Grace, Faith, & Family
By Lydia Gleiser
Knowing how to care for others and love unconditionally are core values that have been instilled in Tina Stroud since she was a young child. Growing up in Rockwell City, IA, Tina was the oldest child, born into a farming family that worked hard and loved harder. Even though they didn’t have much, their home was always filled with laughter, prayer, and the kind of love that made Tina feel rich in ways that mattered the most.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
“If there is one verse that captures the arc of my life, it’s this one. Not because I always understood God’s plans, but because again and again, I simply followed, and He kept revealing that His plans always involve people. Relationships. Community. Lives intertwined in ways only He could orchestrate,” Tina shares.
After graduating from high school, Tina’s dad, a proud Hawkeye fan, had dreamed of seeing her at the University of Iowa, and that is where Tina planned on going. But after a visit to Briar Cliff University (BCU) in Sioux City, something just felt right about being there.
“I enrolled at BCU with the intent to go into business,” Tina shares, “but it was there that I realized that my calling wasn’t in business, but in helping others.”
With faith guiding her along with the support of amazing instructors like Sister Shirley Fineran, during her sophomore year in college, Tina switched her major to social work, a decision that would help shape not just her career but her purpose.
“Sister Shirley Fineran was one of my professors who also became a mentor and friend,” Tina says. “She is incredible and has a heart for serving others, and she was able to see something in me that I had yet to see.”
It was at BCU that Tina learned the true impact of non-profit organizations and how impactful they can be.
Others quickly saw Tina’s ability to see around a challenge instead of getting stuck and dwelling on it, and that having faith means moving forward even when the path isn’t clear.
During her senior year at BCU, Tina was able to intern at the Alzheimer’s Association in Sioux City, an experience that opened Tina’s eyes to the many layers of social work, policies, casework, and primary care.
Being a successful intern for six months led Tina to not only meet amazing people, but also to get a part-time job working for the Alzheimer’s Association. Upon graduating, she was hired full-time as a fundraising/event coordinator for the organization, a position that almost didn’t happen.
“My boss had a bad experience with hiring an intern and so she wasn’t too sure about hiring me,” Tina remembers. “My supervisor stepped in and really went to bat for me in getting this position.”
“I loved working here. I gained so much knowledge and growth, and working for Alzheimer’s Association really launched my career in helping and serving others,” Tina shares.
And although staying in the Siouxland area also wasn’t in Tina’s permanent plans, she wasn’t against it either. Tina knew she wasn’t ready to go back to small-town living. She wanted a bigger place with more things to do, and as she joked, to be closer to shopping. Tina always felt that God had a plan for her, and wherever that plan took her, she would follow.
“At BCU, I also met my now husband, John,” Tina shares. “When we graduated from college, I was already working here, and he got a teaching job in Ponca. We ended up getting married, and so staying in Sioux City just made sense.”
Another opportunity for advancement with the Alzheimer’s Association was available after Tina’s boss left the local organization to work for the national chapter. At the age of 26, Tina became the youngest director in the country, a time in her life that still leaves Tina in awe.
“Looking back, I was only 26 and didn’t know that much, or I didn’t think that I did,” Tina laughs. “Again, with encouragement and faith from others who believed in me, I was able to lead the organization for the next five years. It was very humbling, rewarding, and meaningful.”
Something that was in Tina’s permanent plans was starting a family and becoming a mother. When she and John found out that conceiving wouldn’t be possible, Tina knew that hope refused to leave her heart, and they soon turned to adoption.
For two long years, Tina prayed for a child and for peace, patience, and strength to keep believing that she would be blessed with the gift of motherhood.
This new journey in Tina’s life led her to Russia, where she met her first adopted son, Jackson.
“We went into this completely blind,” Tina remembers. “I was in social work, my husband was a teacher, and we didn’t have a lot of money to be traveling back and forth to Russia, so my prayers became very specific and simple that I just wanted to be a mother.”
Upon arriving in Russia, Tina and John learned very little about the next steps in the adoption process. “We could choose age and gender, and that was it. We decided on a girl with an age range from birth to two years of age. Jackson is clearly not a girl and was older than two.”
