A few on our district team set a daily alarm to remember to pray for more workers for the harvest. But it is still easy to doubt that God will provide, especially for our small congregations. It was in 2022 that lay pastor Dave Hickman announced that he would be retiring and had a vision that God would send him a younger pastor to take over the role.
Still holding some doubt, we posted the bi-vocational job posting online. God is so good, and he was already leading Bret and Staci Norton to shepherd Countryside Alliance Church in Brodheadsville, PA. Keep reading to hear more of Bret’s story.
My testimony is not always for the faint of heart, but not so different from most people outside of the church today.
It would be hard for me to list the abuse I suffered as a child, the terrible places my sin took me, and the extreme grace and love that God has shown me as He sought me out.
As an adult, I spiraled into addiction, selfish living, and every form of evil. I met my wife who I loved deeply from the first day, and I attempted to be better for her. I loved her enough to agree to go to church one day as she had just started attending again. It was there that I heard the Gospel preached.
The Gospel Transforms
Although I considered that it could be true, I was unwilling to surrender myself completely. As the church saw my life, some even urged my wife Staci to leave me saying that my life was hopeless. My loving wife felt strongly that God was telling her to stay, forgive, and continue to pray for me. Not soon after this, I reached a crisis, and I was saved! As I studied Scripture, I quickly realized how deep the love of God is in Christ Jesus. My eternal destination and life were forever changed.
From that day on, my relationship with God, my wife, my children, and others is what I never thought possible. My wife no longer questions my love and commitment to her, and my children have mostly only known a loving father who is committed wholly to Jesus. The love of God has changed my life, and I seek with all my heart to participate in sharing that love with all those still lost and hurting.
I soon discovered community within the Bikers for Christ motorcycle ministry and as I grew in my leadership, I was tasked to oversee some brothers who were full-time pastors. Not knowing how to effectively disciple and care for them, I began to work through my ordination. I never intended to be a pastor and often felt so unprepared. Nonetheless, God began to give me opportunities to teach, and I realized that I had been given a supernatural love and care for others that led me to disciple and care for those within the church and my community.
The Journey to Countryside Alliance
The Poconos has been our home for about six years. Through the Holy Spirit’s moving in our lives and story, we began to seek a church that needed a new pastor. It was last year that God led us to the small congregation of Countryside Alliance Church, about 10 minutes from our home. From our very first visit, we felt the confirmation of the Holy Spirit that this was to be our new home.
When my parents had finally accepted the Gospel, they began to attend a C&MA church in South Jersey, pastored by Gary Schmidt. Gary, although he may not have known it, played an integral part in answering prayers for my family. He has been a brother who has guided me at critical junctures, even if he was not fully aware of it.
We are seeing our fellowship grow, and we are truly excited to share life and vision with our church family. We as a church are stepping out in faith, to seek the lost, broken, and marginalized in our community with the hopeful expectation that their eternal lives are forever changed as well.
The Poconos Region
The Poconos are home to a truly diverse mix of cultures. We have those who fled the major cities of New York and Philadelphia, which makes for interesting and heated exchanges when sporting jerseys make an appearance at church. (We are hopeful our NY brethren will come to truth about the greatness of Philly sports at some point.) We are home to some of the best outdoor activities in the state, and we have a huge vacationing population. Unfortunately, we are also home to an extremely robust illicit drug trade, and it has ravaged our community. In addition, we also find a very large population of those who have been hurt by or misled by those claiming to be God’s representatives and are hardened against the Gospel.
Looking ahead, Countryside Alliance is committed to staying lean and mean to plant churches throughout the Poconos. Our vision in church planting aims to keep our congregations smaller so that we can pour into the lives of each other effectively. Our vision is to train those within our current family to plant other small congregations in these outlying communities. We are certain that the lost God has called us to search for will be impacted by this effort.
Increasing Gospel Impact
In the last months, God has been so very gracious with sending workers. Our church has been blessed with the addition of our new teaching intern, Dan Lindsay. Dan has been teaching our adult Sunday school classes and is currently guiding the group through Jonah. We know that God is leading him to a pastoral role, and we are excited to be part of his journey and calling.
We know the fields are ripe for the harvest and are celebrating hard as a church as we added a new brother to the Kingdom.
He visited Countryside on Christmas Eve and only recently returned after every obstacle was put in his path. He came into my office right after service and repented and put his faith in Jesus Christ. If everything in my calling was just for that one man to become saved, it was totally worth it. We have only to share the blessed hope of Jesus with the lost and broken, knowing that Jesus Christ is what is missing in their lives.
Know that Countryside Alliance is weekly praying for each of our C&MA family members, and the work that God has called us to as a church. How can we do anything but shout out the greatness of our God from the proverbial rooftops when we serve a God such as ours? Pray for us as we seek to reach the Poconos through increasing gospel impact!
May God thrust forth more workers into the harvest. See our district’s current openings and join us in praying.
