We moved here to plant a church.
In doing so, we left behind people in Saskatoon that we love. Of course, anyone who knows Saskatchewan geography knows that Warman is not a huge trek from Saskatoon. It’s not like we moved clear across the country. What’s the big deal about moving 20 minutes away?
The big deal is we moved our life. We didn’t just move houses. We didn’t just move from one Sunday service to another. We moved our time commitment and our heart commitment from one church body to another. We left our family in Saskatoon because Jesus called us to be part of a new church family. We moved here because Jesus is amazing and there are so many lost people who don’t know it. We moved here because He has told the people that call him Lord to go into all the world and make disciples. Warman is part of “all the world”. The lost aren’t characterized by poverty; wealth is a wasteland of its own.
When I reconnect with friends from our sending church, a quick and inevitable question I’m asked is, “So how’s it going in Warman?”
I want to say it’s great. I feel like that’s what people want to hear. A success story. A triumph. Truthfully there are triumphs, and I don’t want to diminish that at all. We have so much to be thankful for as Jesus is clearly at work.
Honestly though, when that question comes flying my way, all I can say is, “It’s hard.”
I’ve read enough about church planting to know this wouldn’t be easy. I thought it would be a little easier for me because I was prepared for it to be hard; however, nothing about this has been easy. This year has been riddled with discouragement. We have gained momentum, and then we have swung backward. We have experienced growth, and we have shrunk. We have seen integral people who committed to planting this church with us leave. Our marriage has been under attack, and so have many others within the church. There are times we leak the vision and forget why we’re here. When we lift our heads and survey the task before us, Clay has asked me a few times, “Do you still feel called to this with me?”
The answer is always yes. It’s not easy, but it’s the path Jesus has purposed for us.
So when you think of us, please pray. Pray that we would love Jesus more. Pray that we would trust the Holy Spirit to be at work in this city. Pray that our marriage would be strong. Pray that we would get to know more people in our community. Pray that we would be good neighbours. Pray that the people of our church would love Jesus enough to not keep Him to themselves. Pray that we as a church would live as family of servant missionaries. Pray that the lost would be found.