Early into this stage of my life, I was invited to be a youth pastor at a church south of Edmonton. To say I had no idea what I was doing would be an understatement! It was during my short time there that I heard a message about Christians who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. Little did I know at the time that the persecuted church would become such an important part of my life.
Fast forward 11 years.... While pastoring in Winnipeg and working for a television ministry, I invited Glenn Penner, who was then the Development Director for The Voice of the Martyrs Canada, to speak at the church my wife Arlene and I had started. I shared with Glenn the burden I had for the followers of Christ in South Sudan. In our little congregation, we had a family from South Sudan who told us what was happening in their homeland, and our hearts were stirred. As it turned out, Glenn's next trip a few months later was to that part of Africa and he invited me to join him for that mission. What I saw and heard there changed my life forever!
Seventeen years later, my passion for the suffering Body of Christ still burns! The message of the persecuted church will impact you deeply if you allow yourself to engage with it. I challenge you to come to "Momentum" and hear for yourself.
