Long service
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 hours, 51 minutes AGO
Kim, left, and Steve Schofstoll retired last week after 30 years of ministry at Lind Calvary Assembly of God Church. Steve retired at the same time from 30 years of working at Washington State University’s Lind Dryland Research Station.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 22, 2026 3:15 AM
"When I went into ministry, I never really thought I would use my secular degree from WSU, but it was just a perfect marriage." — Steve Schofstoll
LIND — They say time goes by quickly when you’re doing what you love, and maybe it goes twice as fast when you love doing two things. Steve Schofstall retired last week from both the ministry and the Lind Dryland Research Station, after three decades of devoted service to both.
“Our oldest daughter was a kindergartner (when I started), and now she’s 36,” Schofstoll said. “The years have gone by very quickly.”
Steve and Kim Schofstall were called to Lind Calvary Assembly of God Church in 1996, and Steve came on board at the WSU Lind Dryland Research Station at the same time, he said.
Steve grew up in Wenatchee, he said, and graduated from WSU with a degree in agronomy. While he was at WSU he also met a farmer’s daughter named Kim Schultheis, and the two were married the year after he graduated. They taught English in China through a Christian teaching organization for several years, Steve said.
“When we returned to the U.S., we resettled in Wenatchee,” he said. “My folks were still there, and I found work there, and started attending an Assembly of God church.”
Their time in China had reawakened an interest in ministry that Steve had had even in college, he said, and with some guidance from the pastor, he obtained a ministerial credential, he said.
“(I contacted) our district office, which is in the Seattle area, and I inquired with them about what churches were looking for a pastor, and the Lind-Ritzville area was,” he said. “I approached the board at the church (in Lind), and I ended up coming here.”
Kim is also fully credentialed for ministry, she said, and they served the church together until their retirement last week.
Like many small churches, Lind Calvary Assembly of God couldn’t pay enough to support two ministers with a growing family, so Steve looked for an outside job while Kim stayed home with their three children.
“I came across Bill Schillinger, who was the previous director of the (Lind Research) station, and he had a full-time tech who helped him out, but he needed some additional help, and so it ended up being a great relationship between his research project and me,” Steve said. “When I went into ministry, I never really thought I would use my secular degree from WSU, but it was just a perfect marriage that provided me that additional income and helped Bill out.”
“He’s been part of an amazing journey of the station’s research, data collection and operation throughout the years,” the station’s current director, Surendra Singh, said. “He is immaculate in his work. He’s just been amazing throughout 30 years.”
Kim also kept her hand in teaching, she said, substitute teaching at local schools.
“It’s a great job,” she said. “I have a lot of energy and I have a bachelor’s degree but not an education degree, (so) everyone says, ‘Why don’t you just go back and get your education degree?’ Between the church and three children, I didn’t need a full-time job, so I’ve just subbed all these years … I can say yes or I can say no.”
Kim will continue to sub from time to time after retirement, she said.
Meanwhile, the Schofstolls became grandparents a little over a year ago, Steve said, to a little girl who lives with their daughter and son-in-law in Spokane.
“We’re living a good life with our granddaughter nearby, all three of our kids in the Northwest, and retiring,” he said.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Hard-earned success
BBCC students step into the world armed with diplomas and courage
MOSES LAKE — Genuine success is neither quick nor easy, as the students who graduated Thursday from Big Bend Community College attested. There's a simple story I remember when I was younger,” Associated Student Body President Pedro Lopez said, alternating between English and Spanish. “It's about a kid who plants a seed. At first nothing happens. They water it every day, but the ground still looks the same. They start to wonder if anything is happening at all. They think about digging it up to check, that maybe it didn't work. Maybe nothing is growing. But they keep watering anyway.
MLCC to host conversational town hall Thursday
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Community Coalition will try to kick-start some conversations Thursday at a town hall titled “What's Troubling You, Moses Lake?” “The feedback that we've gotten for all of our prior town halls is people enjoyed them, but they wish there was more of an opportunity to talk,” said Coalition Coordinator Megan Watson. “So we (said), ‘Let's create a town hall event where that's the point – where you come and talk in small groups.’” The coalition holds town hall meetings every year, Watson said, and in the past they’ve focused on specific issues, like gangs or addiction, with local experts on those subjects giving information to the community. This time, Watson said, the MLCC is partnering with Braver Angels, a national organization dedicated to helping Americans practice courageous citizenship across political differences, according to its website. The event, which will take place at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center, is free and open to the public.
Long service
Lind couple steps down from ministry after three decades
LIND — They say time goes by quickly when you’re doing what you love, and maybe it goes twice as fast when you love doing two things. Steve Schofstall retired last week from both the ministry and the Lind Dryland Research Station, after three decades of devoted service to both. “Our oldest daughter was a kindergartner (when I started), and now she’s 36,” Schofstoll said. “The years have gone by very quickly.” Steve and Kim Schofstall were called to Lind Calvary Assembly of God Church in 1996, and Steve came on board at the WSU Lind Dryland Research Station at the same time, he said.