Hope for When Times are Tough

HOW A SEASON OF SUFFERING CAN MAKE FAITH COME ALIVE feeling similarly.”

When Paul Stevens (’98) came to University of Jamestown, he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his future.

“I came to Jamestown knowing I wanted to do sports,” he explained. metro Milwaukee, wanted to open a campus in West Allis, WI.

“Eventually, I landed in elementary and physical education.”

His wife Becky (Douglas) Stevens (’98), who studied early childhood development, was the first girl he saw on campus.

“It was love at first sight,” he said. “I knew right then, I met my future remember walking into this old, dilapidated movie theatre that would

wife.”

And yet, they did a little dance for three years before their first date—a date Paul remembers perfectly. “It was April 27,” he said without missing a beat. “We shared a malt at Perkins and watched the sun set at the Jamestown Reservoir.”

Paul graduated and was offered a head coach and teaching position in Idaho. He proposed to Becky, and the rest, as they, was history. But, it wasn’t quite the history Paul and Becky expected. Each would soon feel a call to serve God. And Paul would go from Mr. Stevens to Pastor Stevens just a few years later.

A FAITH THAT WAS COMING ALIVE

Paul explained that both he and Becky were raised in religious homes, but they didn’t really know what it meant to be obedient to God. When they moved to Idaho, their faith was coming alive.

“The pastor there took a special interest in me,” explained Pastor Stevens. He got involved in youth ministry and started seeing himself in the boys he coached. “I was such a misguided kid,” he continued. “The things I look at that. Congregations marching. Pastors speaking boldly.”

learned about how God loved me and the grace He gave me—these boys needed that.”

At 23 years old, Pastor Stevens realized his passion was to know God and to make Him known to others. He did this work for three years, helping the ministry grow immensely, before he realized he needed to follow his calling. He and Becky moved to Waupan, WI. He worked as a to become the senior pastor and lead the adult side of the church. He accepted the position and leaned into that role for five years, growing the church from a community of 400 to 600. But, at only 36, he realized something. “I was bored,” he admitted. “I was unsettled in my spirit, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. My wife was

PLANTING A CHURCH IN A SEGREGATED CITY

In 2011, Pastor Stevens was introduced to an opportunity to really influence a community. Epikos, a church with multiple campuses in

“I spent a lot of time in Milwaukee before deciding to move,” he said. “I become Epikos. I remember seeing more non-white faces than white faces.” He continued, “I realized I could do a mission, a cross-cultural mission, and I didn’t even need to hop on a bus. I could reach every person. I could do ministry to the nations, all in one city.”

And that’s just what he and Becky did. They entered a highly segregated city, one that was still struggling to know its identity. They got involved in the community. Bought a house. Sent their kids to school there. Raised almost a million dollars. Pastor Stevens became a chaplain for the police department. Becky began serving as the Children’s Ministry Director.

They hired a multi-ethnic staff and renovated the theatre to become a thriving faith community.

“We had 1,000 visitors on opening day,” he explained. “The next week, 500 came back to worship. White, black, Hispanic, homeless people, people who make three figures.”

Life entered the neighborhood. And diversity was celebrated.

“I believe God has positioned us as a church to be a part of the solution to segregation in this city,” he said. “There are a lot of ways and lenses to youth pastor there for six years. He was so successful that he was asked

How does he see his role, right now, in a time when deep-rooted racism is getting the national attention it deserves, as a white pastor from Western Montana?

“I think it is my job to preach the gospel and elevate the voices of my brothers and sisters of color,” Pastor Stevens explained. “It is transformed hearts that can bring transformation to the city. And only God can

– Pastor Paul Stevens

transform hearts.”

AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE FAITH COME ALIVE

As Pastor Stevens sees it, oftentimes pain and suffering can be the greatest blessings.

“These times are tough,” he said. “The control that you and I think we have is an illusion. When things are going well—money, good health— you become your own little god.”

“You may still go to church,” he continued, “but you begin living in this delusional world, forgetting your mortality. Then you see COVID take over, you see the murder of George Floyd, and you realize it can all be gone in the blink of an eye. And then what are you left with? The realization that I am a finite being. We are stripped of our security blankets in this season of life.”

While being without a security blanket may sound scary, Pastor Stevens sees it as an opportunity. their finite nature.” Pastor Stevens has experienced people questioning and realizing the god they knew was a false god—more of a genie in a bottle than the God who walks with us, guides us and protects us.

“The global church has been leaning in and offering hope, truth and answers to give people something to hold onto when everything is moving,” Pastor Stevens said. He continued by explaining how the job of the church is to help people see there is a God who is infinite. “He has made a way for us to know Him. That’s through scripture—a scripture that shows suffering,” Pastor Stevens explained. “You need to experience His protection to emerge. You need to understand what it is to surrender and trust Him. That’s why pain and suffering can be the greatest blessing. God molds us in that suffering.”

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

In times of uncertainty, prayer is often the answer for Pastor Stevens. And this season of life is no different. He said, “My prayer for what is to come of COVID and George Floyd’s death is that this season of suffering strips people of these false ideas of God and draws them to who He really is.”