Mark Gillmore: Hello, once again, and welcome to our Go Mission podcast. I’m Mark Gilmore, and today I’m sitting here with Brother Will Esienko. Welcome. Thank you. And we are not in Canada. Nope. Nope. Very far away.

Will Esayenko: Well, not really. Portland, Maine.

Mark Gillmore: We are in Maine, which is the other side of the North American continent, from Alberta. Yes. Where we have been together. And we were at a missions conference these last few days, and that was a blessing. and I want to just talk about how God has led and the vision that he’s given to you, church planting across Canada, an exciting story. I’ve been really encouraged to see God’s hand at work. Now, just give me a brief synopsis of your growing up in Canada, the church you were a part of. Sure, God’s calling your life.

Will Esayenko: well I was born in a Christian home at four years old I understood that I needed to be saved and I remember at a Christian camp repenting and believing Jesus Christ accepting him as my savior two years later I re I received a call to full-time Christian service and I just clear as a bell the Lord just laid on my heart you need to go into full-time Christian service and so I said yes I remember my parents kind of thinking not taking it too seriously and I was a little offended about that actually because I’m like, this is the most serious thing I’ve ever done in my life, and my parents aren’t taking it seriously. But I knew from that point on that I was supposed to be going to full-time Christian service. Fast forward a few years, I’m in grade 9, and I just decide one day that I don’t think that the Lord could actually take care of me. That if I surrender to full-time Christian service, it’s going to be bad. I’m going to be poor. I’m going to have a miserable life. And so I’m going to stay in the church, but I’m not going to do full-time Christian service. I made that point. I made that decision at that point. Fast forward a little bit further, and I’m 21 years old. I have entered into the electrical field because I thought that that was a good way of going through life. I talked to my parents about it. They suggested it. So, okay, sounds good. Making more money than I ever made in my life. I’ve got a phone. I’ve got a computer. I’ve got a car. And I think that I’m on top of the world. I was like, I can’t get better than this. This is awesome. I made the right choice. I ended up going to a revival meeting, not really to get revived. I kind of was at a point in my life where I didn’t care too much about that, but I wanted to hang out with some friends. And so I met with an old friend of mine and he said, hey, let’s hang out after the service at McDonald’s. So around two o’clock in the morning, we left McDonald’s and we head towards his house. During that trip from the McDonald’s to his house, I ended up rolling my car into a swamp. That was a turning point in my life because it showed me that if you live for these things, it’s very fleeting and it can be taken away from you in an instant. I remember looking at the running lights of my car as it was flipped upside down in the ditch and I had survived the whole crash without a scratch but I looked at those lights and it was as though I was reminded of that passage in Revelation where it says that Jesus eyes are like a flame of fire and someday those eyes are going to look into your life and see what manner of living that you have done and your works will be tried by fire and I thought I don’t have a lot to give to him I’m not going to have a lot of valuable things to give to him So that was a turning point. God knew what I needed. Very dramatic moment. And I needed a dramatic moment because maybe that’s my personality. I don’t know. The Lord knows what I need, and the Lord knows how to get our attention. He got my attention at that point. Fast forward a few years, I end up going to Bible school, and God just grabs a hold of my heart and just shows me that that calling is real. It’s still as real as it was when you were six years old. God can use you. I start seeing people get saved. I start seeing, I just start getting excited about the gospel. And along the way, through your ministry, actually, I just really sense that I need to go back to Canada and do church planting. And so fast forward to today, over several years, God has guided me very specifically to be a church planter in Alberta, And not just Alberta, but in the Yellowhead region where I’m at right now at a place called Hinton, Alberta. I took a church there. And then in the last year, we have planted another church and it’s growing and we’re seeing multiplication happen in real time. And so it’s exciting.

Mark Gillmore: It is like God had a plan for your life from your mother’s womb. He showed it to you. And I’m reminded that verse, the giftings and callings of God are without repentance. You tried to change it, but God didn’t change it. And he used that moment to get your attention in a very dramatic and merciful way. You could have died. I could have. But he spared your life. And he also showed you his presence, your accountability before him. And then he directed you. He has used the skill you picked up, that trade, to actually solidify your ability to sustain your life, which is a good thing. It’s not a bad thing. And now God has landed you. I remember when you were, I was excited just watching your life, God directing you back to Canada, being a Canadian citizen. That’s like Paul going back to Tarsus.

