I was born and raised in San Diego, California and grew up in Ocean Beach spending most of my time with friends, surfing, skateboarding and making music. Erika and I met while she was still in college attending Point Loma Nazarene University and I was a GSA contractor with the Navy. Our relationship was solidified while I was overseas and we were married shortly thereafter in 2004. We quickly moved to Oregon, knowing that this is where we wanted to begin to raise our family. We have made our home in Brownsville for the last 12 years. As the family grew we needed more space and found a great spot in our town and an amazing church family at First Baptist Brownsville. 

My wife, Erika and I have seven children with several of them coming through amazing adoption stories. There are two areas that we have focused on in serving others. One is fostering young children with the goal of helping to teach them healthy attachments and lead them into healthy lives. The other area is first responder chaplaincy. 

As a volunteer firefighter for several years and serving in church ministry for over 28 years, we recognized the call into full-time ministry serving first responders and their communities in crisis. As a chaplain, my mission is to serve alongside first responders and help them walk through all of the challenges that life has including difficult calls and the critical incident stress that is produced by them. I want to see them live healthy, successful, and resilient lives both in their careers and their families. The other side of first responder chaplaincy is serving the public experiencing life-changing crisis and working to stabilize them and walk-through the difficult next steps. No one should have to walk through those dark days alone. 

In our free time, we enjoy camping and traveling as a family. We appreciate getting to explore as much of the US as possible and learning about each area including the history and food culture too! In the fall, I like to recharge my batteries in Solitude by getting into the woods to hunt and enjoy God’s creation. 

With the support of our family, church, fire family and community we intend to do our best to fulfill our calling found in James 1:27 and 2 Cor. 1:3-4 in serving our mission field. 

Chaplain Nick and Erika Droback