Power Hour | Ep. 8 | Meet the New Fort Hall Campus Pastor

Pastor Ty sits down with Powerhouse Church’s new Fort Hall Campus Pastor to talk about his story, his journey into ministry, and the vision God has placed on his heart for the Fort Hall community. 

In this episode of Power Hour, you’ll hear about the calling behind the campus, the opportunities ahead, and the dream of seeing lives changed, leaders raised up, and the community impacted for Jesus. If you’ve ever wondered what God is doing in Fort Hall or how you can be part of building something meaningful, this conversation will encourage and inspire you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Power hour. Man, things are gonna look a little different today. I'm not with my other half, Pastor Kraut today. I have a unique opportunity to interview one of our new staff members, Pastor Troy. Pastor Troy say, Hey. Hey, what's up, everybody? Come on, guys. I'm Pastor Ty, and we are in a Power Hour episode. In this episode specifically, I want to give everyone an opportunity just to hear a little bit about Pastor Troy's story, to hear about how God's moved in his past, called him to ministry, his testimony, and then hear a little bit about what he believes God for for the future. So I'm really excited. Pastor Troy, are you excited? Absolutely, man. Looking forward to it. Awesome. Well, let's just jump right into it. Why don't you give us a little bit of your testimony? I'd love to hear more about how Jesus found you, saved you, transformed you.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Okay. So a little bit about the testimony. So, you know, I'm one of those like when you were growing up, like if the door is open, you go to church. Um, and just because the door is open, you know, you're there. Uh things that I can say to people is just because you go to the church doesn't necessarily mean you receive Jesus. You're doing it because it's a part of your parents' rule or or what have you along those lines. That's good. You know, I went to church, I was on the worship team, you know, the whole thing, uh, doing that. 75% of the church was my family, which was really weird. But you know, it's like, you know, hey, on Sunday, this is your pew. You're the first fourth person in, sit there. But where my testimony begins is at the age of 18, I was like, you know what, I think church is a joke. Um, I'm gonna ditch this wagon. And so I left for a while and you know, just kind of went out into the world and just kind of did whatever I wanted to do. Well, lo and behold, to me, did I I didn't know that in the midst that God was working in my heart. Let's go, come on. Um, and so I love my brother to death. Uh, I have an older brother, his name's Skeeter. Um, I love my older brother. So in my time of trial, like he kept bugging me. He's like, hey, dude, you need to come back to church. You need to, you know, you and God need to have a, you know, you and God need to have a one-on-one. And I'm like, nah, I I just don't have time for that. You know, I'm gonna ditch that. Um, but lo and behold, so like this went on for six months and finally to get my brother off my back. Uh, it just so happened that day that I was way hammered and and way high. And he says, if you just go in and talk to talk to my pastor, um he's amazing, and and he'll help you come back to Christ. And I was like, Okay, whatever. So, what he didn't tell me is that this pastor was like 6'4, 340 pounds, he looked like someone from the WWE, and yet here he is a pastor. Let's go. And so, you know, I rolled in, I just basically told the pastor, I said, There is nothing in this world that you can say to me that I will come back to Christ because this is, you know, this is just a show, this is just an antics, you know, people that are proclaiming to be holier than thou, um, you know, are the same people that I see during the week being all naughty and everything, and then they come in on Sunday morning. Oh, look at me. Um, but where my testimony really begins is is in that office. That within Pastor Ty, I could tell you, within a two and a half hour time, God came in and he took away my buzz, he took away my high, he showed me how real and relevant that he was, and I knew that at that moment that God was the real deal. And it was just a simple question. So, this big man, mind you, in a two and a half hour session, this big man just sat there and was quiet. And then it got to the end and he says, Now are you ready to accept Jesus? I said, You're not gonna tell me that you know I'm awfully wrong, that you know, I need to jump backwards ten times or whatever to repent or whatever. And he says, All you have to do is ask him into your heart, ma'am. That's that's what it is.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

No, I love that. And I love that Pastra, me and you have very similar testimonies where you know it wasn't in an expected place that we found Jesus, but Jesus found us in the midst of our sin, in the midst of our our problems, and honestly laughing, like in the midst of, you know, I for me it was at a party where everyone around me was was was slosh and everyone around me was drunk and high. And for you, you personally were drunk and high. And so I just love that reminder that Jesus doesn't wait on the sidelines, but Jesus pursues us. Thanks you for sharing that so amazing. So, my next question would be uh I know you've been in ministry for a while, you've been a lead pastor, youth pastor, all the things under the sun. I I'm led to believe. Tell us a little bit about God calling you into ministry, what that looked like, maybe highlight a few cool stories. We'd just love to know a little bit more about how God's used you in the past.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

