“Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:11-13

Early on in my ministry I remember an older pastor saying, “My goal is to work myself out of a job.” What he meant was, if he effectively did his job of building up the church, equipping and empowering his congregation with the Good News of Jesus, eventually, they would be so mature in their faith, perhaps they wouldn’t need him.

Now, of course, that doesn’t take away the necessity of administering the Sacraments or other Divine rites of the Call. However, his point was, it would behoove the church to raise up leaders, including future pastors, that could take his place. In other words, multiply his impact! If 20 lay leaders were raised up and a couple of future pastors through his ministry, they could obviously accomplish more than that one pastor could alone. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all could do that!?

I don’t know if that pastor gets all the credit, perhaps it’s the Word of God, like the Ephesians 4 text from above, but this seems to always be in the forefront of my mind in ministry. “How can I raise up more leaders who can make a greater impact than I alone can?”

During our most recent deployment in Wisconsin, I was blessed to see this objective take shape.

I saw it in the form of passing on knowledge I’ve learned in the past as a host pastor to Pastor Marshal Frisque, pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Neenah, WI.

I saw it in the form of encouraging Pastor Greg Hovland, who was leading his first response as District Disaster Response Coordinator for the South Wisconsin District.

I also saw it in identifying lay people with not just the physical, but mental skills to take on roles of leadership. One such leader was Dave Hunter.

I met Dave the first weekend in Neenah. Dave is a Marine, retired government employee, and a recent addition to Peace Lutheran. After worship, I had the opportunity to lead Bible Class where he, his wife, and daughter stayed to hear about the response effort going on in their community and how Shepherd’s Heart was helping with this response.

Dave came back later that afternoon for our LERT Chainsaw Class. Then, he volunteered the next day; and nearly every day since!

Last week, I knew my time was running short in Wisconsin. My son is in his senior year of high school and plays three sports. His first football game was scheduled for Friday. So, I wanted to get back for that. However, we still had lots of work to do, including lots of “Lift” work.

Having worked with Dave enough over the last 3 weeks, I knew he had a pretty good aptitude to learn new things. It didn’t hurt that in his career as a Marine, he repelled off walls 10 times higher than what our Lift would reach. I figured he could handle the height if he could learn the rigging and knots.

Again, his quick aptitude for learning showed out. By the middle of the day, with me in the basket along for the ride, he was doing all the cutting, rigging, and operating of the lift. By the end of the day, I was confident that, though I would be leaving at the end of the week, the work would continue without me.

In fact, now in the 4th week of the response in the Neenah area, the focus of the response has narrowed even more. Almost all simple jobs have been completed. For a little over a week now, nearly all the jobs left seem to be “Lift” and really skilled jobs. Without people with experience and the right equipment, our efforts would have ended nearly 10 days ago.

However, with the loaning of some of SHM’s equipment and resources (i.e., ropes, rigging equipment, and a harness), and thanks to Dave and our other “Ace in the Hole,” Jake Clausing of “Jake’s Arbor Care,” Peace Lutheran continues to make an impact on their community. I will say more below and in the subsequent days to come. For now, I conclude by praising God for those who are using their gifts, people like Dave Hunter, and simply say, thank you for your continued prayers and support of this effort to impact the communities of Neenah, Menasha, and Appleton, WI with the love of Jesus!

“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” – 1 Peter 4:11

Shepherd’s Heart is a faithful partner of The Bolick Foundation.