Aramely Dirnberger

Aramely grew up in the Dominican Republic in a Christian home. She remembers feeling like she’d always been Christian, but she had a moment with Jesus when she was 16. She was depressed, lost, and didn’t know why she felt insecure and purposeless. While she was reflecting on these things while driving in the car with her dad on the way to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her family, she heard a song on the radio that turned her world upside down. The lyrics, in Spanish, went something like this: “I am thirsty while walking in the desert, and I need your oasis. You are the only one that has the water I need.” Thinking back on this moment, Aramely says, “It was like a light went on, and I thought there was no way I could live in this world without being connected to the source—otherwise, I would always be thirsty and unsatisfied.”

That was the turning point when she remembers making a committed decision to get to know God personally and share her faith with her friends and classmates. She was so on fire for Christ that sometimes in the middle of class (while she was in Catholic school), she would commandeer the teacher’s lesson by standing up and sharing scripture or preaching to her classmates until the teacher required her to stop.

Aramely got very involved in church and ministry and ended up spending five and a half years in Taiwan to help grow a young adult church while she was in her twenties.

After a series of unexpected events and divine calling, Aramely ended up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2018. There, she met the man she would later marry, Joel, as well as Collision teammate, Katarina Jelen, who never stopped raving about how awesome it is to work for Collision.

Aramely joined the Collision team in January 2021, and she enjoys making a difference in the lives of teenagers, especially as she recalls the difficulties of her teenage years. In her words, “Everybody needs role models—especially youth—who listen to them and challenge them. It’s not all about parties and having a good time, but actually helping them grow and uncovering what God is doing in their life.”