Celebrating 15 Years of Pastor Robb and Randi Brunansky’s Faithful Ministry to Desert Hills

By Daniel Stefanski

Published March 7, 2026

Fifteen years ago this month, the Lord started Robb Brunansky down a path of ministry at Desert Hills that has seen miraculous growth and work for the kingdom of God. Robb’s tenure at the church began seemingly unassuming, pastoring a faithful congregation established for over 40 years in the Phoenix-metro region. However, as the Lord has grown Robb’s ministry over the past fifteen years, the church has emerged as a mighty force against the very gates of hell.

While the weekend marks Robb’s anniversary, this story is about much more than just one individual. Rather, the story is how God used this man to take Desert Hills further than any man, including Robb, ever thought possible. Robb’s story is Desert Hills’ story, which is ultimately Christ’s story. Jesus Christ receives all the glory for what has happened through Robb and Desert Hills, because no one here could have possibly orchestrated the miracles experienced at the church left to their own devices.

Throughout church history, many pastors have earned a special place in the hearts of their parishioners for the grueling and thankless work they perform amid their congregations. Some of these men are undoubtedly placed on a pedestal or fall short in ministry because of moral failings. Yet Scripture is clear that congregants are called to appreciate, honor, and love their faithful, hard-working, and dedicated overseers given to the church by the almighty God. These shepherds are willing to do what almost no one wants to – or can do – in their churches and society. Not everyone is gifted by the Lord to preach the saving gospel of repentance and not everyone wants to get their hands dirty with the complex issues brought about by sin and trials in people’s lives. The late John MacArthur once said, “You esteem your elders, your pastors, and your esteem for them has no limits. Whatever level of appreciation you have now, increase it in love. You are to love them because of what they do. That love means you seek their best, overlook their weaknesses and frailties, speak well of them, encourage them, [and] lift them up as called men of God, who have brought to you the truth.” 

Not every faithful pastor has received this biblical honor from their congregation. Throughout the history of the New Testament church, countless congregations have acted shamefully toward their shepherds, discarding or discouraging them from pursuing their divine calling. These attitudes and actions are extremely destructive in churches, often causing pastors to last only three to five years before resigning or transferring because of unruly, unhappy congregants. Yet, thankfully, Desert Hills has not been one of those local bodies. The church innately understands the importance of honoring God’s servants, which is what we strive to do with this joyous occasion.

Like many who are drawn to ministry, Robb was on a completely different path for his life before the Lord intervened and highlighted his true calling. When he started his collegiate career, Robb was working to obtain a corporate law license at the University of Arizona in Tucson. There, he regularly attended a campus group that engaged one another with many conversations about Scripture. God used these formidable times to push Robb into a desire to synthesize discussions into concise and impactful theological arguments. To that end, Robb sought out more advanced teaching from gifted preachers like Charles Spurgeon, Martin Lloyd Jones, and MacArthur. He would walk around campus with his Walkman and headphones, listening to hours of sermons – and even taking Christian theology books into his economics classes.

As Robb grew in his understanding of and appreciation of Scripture’s meaning and depth, his eyes opened to the lack of biblical teaching in the culture. This growing realization weighed on his heart, prompting him to ask if God could use him to help other people better understand God’s Word – just as he had on the Wildcats’ campus grounds. Through prayer and more time in the Bible, Robb began to see the divine answer: he was meant to pursue a Seminary education. With John MacArthur being the most impactful figure in his spiritual life thus far, Robb enrolled at The Master’s Seminary at age twenty-two – completely changing the course of his life in obedience to the Lord’s calling.

Robb may have been personally convinced that ministry was his new lot in life, but he later realized he had much to learn before it became a true calling. He recalls thinking that being a pastor would be impressive, which was assuredly not a biblical reason for entering God’s service. The Lord continued to mold Robb’s heart and motives into that of a true shepherd. Robb remembers being at Grace Community Church as a seminary student for Shepherds Conference 2001, listening to John Piper preach about suffering in ministry. It was there and then he woke up, realizing God wasn’t calling him to be a superhero, but a suffering, lowly servant of the Most High. Prior to this moment, he believes he wouldn’t have lasted long in ministry—especially once the challenges and trials mounted against his efforts. “The Lord had to show me that ministry was about suffering with Christ,” Robb said. “It wasn’t going to be easy because of the suffering. However, the Lord gave me a heart of someone who was called into ministry.” Several people noticed the difference in Robb, confirming that God was truly at work in him.