Will Esayenko: Indigenous church planting.

Mark Gillmore: Indigenous church planting. You are the native. And the national man, and that is God’s will for your life. He brought you back there and now has directed you out to this region. And as I’m just observing, really, I just see God going before you, opening the doors, directing your steps. After a period of time of just kind of seeking Him, uncertainty, what direction do I? though um and uh as i think about young people in those stages of maybe where you haven’t seen yet that connection to the field or to the ministry that he would um be leading you to what would you have a word of advice for that stage where you know you’re you’re kind of stepping towards something you know God has for you, but yet haven’t seen the specific field or the specific church or the specific opportunity yet? Well, I think the most important thing is your own heart, your own

Will Esayenko: relationship with Jesus Christ. In order to be led to where the shepherd wants you to go, you got to be close to the shepherd. You got to be close to the heart of the shepherd. So keeping those short accounts with God, confessing sin, not waiting, just getting rid of that. And just having an openness in your heart. Like, this is, God, my life is yours to control. However you lead me, I am there. And just having that sensitive heart, saying, Lord, I’m just here for you. You’ve made me and I’m going to do whatever you want me to do. And so quick responses, you know, he that is faithful in that, which is least will be faithful also in much. God is going to give you responsibility as you’re responsive to him. And so having that tender heart and not feeling like, oh, I have to wait until I have all these things lined up. I have to wait till I’m married. I have to wait till I know exactly what I’m supposed to do before I can actually be actively serving the Lord. No, God has something for you right there, right in front of you. Wherever you’re at, whatever stage, whatever age or stage you’re in, God wants you to take the opportunities that are right in front of you. And in fact, I have found in my own life, as I have been taking steps of faith, God will actually use those in the future to teach me lessons that I wouldn’t have learned had I not taken those steps of faith in the moment. So have that closeness of relationship and be taking the opportunities right in front of you aggressively, asking for more. And develop that hunger for the Lord. Realize that you can’t do this. In fact, if you try to do it in your own strength, you’re going to fail. But develop like a relationship with God where you just are constantly running back to the well of living water. You’re abiding in Christ. You’re asking Christ for strength, for wisdom, for forgiveness. That’s the abiding relationship. And that’s the core of everything that we do as Christians, as church planters, as whatever we’re doing. It all goes back to abiding in Christ.

Mark Gillmore: Yes. We tend to, in our moments of uncertainty, on whatever level they are, to want answers. Yes. He is the answer. That’s right. We want to figure our way out of this. when actually we need to draw close to him and he’s the way in and through or out whatever the will is but make that relationship the priority and there’s going to be times one of

Will Esayenko: the things i’ve realized sometimes you don’t you’re confused as to what god is doing in your life yeah don’t get distracted by that god has a blessing in that and sometimes he go allows us to go through these rocky moments in our lives to actually strengthen us because in life life is not always cut and dry. It’s not always like the path is just perfectly set out in front of you. And God sometimes will put us into the raging sea as he put the disciples into the raging sea just to demonstrate I’m here and it’s about me. So just stick with me. You don’t have to know what’s going on. You don’t have to, you don’t, maybe you’ll never know. Sometimes there’s trials where you never know the answers. That doesn’t matter. And God will test you. He’ll strengthen your faith. That’s a part, the trials that you go through are part of actually making you more solid because he wants you to constantly be just drawn closer to his heart.

Mark Gillmore: We can sometimes get introspective trying to figure out either what’s ahead of me or how did I get here. Yes. And you begin to, you know, replay all your decisions and you try to reorient yourself that way. And that really isn’t the answer. It’s not getting the eyes on yourself. No. And sometimes there weren’t mistakes. Sometimes there were. You want to be humble, but you’re getting your eyes on him because wherever you’re at, he’s the way forward. Yes. And peace isn’t always found in sorting everything out.

