In this episode of the GoMission podcast, Mark Gillmore talks with Pastor Ty Thebeau in Edson, Alberta, about God’s long work of calling, breaking, and redirecting him for gospel ministry. Ty shares how God first stirred his heart about returning to his hometown while he was serving as a missionary in Cameroon, and how years of difficulty and brokenness eventually brought him back to Canada with a deeper understanding that his identity is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Throughout the conversation, Ty speaks honestly about suffering, fear, spiritual warfare, and the danger of finding identity in ministry rather than in Christ. His testimony challenges young people preparing to serve the Lord to expect their faith to be tested, to face their fears with surrender, and to trust that God uses even the darkest trials to make His servants more dependent, more compassionate, and more usable in gospel mission.

Topics Discussed

• Ty’s call from Cameroon back to his hometown of Edson, Alberta
• How God uses suffering to strip away self-dependence
• The danger of finding identity in ministry, success, or calling
• Why young people should expect their faith to be tested
• Fear as a foothold of the enemy and the need to face it honestly
• Learning to surrender even the worst-case scenario to God
• The fellowship of Christ’s sufferings in the life of a believer
• How brokenness can prepare a person to minister to other broken people
• The vision for gospel witness in Western Canada
• Living moment by moment in availability to Jesus

Key Takeaways

• God’s call is not accidental, even when the path seems broken or confusing.
• The Christian life is not built on ministry identity, personal strength, or visible success, but on Jesus Christ Himself.
• Faith is not proven in easy circumstances; it is tested and purified in difficulty.
• Fear must not be ignored. It must be brought into the light, surrendered to God, and answered with faith.
• Suffering is not wasted in the hands of God. He uses it to bring believers to the end of themselves so that Christ’s life can flow through them.
• The goal is not to become strong in ourselves, but to become more fully dependent on Jesus.
• When everything else is stripped away, the believer still has Christ, and Christ is enough.
• A surrendered life does not need to know every step ahead. It simply wakes up each day asking, “Lord, what do you want to do?”