Around this time, Robb started dating Randi, who would quickly become the love of his life and his eventual wife. At the start of their relationship, Robb was honest with Randi about his calling into ministry and how that career might present challenges to their life if God kept them on that path. Randi was more than willing to sign up for this journey, and they soon married. Robb notes that his ministry would not be what it is today without her partnership, and he wonders if his time as a pastor even would have survived the early years, since he had no way of knowing what he needed back then. “God has given Randi different gifts and insights than me that are perfectly complementary,” Robb stated. “She’s able to see things I don’t see or notice, and she has been very encouraging about pushing me in ministry.” He noted her reticence to be up front in the church, often content to stay in the background and pursue God’s calling for her and her family, saying, “her impact in the ministry will only be known in eternity.”

After finishing at The Master’s Seminary, Robb and Randi moved to Wichita, Kansas, where he served as a youth pastor. God wasted no time in showing Robb how hard his future in ministry would be, as he lasted five months at this church due to “big givers” who were unhappy over how the truth of Scripture was being presented to their students. Despite being newly married and having few dollars to their name, the Brunanskys hit the road to find their next ministry opportunity. Along with another family who had left the church for similar reasons, Robb planted a congregation in Wichita and prayed for the Lord to bless these efforts. It was here at this little church plant that Robb learned the ins and outs of ministry in the real world – something seminary may have talked about but could never fully impress upon prospective ministry leaders. He did everything in this church – administrative, counseling, evangelism, teaching, visitations, and more. Thanks to the Lord’s leading, the church grew from two families to approximately forty people.

Now thirty years old, Robb desired to check off his longtime desire to obtain his doctorate degree – especially before his children were older and more involved in activities outside the house. With Randi’s blessing and strong encouragement, Robb moved the family to Louisville, Kentucky, to attend The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, pursuing a degree in New Testament studies. While at Southern, Robb and Randi added two more children to the one they brought with them.

During Robb’s time at Southern Seminary, God started preparing the place for him at what was then Desert Hills Evangelical Free Church. Randi grew up at the church, and Robb was familiar with the congregation from his visits to woo his eventual bride and a previous internship. About midway through Robb’s time in Louisville, Chuck Rasmussen, the teaching pastor at Desert Hills, fell ill and could not lead his flock in a full-time capacity after 21 years of faithful ministry. When Robb and Randi returned to Arizona for the Christmas and New Year holidays in December 2009, he preached at Desert Hills– not yet knowing about the open position. Afterwards, many people encouraged him to apply for the teaching pastor role. Robb was intrigued but knew he had to finish his coursework and exams before seriously considering this possibility. As Robb traveled back to Louisville after the holiday season, though, he couldn’t shake the idea of applying to become the next teaching pastor at Desert Hills. God was surely working on both his heart and the hearts of the men and women at the Phoenix-area church.

Months later, Robb couldn’t put off his divinely inspired intrigue about Desert Hills and finally contacted the church. To his surprise, the position remained open. He and Randi agreed he should apply, and he transmitted his resume to the search committee. Robb recalls hearing that his resume got thrown away several times, as members of the search committee weren’t thrilled about his lack of affiliation with the Evangelical Free organization. However, each time Robb’s resume was discarded, God always brought it back to the top of the pile when the search committee could not find anyone whose preaching they wanted to hear every week. The search committee finally set aside their affiliation concerns and arranged an interview and candidate weekend with Robb in December 2010. With God’s help, Robb aced both opportunities. The search committee voted to recommend Robb to the congregation, which approved his selection at the business meeting on January 30, 2011. Robb and Randi immediately accepted the call, though he still had to finish his dissertation paper for Southern Seminary. The Brunanskys started packing up their life in Louisville and drove out to Phoenix at the beginning of March 2011. On the second Sunday of March, Robb officially started his preaching tenure at Desert Hills in front of approximately 100 attendees.

