Thank you, to all our youth and families at Victory Church, for letting me be your Youth Pastor.
I've been blown away by what God has allowed us to be a part of over the last 3 years in the youth ministry at Victory Church. Some of you know that the average youth pastor tends to stay around for about a year and a half, but between my time here, and at First Baptist Church down the road, I have been overwhelmingly blessed to have been involved in youth ministry in Moose Jaw for almost 6 years. All of that from the beginning has been a happy accident, as Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but God directs their steps."
In each season, though, there is always a place to ask the Lord what He wants us to do with the next season. Do Kendra and I continue on for another semester? Another year? Is this still the best thing for us, for the youth and families of our church, and for our family? And we have always said yes. Recently during the middle of a summer trip to BC we asked that question again, and we felt a confirmation that this would be our last season in youth ministry. So in January, I will be stepping down from my position as Youth Pastor here at Victory Church. But we love our church. We will continue to come to Victory Church, as active church members, in January when I am no longer on staff. We feel that this is the best thing for our new family and for the youth ministry as we clear a way for a new youth leader with a fresh vision who will take our youth to the next level in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
I have loved being a part of many of the things that happened here in the youth ministry at our church:
1. We brought together and unified the churches and youth groups in Moose Jaw. Our youth group led the way in forming bridges between our group and other groups, and by far was the most common place where you would see leaders and representatives from multiple churches come together for a night under the banner of Jesus.
2. We actually read our Bibles together, and loved it. During this semester, we have seen our kids dig into the Bible as never before. More youth than I would have dreamed of recently took up separate challenges to read all of the Gospel of Mark, and then all of Romans, in full and take notes on every chapter. The response has been overwhelming and many kids have mentioned this is the first time that they have really been motivated to read their Bibles... some have said they have grown in their faith more in the last month than they have their whole lives up until now.
3. We saw youth give their lives to Jesus, get baptized, and influence others. There are too many stories to mention here, but I'll highlight one: Hannah is a youth in our church who, when she started, was involved in a lot of negative things and (in her words) was about as far from God as you can be. Over the last year and a half I have seen her get saved, be baptized, become an encourager and leader to others. She also said during a recent testimony that she wants to become a youth pastor! Through her I have also seen her family become followers of Jesus and become a huge part of our church -- along with others, her family poured the most hours into installing our new youth room floor.
4. We were able to continue relationships with youth after they had graduated. Every Tuesday, Kendra and I host two or three recently graduated youth at our home where we catch up, discuss the struggles of relationships and adjusting to adult life, and continue to point our (former) youth to Jesus. Some of our former youth have become life-long friends. We have been able to drive and visit a few others at their new college campuses, or to bring others in as adult leaders within the youth ministry, or just keep in touch with others over text and Facebook as they navigate their adult lives.
5. We were able to meet and get to know many incredible youth and families. It has been amazing to get to know all of the incredible people in our church. There are a lot of great families that we have been able to learn from as we start our own family, and some of our youth are the smartest and most spiritual and passionate people that I have ever met. It has been a privilege to see many of those relationships grow.
So that is everything, so far. I'll be stepping out in January, a new youth leader will step in to take care of our Friday nights, and Kendra and I will continue to come to Victory Church as members. As for what's next... I'm going to spend time focusing on my family. I began youth ministry almost as soon as Kendra and I got married, and she has been incredible at sharing me for the first almost 6 years of our marriage. So now she gets me all to herself! For a while, at least. And I hope to continue to have relationships with many of the youth and families that we have gotten to know during our time here, as well as with Pastor Dan and the rest of the pastoral staff.
Thanks for sharing in our journey and letting us share in yours,
-Sean
