In 2001, after being married for 3 years, Darren and I packed up our two cats and headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to be bi-vocational ministers (meaning....unpaid pastors who help with church planting and have to work real jobs). This was something we definitely felt God was calling us to, even though we had mountains of student loans, and no real 'skill sets' for real-world work. True, we never thought that 12 years later we would still be bi-vocational church planting pastors, but God knew.
We spent four great years at Metro Wesleyan learning church planting from an awesome couple. (And for those of you who don't know, I did my internship at a church plant, and Darren attended the church plant in Grand Bay, NB, when it first began). In 2005, we heard a vision for the District to plant 10 churches in 10 years, and our hearts were stirred for a place we had never been. Later, in September, we packed up our now 3 cats and our belongings, and began a beautiful, wonderful adventure of church planting in St. John's, NL.
There will always be a special place in our hearts for Newfoundland, and the people we left there. And if God hadn't gotten our attention drastically, I'm sure we would still be there - even if it was outside of His will. But when He put the desire in our hearts to start our own family, and our daughter (our own little Newfoundlander) was brought into this world, we knew we couldn't keep her away from the rest of our family on the Mainland. For the first time in our church-planting lives, we yearned to be nearer to them. It was the hardest decision of our lives, but we were obedient. Truthfully, we left a part of our hearts in Newfoundland, but we could not deny that God was leading us somewhere else.
We thought He was leading us to full-time, PAID, ministry and that our bi-vocational days were over...but God had a bigger plan. He knew we needed time to grieve. We needed to grieve the loss of our beloved Church family and friends, that were somewhat even closer to us than our real families at that time. We wanted to be obedient, but we were sad. There were no openings on the District at that time, so God led us to a place where we were constantly reminded of Newfoundland, but where we could lend a hand to other church planters in Sydney, NS. Again, He provided us with a house, work, and even a second vehicle so we could both work. We had the opportunity to give support, encouragement, and church planting help to a couple who had been 'in the trenches' for four years...and, hopefully, that's what we did. I remember sitting in the living room after we had Skyped with our Newfoundland 'family' and crying because we missed them, and we missed what God was doing in Newfoundland. It was a rough year, with Darren finally getting a great paying job with a courier company - but that basically made me a single-mother for about 6 months: he would get up before Jaelyn did, and come home after she went to sleep. But we worked, we helped, and we healed. And when we were ready to move on, surprisingly enough, we felt the strong call to bi-vocational urban church planting....again. This time in Saint John, NB. We contacted our district, and began the Assessment Process (because we had never been assessed, even though we had been involved in church planting for 11+ years).
When God decided it was time for us to make the transition, He definitely made it known. Darren lost his well-paying job, and the outlook for finding other full time work seemed bleak. He finally found part time work, and took it so we would have some kind of income. It all came to a head one wonderful stress-and-argument-filled afternoon where we broke down, and prayed and cried, because we still were in the middle of a house-rennovation with a one year old, and had no money - and we thought, who would want to buy our house in that state? Ten minutes later, there was a knock on our door, and to our surprise it was the previous owners who said that if we ever wanted to sell the house, they would be interested. That was the confirmation that we needed - we were going to be ok, God just wanted us to move quickly.
Darren actually quit his job to finish the renovations (we were able to get a hold of some money) and we listed the house, packed up, and moved to Saint John, NB., the first weekend of June. My work was able to transfer me, again, and through divine circumstances, we were able to purchase a business that Darren was already trained for (in Halifax, and in St. John's), and we had already purchased the truck he needed to run it when we were in Sydney. Everything was falling into place. We have moved in with Darren's parents until our house sells in Sydney, and Jaelyn has transitioned beautifully to her new life here. She has been sleeping through the night since the first night here, and has opportunities to spend time with her cousins, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and even met some relatives she hadn't had the chance to meet before!
Our vision of church planting in the East Side of Saint John was so strong, we were even envisioning where would be a perfect spot - the theatres right smack dab in the middle of where we both work. What we didn't know is that God had placed the same vision in the heart of a Pastor and church already working in the city. When we heard about it, we shied away thinking that maybe God had a different plan for us. After a couple weeks, we were approached about the opportunity to work with them, and we prayed and searched for direction. It was definitely not the 'church planting' we were used to, but God strengthened the spark in our hearts, and we we knew this was what we were brought here for.
We are excited for this next adventure in our lives, excited to be closer to family than we have ever been, excited for the new little one that will be added to our clan, and excited to finally 'settle' somewhere. In case you hadn't caught on, being a bi-vocational church planter is not always full of fun and adventure :) We experienced plenty of stressful time-periods. From major financial troubles, to the stress of finding work, to having a business completely fold (and then getting audited!). We have moved at least 14 times since we have been married (I think we have lost count), and have had 7 jobs between us. When I first began, I definitely did not think that I would still be in Retail 12 years later, but here I am. Despite the heartache and troubles, we always knew that we were in the centre of where God wanted us to be, and that He would provide. He always has.
***As a side Note*** if God is calling you to a life of church planting or bi-vocational ministry, and you have no doubt in your mind about it, don't let anyone tell you that you are not in the right 'place' in your life to do it. If He calls you and you are faithful, He will provide all of your needs. With each place God has led us to - Halifax, St. John's, Sydney, Saint John - He has provided confirmation and miracle after miracle for job provision, home ownership, financial debts being met, and more. In the world's eyes, I'm pretty sure we should have been bankrupt and homeless about 7 years ago!***
So, there you have it. We have come full circle and are facing a new church planting adventure. I fully believe that if we had not been faithful in our other 'adventures' that we would not be ready for this one, and I am grateful for everything God has brought us through...the tough and the beautiful...and we are ready to continue.
5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take."
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take."
- Proverbs 3:5-6
..PS - selling our house in Sydney and finding a home here is the last piece of the puzzle. Your prayers would be appreciated :)