When Robb started at Desert Hills, he didn’t say or do a lot – besides his times in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. He sat back and tried to learn as much as he could about the church and its congregation. His first tranche of sermons focused on the person of Christ, realizing that people at the church needed to raise their view of their Savior. “I just tried to say what the Bible said,” Robb commented. “As long as I was faithful to preach what the Bible says without inserting a personal agenda, Scripture would shape the culture of the church.” Robb remembers the Lord’s hand on his ministry during his early time at Desert Hills, recalling the salvation and baptism of a man he had discipled for several months. That episode was an encouraging marker of God’s work in the church and the fledgling stages of his ministry there.

At the onset of his ministry at Desert Hills, Robb’s vision was simply to have a church that was growing spiritually. He had some idea of what that vision would look like, but he didn’t know how exactly the goal would play itself out in the congregation. He first set out to bring the Sunday morning worship service and adjacent ministries into cohesion. Due to the severe illness of the previous teaching pastor, there was a gap in leadership, leading to a fragmented church body. Many existing ministries were operating as islands unto themselves, and there were different levels of expectations across the church. So, Robb worked to align all the ministries toward the same goals to fashion and sustain overall unity at Desert Hills.

Like the Wichita church plant, Robb wore many hats during his first few years at Desert Hills—and he continues to assume more responsibilities as needed today. In those early years, Robb led the worship team, student ministries, Sunday School, elder and deacon boards, Human Resources for the staff of three, website development, bulletin creation, AWANA games, Vacation Bible School, and more – all in addition to focusing on his priority of preaching the Word on Sunday mornings. While all these tasks might sound overwhelming, especially for a man whose first responsibility was to his immediate family of six, Robb thrived in this environment because of his heart for God’s people. “I wanted to see people come to know the Lord and the church be what Christ desires it to be,” said Robb. “God has given me a desire to pour out my life in the church. There is nothing better than seeing people love Christ more as they change and grow, but you can only do that if you’re around them.”

There were many highlights of ministry for Robb. One of the earliest positive memories was from his first year, when he ran Vacation Bible School for Desert Hills. The church didn’t have a Children’s Ministry at that time, so any organized program for kids was a huge step forward. Twenty-eight children attended on one of the nights, giving Robb tremendous excitement about the future. Another highlight occurred when the church hired Jeff Wright to be its worship director in 2013 – a position unfilled at Desert Hills since the 1980s. For the church to grow, Robb understood he needed to build up the Sunday morning service to unify it toward the preaching of God’s Word. Jeff checked the box to bring consistency to the music ministry, and Robb’s life as a teaching pastor instantly changed. There were also seasons of thrilling, incremental growth when Robb approached his five-year anniversary, as the church averaged about 155 attendees on Sunday mornings in 2015.

In the year of 2018 – seven years into Robb’s tenure at Desert Hills, another exciting marker was laid down, when his worship director moved out of state, and Josh and Sam Stefanski were hired as replacements to lead the ministry, where they have remained to this day. Reflecting on the additions, Robb said, “I didn’t really know if this was something they wanted to do long-term, but it turned into a dynamic relationship. These like-minded brothers, who have been the longest co-laborers of my ministry, have walked with me through some of the most challenging times together, making it very rewarding.” Later that year, during one of the few times Robb was very discouraged about his ministry – he remembers God giving him peace and stability through Josh and Sam’s partnership. Additionally, in 2019, Robb was able to lead a celebration for Desert Hills’ 50^th anniversary, welcoming back many of the old guard who had left for various reasons over the years.

As expected, ministry wasn’t all positive or exciting. Throughout his time at Desert Hills, Robb encountered several challenges—some resulting from positive developments and others stemming from sin and the nature of man’s fallen condition. For Robb, the hardest challenges at the church arise when people separate for various reasons. Though he understands God is building His church His way, Robb still struggles with the memories of relationships with people who he thought were friends but surprisingly turn on him. Always the shepherd, however, Robb would rather be the one hurt by people over church issues than others in the congregation. He understands his God-given role is to stand between the people in the body and the issues or individuals causing division or pain. This has caused him heartache over the years – but it is a price he’s willing to pay as the Lord’s overseer.