Will Esayenko: In fact, if you’re looking to that for peace, you’re never going to have peace because life is just in such a way that it’s never all sorted out. Yes. But when you’re abiding with Christ, when you’re with the shepherd, you know, Psalm 23, I would just meditate on Psalm 23. If you right now, you’re listening to this and you’re saying, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m very confused. Just get a hold of the heart of the shepherd because that’s going to be your refuge. He is your refuge. He is the answer. And that sounds so trite. But the more you live life, the more you realize, no, this he is the answer. And you may not know what’s going on. You may be in the middle of a trial, but he is the answer. In the midst of that trial, you can have rest because you’re with the shepherd.

Mark Gillmore: Continue our story here. You went to Hinton, the restart of a church, but God very soon was planning a second church with a partner that came your way. And that was his blessing, but also a challenge. Tell us about that.

Will Esayenko: Yeah, so my friend came in, and he was an incredible blessing, as you said. He’s just, he understands the vision already, and we knew from the moment they stepped through the door that someday, very soon, that they were going to be sent out. And so it wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. And when that finally happened, it was really hard, because suddenly I’m saddled with double the responsibility. He’s not there leading songs. He’s not there. His wife is not there helping with the music. His kids are not there helping with the children’s church. And so suddenly there’s this massive gap that’s actually, I’m not actually fully able to deal with myself. I needed to start looking to other people, which is a blessing because now I’m having to look to other people and train them and cause them to fill that role. It’s amazing to see that people step up as well. But there was financial strain that was caused because of that as well. We sent out like three quarters of our monthly running budget to them to get them started. And then we had to just have some desperation, some prayer time, some serious prayer. We’re like, Lord God, we’re not going to be able to pay the rent unless you actually deliver us. And to see, I’m actually talking about something that happened yesterday, to see money come in from people that do not give. And not just a small amount of money, but like a large amount of money, which is encouraging to me because where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. That shows that this person, that this group of people that has not been giving is now giving in a very aggressive way. And it’s just amazing to see. So it’s sweet because we have a new church starting and it’s actually growing at a faster rate than our church is growing, which is, again, that’s what happens when you step into a multiplication mindset. You send, and God delivers, and you start seeing more work. Like, we have, okay, between the two churches, we would have on average now probably 70 to 80 people on a Sunday. Whereas if it would just have been us, we would have had, let’s say, half of that on a Sunday. Now you have double. Why? Because it’s being multiplied. And so that’s an incredible thing to not just, sometimes you hear about something in theory. You’re like, okay, that’s cool. I think that works. But then to see it, it just makes you want to do it more because you’re like, it works. I’m all about something that works. Let’s make this work. Let’s embrace philosophies that are true, yes, and right, but that actually work. And that’s what, when you’re abiding with Christ, it actually works because he is the one that came up with this idea the first place. And so it’s a matter of just getting in union with him. Yes. Getting on his

Mark Gillmore: program. So it’s like you’re experiencing the leadership of the Lord of the Harvest, because here you go into that region called by God, gifted by God as a missionary evangelist church planter. And way sooner than you could imagine, God brings you a partner. Yes. And that partner is coming out of you’re an instrument of renewal in his life and family’s life in an amazing way there’s a whole story there yes and that’s the hand of god and then god renews their vision they catch share your vision now they’re planning another church way sooner than you could imagine yeah this is amazing this is amazing someone might say yes and and yet alongside it are these pressure points now that you now the one who god gave you as a partner is now going out from you the money that was coming in is now going out towards them yes and what i am learning is that these losses or you might say these costs involved in multiplication are one reason people don’t do it absolutely yeah i would say that’s cost number that’s cause number one probably because you’re

Will Esayenko: losing people who you need and if you’re insecure and you’re looking at numbers as being your identity grabbing a hold of those numbers and saying well this is what my success looks like i have to have lots of people in order to be successful okay no that’s it’s demonstrating insecurity actually a lack of faith you’re looking to yourself you’re looking to these numbers to fulfill you instead of looking to the christ and his vision to give you your sufficiency it’s a manifestation of unbelief.

Mark Gillmore: If you look at the giftings, like in the partner now who is planting the church, it’s so evident God’s all over this. All over. In fact, we’re okay saying it. He might be better than you are. Oh, that’s fine. Right? That’s fine. But that’s the exciting thing about multiplication. You release people who are maybe going to do it better than you are doing it. And that’s actually all glory to God. That’s what you’re living for.

