Pastors & Support Staff

PastorsSupport Staff

Kevin Schaal

Senior Pastor

Mark French

Administrative Pastor

Jason Wermager

Assistant Pastor

Kristopher Schaal

Youth & Discipleship Pastor

George Binoka

Outreach & International Pastor

Kevin Schaal

Senior Pastor

Kevin Schaal graduated from Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984. He then earned a Master of Divinity from Calvary Baptist Seminary of Lansdale, PA, in 1987, and a Doctor of Ministry from International Baptist College, Tempe, AZ, in 1995. He has served as the pastor of Northwest Valley Baptist Church since its beginning in 1987. The church’s mission outreach has planted five other churches, four in Arizona and one in Puebla, Mexico. Dr. Schaal teaches as an adjunct professor at colleges in the States and overseas. He also serves as an executive member and advisor on various ministry boards. Dr. Schaal and his wife, Sandra, have five children.

Mark French

Administrative Pastor

After earning his bachelors and masters degrees, Pastor French has served in various assistant pastor roles in three different ministries since entering full time service in 1984. He joined Northwest Valley Baptist Church in June 2010 and assumed the primary ministries as administrator of Arrowhead Christian Academy and business administrator for NWVBC. He and his wife, Susie, have three children.

Jason Wermager

Assistant Pastor

Pastor Jason has served at Northwest Valley Baptist Church since August 1997. He oversees outreach, the missions committee, and buildings/grounds. He leads the Connections Growth Group class. Jason earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from International Baptist College in Tempe, AZ after serving four and a half years in the United States Air Force. Jason is married to Tami, and they have two grown children.

Kristopher Schaal

Youth & Discipleship Pastor

Pastor Kristopher Schaal grew up right here at Northwest Valley Baptist Church, where he received Jesus Christ as Savior in elementary school and began serving in the church as a teen. He trained for pastoral ministry at Bob Jones University and received his Master of Divinity at International Baptist College and Seminary. During his educational years, he served in multiple student leadership capacities and as pastoral intern here at NWVBC and Ironwood Christian Camp, CA. Before joining the pastoral staff of NWVBC, Kristopher served as interim and associate pastor of Life Point Baptist Church in Apple Valley, CA. He and his wife Elise have 5 young children.

George Binoka

Outreach & International Pastor

Pastor George came to Christ at Northwest Valley. He began coming on our church bus at the age of 12. George graduated from Arrowhead Christian Academy in 2012. In 2016, he completed a Bachelors in Pastoral Studies and then went on to complete a Masters of Divinity in 2019. George & Lexie and their daughter moved to Kenya in 2020 to plant a church in Nairobi. They returned to Arizona in 2021 where he now serves as Outreach and International Pastor at NWVBC.

Caleb French

Director of Worship

Caleb received a Bachelor’s degree in Bible from Bob Jones University in 2010. He went on to complete a Master’s degree in Church Music in 2014. He has had a connection with Northwest Valley Baptist Church since he served as an intern during the summer of 2008. After several more summer internships, Caleb eventually joined the staff at Northwest Valley as its director of music. Caleb also does some graphic design work for the ministry, leads the Young Adults Growth Group, and oversees the music program of Arrowhead Christian Academy, where he directs choirs and teaches one of the Bible classes. He and his wife, Heidi, have two children.

Susie French

Worship Secretary

Susie French joined our staff in the fall of 2012 and is the wife of Pastor Mark French. She is the secretary for our music director, serves on the worship planning team, teaches the ladies’ Bible study and is a help to her husband with the Young Marrieds Growth Group class.

Rhonda Van Emmerik

Church Secretary

Rhonda joined the staff in 2016 as an ACA teacher. She then changed roles to church secretary in the summer of 2021. During her time as a member of NWVBC, she has ministered to children in the Kids4Truth program and in the nursery. Rhonda is a graduate of International Baptist College (Tempe, AZ, now located in Chandler). She has three children.

Tim Waycaster

Administrative Assistant

Tim Waycaster grew up at Northwest Valley Baptist Church, where as a young man he received Christ and began to grow. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Bob Jones University. Tim served for one year as administrative assistant to the director of Ironwood Camp in California and worked at Amazon.com for five years in shipping and as a safety process assistant. He brings this experience to bear on his role as administrative assistant to Pastor French. Tim also manages human resources, financial records, and tuition accounts for the Christian school. He and his wife Jillian have three children.

Tami Wermager

Office Assistant

Tami has been serving on the staff since 2006. She is the wife of Pastor Jason Wermager. She assists in the office, and also serves as wedding coordinator and in various capacities among the ministries of the church. Tami is a graduate of Lancaster Bible College of Lancaster, PA (BS). She and Jason have two grown children.