The night before they arrived at the orphanage, their lawyer called them and gave them the news that they were going to meet a healthy toddler boy in the morning.
“Right then, I knew that God had answered my prayers,” Tina shares. “It didn’t matter if it wasn’t what I thought I wanted, God knew exactly what I needed, and the next morning John and I met our son Jackson.”
After settling back in the United States with their new son, Tina and John received a phone call from Jackson’s social worker, convincing them to adopt another child so that Jackson wouldn’t be an only child.
After prayer, conversation, and a little bit of convincing, Tina and John found themselves ready to welcome children into their home as foster parents.
“I remember being in the mindset of still wanting to build our family,” Tina remembers. “It was so hard to go into fostering with an open heart and open mind, knowing that another woman’s heartache was possibly going to be my joy. It was really hard for me, but again with time, prayer, and guidance, we were ready to take this next step.”
After getting licensed to be foster parents, Tina and John didn’t receive a phone call for seven months. Tina was feeling a little discouraged until they received a phone call about two siblings, Michael and Mia.
“They were six and four when we met them, and we were their third foster placement,” Tina shares. “Again, I didn’t really know what was going to happen, but I knew that God put them in our care for a reason, and we had love to give. Within a year, we were able to legally adopt them.”
Adoption became one of the most rewarding journeys for Tina, yet emotionally complex, as the legal process, along with the emotional bonding and family dynamics, proved to be challenging at times.
Over the next couple of years, through nurturing her faith and drawing near to God, Tina and John ended up adding to their family by adopting three more children who were also siblings.
As her family expanded, Tina also excelled professionally in the nonprofit sector, working as the Director of Development for Unity Point St. Luke’s Foundation and then working for Briar Cliff University
as their Vice President for University Relations.
Directing nonprofit organizations has been meaningful and allowed Tina to continue building relationships and collaborating with other professionals in the community while being able to serve and give back to those in need, something she feels has always been her purpose in life.
Currently, she is continuing to be a vessel for God as she has spent the last three years serving as the executive director for the Hope Center in Sioux City, a nonprofit organization to be a safe and welcoming place to receive practical help, be connected to a Christ-centered community, and take steps toward a sustainable future.
“To be able to walk alongside people, helping them out and giving them the necessities that they need to end generational poverty is something that continues to drive me in my mission at work,” Tina shares.
And while she can find her job challenging at times because she wants to see immediate change, she knows that everything will happen when it is supposed to.
“I look back on my life and everything that has happened, and I see where God has taken me. The opportunities, the challenges, every moment that He has navigated me through, I wouldn’t change anything,” Tina shares.
Through everything, Tina has learned the importance of God’s plan and that everything in life, both the joys and the obstacles, has a divine purpose. What is meant for you, won’t miss you.
“Each relationship, each moment of encouragement or challenge, became one more way God shaped me into someone who could love others the way He first loved me,” Tina shares. “That calling became even more real when He opened the door to welcome six children; each a stranger at first, into our hearts and home. They didn’t just become part of our story; they reshaped it. They reminded us that family can be formed through grace, choice, and God’s unmistakable direction. And now, in this season at the Hope Center, God continues to use the same thread that people matter. Their stories matter. Their needs matter. Their dignity matters. I have the privilege of extending the same grace, welcome, and love to every person who walks through our doors that God so generously extended to our family.”
More About Tina
Tina and John have six children: Michael, Mia, Jackson, William, Anna, and JT.
To stay active in the community and serve others outside of work, Tina has served on multiple boards across the Siouxland area, including the Crittenton Center, Siouxland for Center Active Generations, Ponca Better Foundation, and volunteers with Sunnybrook Community Church.
Numerous people have helped mentor and support Tina, especially Larry Obermeyer, who taught her the importance of creating true partnerships, Eddie Thompson who showed her how to be present in all that she does, Rachelle Keck, her first boss who showed her the importance of having faith and taking chances on people that you see value in, and Laurie Van Cura, who also served as a spiritual mentor and helped Tina to grow professionally.
In her spare time, Tina loves to be with her family and go on walks. To stay balanced, she surrounds herself with great company. She enjoys reading, gardening, and advocating for others.
Tina’s family farm, which she grew up on, is a centennial farm and is still in the family today!