Will Esayenko: Yeah. And there’s security in, and this is what I’ve found in multiple areas of my life. You know, you can look around and you can say, oh man, that person is so much better than me. That person is more gifted than me. That person is more athletic. That person is more attractive. And you can start feeling insecure. But there is such a security found in being with the shepherd. When your identity is wrapped into the shepherd. It’s like, he is the one that defines me. He’s the one that gives me worth. He’s the one that is calling me. He’s the one that gives me purpose. You actually begin to find that rest. It says, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That’s actually what that rest looks like. You’re finding your sufficiency. He is your, as the songs go, and it’s so funny, we sing these things, but sometimes there’s a disconnect between our brain and our heart. But that’s what it looks like for your heart to be at rest. You’re actually finding your identity, your sufficiency, you’re all in all in the savior. And when you can grab ahold of that, that’s where there’s true peace.

Mark Gillmore: That’s huge. And then you also bring into this scenario a multiplication mindset. Right. Like I’m actually here to discover and uncover someone else’s gifting and release that.

Will Esayenko: That’s what success looks like. And that’s success. Right. It’s like, how can I, how can I cause the other people around me to fulfill their potential? how can they and that i mean that goes into so many different areas successful parenting that’s what you’re doing when you’re parenting you’re building up and sending out i hope that they do better than me i hope that they make an impact for the cause of christ that’s what it really looks

Mark Gillmore: like and yeah there’s and now you’ve got another man that is in the area god’s connected you to and you’re looking at probably not as simple a scenario as your first partner, but you’re looking for God to do the same thing because you see the hand of God stirring him, leading him, burdening him, and now you’re going to contribute to his equipping.

Will Esayenko: Exactly. We have a guy in the area who I’ve been able to connect with, and he is called. He knows he’s called into full-time Christian service, But he is just not willing at this point to take the leap. And so it’s just like the Lord has just kind of teed this thing up. Like it’s right there. And I just got to be obedient. And in the last little while, actually, God has just been laying on my heart. Like my discipleship, my effective discipleship looks like investing in the guy we sent out to start Foothills Baptist Church and also this other guy. Those are my guys that I need to be investing in. Because if I’m investing in them and they’re successful, I am being successful as a disciple maker. Why? Because my investment is going to affect not just those two people, but their regions, their smaller sub-regions within the greater Yellowhead region.

Mark Gillmore: Yes, yes. Well, and this all has happened in about two or three years here. Yes, two years. In two years, you really are seeing two church plants and the direction towards a third, a community. That’s more than you could have imagined.

Will Esayenko: If somebody would have told me, like, when I started out with this and said, this is what’s going to happen, I’ve been like, yeah, right. But you see, nothing is impossible for the Lord. And what God calls you to, he also delivers. Where he guides, he provides. I mean, that’s a very trite way of putting it, but it’s true. So it goes back to the whole idea, kind of to circle back to the beginning of my story. I wasn’t willing to go. I was where this second guy is. I was thinking, I don’t have this efficiency. And I had to, God had to do some pretty drastic things in my life to show me, no, no, that you, yeah, well, it’s true that you are insufficient, but I am sufficient. And I can enable you to do what you otherwise would find to be impossible. That’s just, there’s so much rest in that and purpose and peace. I’m living the dream.

Mark Gillmore: Yes.

Will Esayenko: The abundant life.

Mark Gillmore: Amen. Yes. Well, Christ said he’d build his church and he’s chosen to use each one of us in that. And praise the Lord for how he is, he’s working, how he’s moving. And when we think of Canada, we’re just praying, yeah, let what God is doing there spread throughout that region, but let others catch a vision of how God wants to work in other regions of Canada.

Will Esayenko: Yeah. Could you just think about this? Like, could you imagine if this multiplies? I think it’ll just, it’ll go faster. It’ll be larger. It could be a massive movement because, again, that goes back to that idea, that power of multiplication that God has designed to be integral, ineffective gospel obedience.

Mark Gillmore: Yes. Well, praise the Lord for God’s hand and your life will. And remember that in days of turmoil and uncertainty, the only way to be at peace is to live on mission with Jesus in his Go Mission.

Mark Gillmore: Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Thee Generation Podcast. If you’ve been blessed or helped in any way by this episode or any other episodes, please consider sharing what God has done in your life. Your testimony could be exactly what someone else needs to take their own step out of the boat.