Ian and Cate met in 2008 on an online game. By 2010 they decided they wanted to be together forever. The long-distance relationship changed in 2011 when they welcomed their first daughter, Mari into the world.

Mari was no normal baby come to find out. She was a star, changing everything in a way only she could have. A board room full of doctors told them Mari was going to die, to leave this world faster than anyone could have anticipated. Cate’s heart was already broken as her sister Natalie had been killed only a week prior to getting this news, now all hope for a good life seemed to be lost. Yet somehow within all the devastation and grief Mari was still alive and die not die as the weeks and months went on. Everyone’s hearts grew as they watched her grow. Cate and Ian grew as people and as parents and did the best they could in the situation they were in.

In the Spring of 2014 Mari finally left the earth at 2 years old. Cate and Ian spent the next few years in a very hopeless place, falling into drug and alcohol addiction, anything that made life feel tolerable. However, during those years they had friends and family living life alongside of them in the ways they were able and this brought much comfort.

At the beginning of 2016 Cate had a long-awaited encounter with Jesus that left her, and the rest of the story changed. Ian and Cate did not identify with any faith before this time. Cate began to tell the people close to her as well as others about Jesus and this encounter, now believing that God was good and real after having experienced Him first-hand. Ian began believing soon after hearing and learning how to have a relationship of His own with Jesus.

Cate got pregnant that same year with their second daughter, Elara who was born in 2017. They finally got married in 2017 after Elara was born! Shortly after, Cate connected with an old friend who she knew as someone who believed in God as well. The friendship blossomed over time and she and Ian were discipled by her and her husband.

Their friends left to serve overseas in 2019 with Youth With A Mission(YWAM) in Norway. Cate and Ian were blessed that year with their third child, a baby boy, and named him Abel. Ian was working as a full-time guitar and chemistry teacher, his dream job God had opened up for him the year before. Cate started to experience severe symptoms after Abel was born and in January of 2020 was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This diagnosis came as a shock but God had already proved Himself as more than faithful to them and so they chose to focus on Him. Cate’s symptoms got better.

2020 was a hard year for so many people but God seemed to be speaking. Cate and Ian would go overseas that year to train like their friends who went before them. It seemed impossible; however, too big of an ask. They were not people who traveled aside from driving a lot. Ian had never even been on an airplane and the kids were way “too young”. They took small steps to see if God could make it possible, trying to be obedient regardless of MANY obstacles. The road was rough and sorrowful at times; however, God provided many miracles to make it possible for them to go.

On December 26th 2020 Cate, Ian, Elara and baby Abel flew to Norway to begin their training with YWAM. They lived and did 2 training schools in Norway and then were off to Slovenia for outreach until 2022. In 2025 the Storbakken's moved to Yokohama Japan and are serving with YWAM Yokohama for the "foreseeable future"!