While the church grew steadily as Robb marked nine years of service at Desert Hills (around 220 people on a Sunday morning at the start of 2020), nothing could have prepared him for what was coming next and how the Lord would use world events to shape this local congregation. At the beginning of the year, Desert Hills had four elders, and two were related by marriage. In January 2020, one of the elders stepped down because of his growing business. There were now three elders remaining on the board, and because of the family connection, the three men agreed that any decision from the elders had to be unanimous until the church added another overseer. This seemingly technical decision may have been the most significant in the church’s 50-year history—though no one at Desert Hills knew it at the time.

Then, COVID took the world by storm, and the fallout eventually spread to Arizona. Desert Hills met like normal on March 15, including Children’s Ministry and Sunday School classes – despite many other churches across America starting to close. That week, the elders (including two elders in training) convened to talk about the short-term future of the church considering the growing fear and hysteria around COVID. Robb ensured the church would remain open on Sundays despite vigorous debate. “I was convinced that closing the church was the wrong decision,” said Robb. “I wanted to have the door open for people who needed to come. People in the church struggle with all sorts of sins and temptations, and to have no community is a recipe for disaster for them.” Robb continued, “The church throughout history has been the institution that provides that community. Churches don’t close because of danger.” So, Desert Hills remained open on Sunday mornings thanks to Robb’s clarity of conviction and desire to obey the Lord.

Many congregants stayed home from Desert Hills throughout March and into April, and no one pressured them to return for in-person services; the live stream allowed those individuals to worship from a distance. While COVID seemed to target older individuals, one couple in their 90s refused to stay away from the church, showing up each week, and inspiring others with their courage. Easter marked a turning point for Desert Hills, as the church hosted an outdoor service to encourage more attendance from people who might be more comfortable in the open-air environment. The church was one of the few in the nation who likely hosted an in-person service for Easter, and approximately 140 individuals sat around the grass lot to worship. In the weeks following the Easter service, more people decided to stop staying home and quickly returned to the church. About a month after COVID swept the nation, Desert Hills was back to around its pre-COVID numbers – and hadn’t missed a single week of in-person services.

The church wasn’t through with adding people, though. As news spread about Desert Hills and its in-person services, more men, women, and children across the Valley began attending the church because their local congregations had closed. Robb notes that not many congregations usually see an increase of people in summer, but Desert Hills grew by over 100 people from June to July 2020. There were over 600 people in attendance at the end of the year, forcing Desert Hills to add an additional service to its existing one. The explosion of growth was unprecedented, challenging, and exciting. God was moving in a huge way in the life of Desert Hills. As the nation slowly started to emerge from its COVID haze, this church headed toward the next big chapter of its service to the Lord.

2020 also brought another significant moment for the church – the change of its long-time name. Desert Hills had been a part of the Evangelical Free organization for decades, yet events happening in the current climate made it obvious that it was time to set sail. During a congregational meeting to discuss the elders’ recommendation to rebrand Desert Hills, one of the church’s founding members, Vic Kelly, sealed the deal when he spoke in support of the change. The church then became Desert Hills Bible Church, which opened new frontiers in and of itself, freeing the congregation from any labels that might be associated with the previously paired organization.

By late 2020, it quickly became clear that the church was growing too large to accommodate the growth it had received. However, the elders were unsure if most of the COVID “refugees” would return to their churches when normalcy returned across the state and nation. The campus and buildings that had housed Desert Hills for over 50 years were now too small and outdated for the current level of growth. As a result, the elders wondered if people would become disillusioned with the lack of ministries, size of facilities, parking situation, and other issues becoming clearer by the day and week. Instead, most people did not become disillusioned; in fact, they kept coming, staying, and getting plugged into the church.

Desert Hills’ elders started formulating plans to accommodate the people in the current location. They drew up blueprints to enlarge the sanctuary to fit 700 people, and the congregation voted to begin fundraising efforts. The church continued to grow, though, rendering those draft plans almost immediately obsolete and inadequate for the increasing numbers of people attending with each passing each week. There was hardly enough parking to accommodate the cars each Sunday, nor were there enough classrooms for ministries to freely operate and expand. Greenway Road – the main street Desert Hills called home – was usually backed up on Sunday mornings with people attempting to enter and exit the campus. A third service was added – a move that significantly strained resources, staff, and volunteers. Despite efforts to accommodate all attendees, as long as these people remained at Desert Hills, the beloved campus was likely too small for its weekly needs.

