResponsibilityWhat is my next step?
Agree on something practical, put it into action, and reflect on what the experience teaches.
How an exchange goes
An illustration, not anyone's record.
01 · An honest question“Do I stay in the city for the job, or come out to the land?”
Nothing is decided yet. The question is on the table, unpolished.
02 · Pull the threadSurface, emotion, root, root of the root.
The job on the surface. Under it, a fear of being left behind. Under that, what you believe security is. Under that, whom you trust to provide.
03 · An agreed next stepSomething small and real, within two weeks.
A conversation with your parents. A week at an outpost. A budget written down.
04 · Action, then reflectionWe meet again.
What did the experience teach? What is the next question? The loop runs again, a little wiser.
Learning, through relationship
The public teaching is open to everyone. Deeper material is shared personally.
An open starting pointStudents and explorers
Public teaching, videos, and study material. Come with a question and begin at your own pace.
Personally sharedMentees
Additional teaching and practical resources, shared within an existing mentoring relationship.
The fullest shared archiveSons and daughters
A deeper relationship, with access to the teaching and legacy material I share to help others carry the work forward.
These are relationships, not membership packages. Access is assigned personally, never earned through payments or points. Previously a mentor with Alchemist Accelerator and San Diego State University; now mentoring through the Advent Youth Movement.
My motivations // The Why Ladder
why do i mentor? Not only what I teach… why I give my time.
You do not need to have everything figured out. One honest question is enough.
Educator
- True Education
- Individuality
- Character Development
- Responsibility
Learning to live
True Education develops the whole person—spiritual, mental, and physical. At Berivoi, the classroom extends into the garden, workshop, kitchen, and daily life. I seek to cultivate independent thinkers, capable hands, and Christlike characters prepared for a life of useful service.
Founder & Culture Builder
- Advent Movement
- Outpost Founders
- Advent Leaders
A Demonstration of the True
Through Advent Movement, Outpost Founders, and Advent Leaders, I work to establish the culture, governance, and leadership needed for healthy, self-sustaining outpost communities. The aim is not dependence on a founder, but shared convictions, individual responsibility, servant leadership, and a movement that can carry the final work forward.
Where it turned
I gave my heart to Jesus.
A calculator game became a career in web platforms, business, teaching, and cyber operations. But the most important change in my life was not another company or a more demanding project. It was giving my heart to Jesus, after years of building for myself. What I build now is His to direct.
My wife is Romanian, and Romania is home. The students and volunteers who pass through our door have become family.
Still building. His to direct.
“My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.”
True EducationThe whole person
The harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers... head, heart, and hands together.
PreparationA people who stand
Character before the judgment, and a message carried to the world before He comes.
Community and serviceOutposts that work
Places like Berivoi where the life is lived, and the tools and relationships that let others start their own.
Builder
- Light Timber Framing
- Country Living
- Outpost Infrastructure
What I build
Designing and constructing the infrastructure for country living and outpost communities. From light timber framing to practical living spaces, I work alongside students and volunteers, teaching them to build with their own hands and develop the confidence to do it themselves.
The practice loop
Something happens. We pause, examine it, find the principle, and put it to work.
ExperienceReflectionPrincipleApplication
Three ways to come
Coming to Berivoi begins with a conversation.
One week
Restore
A volunteer. One morning shift for the center, then an initiative or seasonal work you pick on arrival. Something different every day, if you like.
One month
Develop
A student whose mission is still unclear. Morning shift, then an afternoon track built on your own questions, theology first. The aim is to send you toward your own outpost.
Open-ended
Realize
A resident whose mission is here. Both shifts, mapped to a real position with a real job description, held long-term.
Formation for young men runs across seven areas here: servant leadership, domestic life, gardening, construction, missional problem solving, culture, and spiritual identity. Project notes and photographs of the work will join this page as we document it; until then, come and see.
My motivations // The Why Ladder
why do i live in the country? The reason underneath the infrastructure.
Meals and accommodation in exchange for a work-stay, with an optional True Education track.
Gardener
- Food Forests
- Soil Health
- Composting
- Regenerative Agriculture
How I cultivate
Working with nature rather than against it. Developing perennial food forests, restoring soil through composting and natural fertility, and learning to recognize the relationships within living systems. What grows at Berivoi is both food for the table and practical education for those who will cultivate land of their own.
Food forestsPlanted in layers
Canopy, understory, shrubs, herbs, ground cover, roots, and climbers. Years of harvest from one well-planned planting.
Soil healthFeed the life in the ground
Cover it, feed it, and stop turning it over. Fertility is grown, never bought for long.
CompostingNothing leaves the loop
Kitchen scraps, garden waste, and bedding come back as the soil the next season is planted in.
A day at Berivoi
The garden has its hour, and so does the question.
- MorningWorship
- Shift oneWork for the center
- MiddayObject Lesson Hour, in nature
- AfternoonSecond shift, or a self-paced study track
- EveningWorship
- 7 p.m.“What is our question today?”
“And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
My motivations // The Why Ladder
why do i live in the country? A home, the daily work, and the purpose behind the place.
Bees keep the orchard company. Patient teachers of order, season, and reward.
Plant-based Cook
- Whole-food Cooking
- Nutrition
- Community Meals
- Practical Education
What I bring to the table
Cooking whole-food, plant-based meals for our family of students and volunteers at Berivoi. The kitchen is another classroom, where simple ingredients become nourishing meals, practical skills are passed along, and the table becomes a place for conversation, hospitality, and community.
Whole ingredientsFrom the garden, as far as it reaches
What the food forest and the garden give, the kitchen uses first.
Everyday mealsSimple, and enough
Food that a student can learn to make in a week and keep making for a lifetime.
Cooking for a communityThe table is where the question is asked
Every evening ends with “What is our question today?” The meal is how we get there.
What is our question today?
Recipes will be written down here as we cook them with students.
02 // WORK WITH ME
What problem do you need help solving?
Whether you're starting something new or strengthening what already exists, we begin with your actual situation.
Not a theory. Not a trend. Not a solution looking for somewhere to fit.
OUTPOSTCommunity · Mission · Culture
BUSINESSEnterprise · Livelihood · Strategy
FOUNDStart something useful.
Start an outpost
Learn to establish an outpost grounded in True Education, country living, shared responsibility, and practical service. Work through the foundational curriculum I use with my students, from vision and governance to livelihoods and daily community life.
Start a business
Discover what is already in your hand, identify a genuine need, and develop a purposeful livelihood. Use the student curriculum to move from an idea toward a useful, viable, and sustainable enterprise.
STRENGTHENImprove what already exists.
Strengthen an outpost
Address the challenges that emerge when people live, work, and serve together. Strengthen culture, governance, leadership, accountability, and the systems that allow a community to function without becoming dependent on a single individual.
Scale & optimize a business
Bring decades of business, technology, and systems experience to complex organizational challenges. Strengthen operations, positioning, technical architecture, and strategic decision-making to build a more capable, resilient enterprise.
Learn freely.
Build responsibly.
The foundational teaching is freely available through my student materials.
The teaching, in one placeKnow what matters.
Live accordingly.