ing into seminary. He responded by asking if I had ever thought about applying to be the Saskatoon church planter. Of course, I had been thinking about it, but I was trying to run from that idea. So I put on my best poker face and tried to shrug it off. But I couldn’t. Te stirrings that I had tried to pray away were back. I went home and again talked with Larisa about it. Ten I


prayed for the next two weeks. In October 2015, I applied for the position of church planter, not really expecting anything to happen. A few months went by, and I hadn’t heard anything. Ten the ad hoc committee called, asking me to meet with them. I thought the meeting went well, but I assumed that they had met with others who were more qualified. Another month passed, and I hadn’t heard anything. Ten they wrote saying that they wanted to move forward with me. Te first step was to go through an assessment by C2C (a Canadian church planting network). I started talking with C2C and working through the pre-assess-


ment assignments. At every step, I kept expecting someone to step in and say I just was not a good fit for church planting. Instead, at every step things kept moving forward. Larisa and I went to Mon- treal for the assessment at the end of May 2016. We spent three days working through assignments, being interviewed, and partic- ipating in various exercises. It was the most mentally exhausting experience I have ever had! On the last day, the moment of truth came. I walked into the exit interview ready to hear that we were not recommended, and I was prepared for that. But, we were being


recommended, bringing feelings of relief, excitement, and fear. Larisa and I will finish off this youth year at DBC. It has been a


joy to be able to spend an entire year transitioning out of one position and into another. However, it is sad to see our time at DBC coming to an end. We will officially end our ministry at the end of June. At this point in the story, you may be asking, why so much


reluctance along the way? Troughout the process of looking at church planting, I was focused on whether I was qualified from a worldly standpoint. I was focused on what I perceived as my lack of experience. Te Apostle Paul advised: For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were


wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemp- tion, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ESV). I am thankful that God doesn’t call the qualified, but qualifies


the called. I am excited to see what God has in store. Trough this experience, I have learned over and over again to boast only about what Jesus has done.


Fellowship Focus, January/February 2017


Photo by Reid Bykowy


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