Revival Pastor Dream
My name is Joshua Lawrence. I am from Haileybury, Ontario, Canada. I am involved in my local church and the youngest Gideon member in my district. Our church just finished transitioning to a new pastor who is only 32, I myself am 22 and have a revival pastor dream. In my youth, I attended church with my family until the age of twelve or so. We as a family stopped attending because of some political drama going on. I didn’t understand at the time but I wasn’t too upset.
The ministry I’m involved in as part of my revival pastor dream is talking to my friends about God and the things He has done for me. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol for about five years but God helped me out of it. I loved to party and I have a lot of friends who know how much I loved to party, so when my friends see the change in me, some of them know there’s more to it than a mere decision to just quit everything. Lots of my friends or co-workers ask me questions about God. My best friend since second grade used to be an atheist. After I rededicated my life to God this past winter (I was saved as a pre-teen), Dave got curious and began coming to church with me. Dave got saved a month later. Before Dave got saved I was praying to God if I could help bring but one person to the Lord, it would be worth it, but then I would know what I was meant to follow my revival pastor dream. Dave getting saved and converting from atheism just brought this feeling of joy I had never felt before.
I would identify most with the word pastor because that is part of my revival pastor dream. My dream is to be a pastor in the church I grew up in eventually, but I would love to start as a youth/young adult pastor and speak to people close to my age. The Christian Leaders Connection and Christian Basics classes have helped to show me I have a long way to go in terms of how much time I set aside for devotions. Also, I realize that there will be challenges for me to keep devotions going when I have a family. I have a wife named Amanda (we were married July 1st of this year), and she is also a Christian. She is a huge blessing on my life because I always had this weird notion that I would have to leave town, clean up, and find myself a good Christian woman. But, by God’s grace, it happened right in my hometown.
One of the key challenges in my area is the total lack of young people in the church I am at. But at the same time, I think that is an opportunity to bring the young people in with God’s help. The Bible has transformed my life in that it has shown me you can read the same passage ten times and find yourself getting something a little different out of it each time. It has shown me that what I used to think was outdated is actually totally accurate even thousands of years later. One lady at my church knows I want to be a pastor and two Sundays ago she brought me a handwritten 15-page letter full of testimonies and cool stories from other pastors around North America. I loved reading it and was also touched by how she took the time to write that for me. The pastor in my church has expressed interest in me participating in the worship as well as with the youth!
My family used to be very involved in the church. We left the church, my parents eventually split, and neither one can talk about God very openly, I see a lot of pain. My hope is one day they can return and see their son, who used to be a drug addled alcoholic, preaching the good news, and receive it with soft hearts. My grandfather is a man of great faith who is always helping out at the church and who I turn to for just about anything I need advice on. I love him so much and he is the greatest earthly mentor I have ever had and I believe will ever have. Christian Leaders Institute is important for my dream because I could not afford to go to school right now, so this free education is key! Please pray that I grow in grace and that my connection with our heavenly Father continues to grow. Pray that I do not give up on my revival pastor dream. Thank you so much!
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