Where faith meets
technology to build
the Kingdom of God.
Risen Tech is a part of Risen Ministry — a nonprofit organization of lay Catholics in St. Cloud, Minnesota. We resell donated electronics to fund Catholic lay ministries.
Our Story
While attending mass during the spring of 2022, Lester German felt the inspiration to start a Catholic lay movement in this diocese of St. Cloud. Despite his eagerness to get started, God called him to wait. After several years of prayer, contemplation, and surrounding himself with likeminded Catholics, the Holy Spirit moved into action in the spring of 2025, and by the fall, Risen Ministry was born.
Risen Ministry's purpose is to empower everyday Catholics to realize their God given mission. We do this by operating a financially independent nonprofit to establish, guide, and finance Catholic lay ministries. Risen Tech is its foundation for raising funds to help build up the Catholic Church.
Risen Tech itself was really the first concept and the foundation of how we got started. Lester German is the CEO of the PC technology company SurfThing. Every year, tens of thousands of dollars' worth of PC technology products and electronics are designated for recycling, and instead of throwing them at a recycling center, Lester and his family have made it their family mission to salvage and sell these electronics to support the Catholic Church. In a matter of a few months after Risen's inception, the German family children (ages 4-11) had already torn apart several hundred computers and sold all the parts on eBay. (Friends have also jumped in to help!)
We invite your families to join our mission of building up the Catholic Church by donating used phones, tablets, laptops, computers, gaming systems, and related accessories; we also encourage you to petition your places of work and offices to consider donating their equipment, often in bulk, to our cause (tax deductible).
Everything we do flows from love of God and neighbor. Technology is just the instrument — the mission is eternal.
We treat every donated device as a gift entrusted to us. We handle each one carefully and sell it to maximize its impact.
We're rooted in Central Minnesota's Catholic community and serve the broader Church with every sale and every donation.
Revenue from Risen Tech directly funds parishes, Catholic schools, lay ministries, and outreach programs doing God's work.
Your generosity changes everything.
Donate a device, purchase from our catalog, or simply share our mission. Every act of generosity fuels the work of the Church.