God has been moving in us, among us, and through us in mighty ways this summer. In particular, we want to celebrate how God has used the youth mission trip to Thailand to impact our church. By sending this team of 35 overseas, our church demonstrated the desire to actively send the gospel to unreached nations. Through this mission trip, God has also revealed a transition for the Shively family and our youth ministry.
Pastor Joshua Shively, along with his wife Erika and children Elianah and Seth, have answered the call to mission work in Thailand! Josh and Erika have accepted positions as the Internship Directors for Within Reach Global. Our church has been strategically partnered with David Joannes and the Within Reach Global ministry for 20 years, so this step of sending one of our own to the mission field is a powerful one.
The Shivelys have faithfully served our youth and parents for the past 6 years. God has worked through Pastor Joshua and Erika to build a healthy, vibrant youth ministry that is focused on helping students grow in their walks with Jesus. We are so grateful that God brought them to our church and we look forward to honoring all that God has done through them here at Calvary.
The Shively family plans to move to Thailand in January 2024. Between now and then Joshua will continue to be Calvary‘s youth pastor. During this time we will be working to set up our youth ministry for the next season of leadership. We see this as an important ministry in which we want to invest for years to come.
This fall, we will have an opportunity not only to celebrate the Shivelys, but also to pray for God’s direction and provision for the Youth Ministry leadership. Calvary has a strong team of Youth Ministry volunteers and church staff, including 3 former youth pastors, who are passionate about seeing our youth know Jesus. We are all looking forward to seeing how the Lord will reveal His plans for our youth ministry and our church in the coming months. We invite you to pray with us, and we will be in touch again soon.