At this time, the Desert Hills elders began looking for campuses that could better house their church to accommodate the growth and allow the congregation to experience a richer breadth of ministry life. Even as they looked, though, they remained unsure about the commitment of many people at the church, but they continued trusting the Lord for their needs and future. God delivered. The elders found a campus just over a mile away from the current location, that had previously been the home of a large church. When that church relocated, it sold the campus to a charter school organization that was consolidating its resources around the Valley. The price for the campus decreased thirty percent just when Desert Hills looked to make its move. By selling its Greenway campus to the church that was currently renting the worship center space at the charter school, Desert Hills would only need to raise three million dollars to make the move without incurring any debt. They had three months before a June 2022 deadline to raise the necessary money and close on the deal with both the charter school and the smaller church. It wasn’t easy, but God graciously provided the funds, allowing it to finalize the transactions and move campuses. A miracle happened for Desert Hills, fusing new excitement into Robb’s and many others’ ministries and desire to serve the Lord.

As Robb reflects on the events that have transpired over the latter half of his time at Desert Hills, he can’t help but to marvel at how God worked. A quote from MacArthur comes to his mind: “You take care of the depth of your ministry, and God will take care of the breadth.” “Our vision was never to get to a certain size,” Robb said. However, while the heart of the vision for the church hasn’t changed from Robb’s original musings in 2011, the scale certainly has. Over the past decade, Desert Hills has seen a mass infusion of resources, people, spiritual gifts, and opportunities – not to mention a higher profile in the community. There are more faithful watering cans at the church, and God continues to cause the growth within the congregation – both numerically and spiritually. Desert Hills now averages approximately 1,600 people each week (and increasing), which has forced its leaders to again spring into action to create a site renovation plan to accommodate current and future growth.

Besides world and cultural events, one of the main catalysts for growth has certainly been Robb’s gifted expository preaching, which the Lord has used in innumerable ways for the glory of the eternal kingdom. When asked about the impact of expository preaching on a faithful church of Christ, Robb replied, “When the Word is preached, the church grows both numerically and spiritually – though not always at the same rate. Christ’s sheep hear His Word and follow it.” He continued, “If the Word is preached by faithful preachers indwelt by the Spirit of God, then people are going to grow – and growing Christians are contagious. Genuine spiritual growth creates an atmosphere where people want to be – even unbelievers. Expository preaching infiltrates everything – there isn’t anything it doesn’t touch. The Word transforms, causes growth, and keeps the attention on Christ instead of ourselves. People coming to Desert Hills want to hear about Christ.”

Fifteen years is a long time for a pastor to remain at a church – especially considering the changes Desert Hills has undergone over that period. “To watch how the Lord has shaped the church, I could never have dreamed about what could have come for Desert Hills,” said Robb. “This church is completely different now than when I got there – in all the right ways. But there’s no way I could – before or now – comprehend what has happened here.” One of Robb’s main goals presently is to train up men to preach and teach the Word to carry the mantle of Christ – both at Desert Hills and elsewhere, and both now and later. His four children are at or nearing adulthood in the coming years, and his oldest daughter is getting married later this spring, marking even more changes in his present stage of life.

As Robb thinks about the next fifteen years – or however long God gives him in service at Desert Hills, he answered, “If you had asked me this question fifteen years ago, the response would have been insignificant to what God has done. It doesn’t really matter what I plan because God has a purpose and plan for His glory and good. If we are faithful to His Word and people, the Lord is going to bless those efforts.”

Robb continued his reflection, saying, “What I’ve learned over the past fifteen years is that I can’t know what’s going to happen fifteen years from now. The world is changing quickly; who is to know what events will take place? However, if we are faithful through it all, God is going to bless us – no matter what happens.”

“I’ve never been more excited about the ministry God is doing at Desert Hills, Robb said as he wrapped up his time of reflection on the past fifteen years of service to the Lord’s kingdom. “I’m energized and filled with joy with the people and leadership teams here. I can’t really think of anywhere else I’d rather be. Christ is here at Desert Hills through the Spirit, His people, and His Word. I’m excited where we’re going.”