So it was right about a year after I came back to Christ. And within within that year of coming back to Christ, I met my wife, Tammy, at church, of course. Come on, but God was like, Hey, I I need you to work for me. You know, I need you, I'm calling you to do this. And I'm I'm looking at God like He's standing in front of me, and I'm like, dude, you're absolutely nuts. How can I possibly further your kingdom on messed up junk? And he goes, You don't understand, it's within the essence of your junk that my story is told. And so he's like, I'm calling you to ministry, and I'm like, okay, so is it like you know, nursery, you know, kids, youth, whatever. And he's like, I want you to come into youth ministry, I want you to work with youth ministry. So my first youth group was a set of twin girls, they were the husky girls, and God bless their souls. Those guys would listen to you know, me do my best to per to to read them a Bible story and to give them an application for the week. And uh, and so through that, did that for a while, was at Valley Christian Center. That's where I met Pastor Kyle, and then under his tutelage, you know, getting some mentoring in. And so then from there, let's let's kind of bring things up to speed a little bit more. So then being in Melton Fruit Water, so then in an audible voice, God says, I need you to go to Heptner, Oregon.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Big metropolis, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Big big metropolis. It is a literally a hole 52 miles way outside of Hermiston, and if the dam breaks, the town's gone.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

Population what the population is 1,000.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

So this is like your glory, right? Like this is like the greatest call of your life.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

Yeah. Super scared to death. Get out there, find out that where I'm going to be ministering at, the church is literally like a biodome. Uh, and the kids called it the golf ball. And I was like, okay, Lord, you've you have called me here. Uh, I know that you equip the unequipped. And so whatever you ask me to do, Lord, I'm just gonna trust you. I'm gonna step in faith, even though I can't see the outcome, I'm just moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Now, how long how many years were you there in total?

SPEAKER_00 8:19

We were in Heppner's 10 years.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

And I know you changed positions. You went from youth pastor to associate pastor to lead pastor, right? And with the first 10 years. Yeah, so you did all the things then.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah, it was, I I will tell you, Pastor Ty, it was it was quite the experience. So before COVID hit, when I got there, I had like 10 kids, and that year, like all 10 of them graduated. So I started down from zero. But God continued the bl to bless us, and before COVID had hit, we were running 40 to 45 kids in that church. Man, and it was it was a rough bunch of kids. It was it was the street kids, it wasn't the church kids. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Yeah, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

And so to be able to reach out and be an advocate for them and to let them know that, hey, I'm I'm here, I don't care how messed up you are, you know, let's let's come and knee together and we'll work through it. Because I've been in your shoes. I know what that's like.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Love that, love that. So moving on to our next thing, you know, I'm not as good of a host of a podcast as Pastor Kyle is. I'm not as polished. So I didn't even mention your role here at the church, is you are a Fort Hall campus pastor. Yeah. And man, what you don't know is uh we took Fort Hall on as a campus, you know, a little over a year ago, probably 18 months. And I would say in the last three months, it's been our our our strongest season there. We've seen God do some amazing things. It really feels like powerhouse, the culture, the people, everything. God's really had his hand on it. Um, but I just I I would love to hear a little bit about now that you're there, now that you're the campus pastor, you've been there a few weeks, uh going on a month now. What what are you most excited for? What do you what do you expect God to to do there? What do you what what do you feel like God's calling you? Because Pastor True, I know that me and you were we share a very similar heart. You know what I mean? We were both uh a little rough around the edges. I knew I liked you because the first week you got here, you bought square toe boots, my kind of guy. We're still praying for Pastor Kyle. You know, God's going to transform him one day. But uh I love that about you. I love that we have similar ministry backgrounds of youth ministry and and reaching the down and outers and going to rural areas and just having that passion. But I'd love to hear specifically, and I think the listeners would love to hear specifically, what what do you feel like God has for you in this next season as campus pastor of Fort Hall? Because as much as we have in common, we're a little different. Where I would say you're a pastor of pastors. You know, you're someone that your favorite part of ministry is the people. You love the people. And not that I don't love the people, but man, I love to preach. Like, man, I'm I'm not someone that wants to hold you, hug you, visit you. I want to preach. You love showing up for people. Can you talk to us a little bit about what that looks like and what that's going to continue to look like at our four hall campus?

SPEAKER_00 11:08

So, what that's gonna look like is um I just love people. I love hearing their heart, um, you know, just seeing where they're at. And the things that I'm excited for is to get to know um each and every person within my neighborhood. Um, when you build a neighborhood, you build family. And um I think there's some great growth that can happen out there at Fort Hall. I do believe that some things, some things will take time uh because you got to earn trust and respect. Sure. Um, those are things that are not given, those are things that are earned. Um, but just being able to get into the community and love on them and meet them where they're at. And I just feel that God is gonna do something really amazing at Fort Hall. And it's one of those where you just kind of step out of the boat, pull, pull your bootstraps up, put your helmet and grab your crayons. It's gonna be a fun one.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Hey man, I love that. And I love that heart of yours is that you you're looking to be the tangible presence of powerhouse, right? You're looking to be the tangible pastoral presence in the community of Powerhouse. And man, I'm so excited for that for our Fort Hall campus and for our Fort Hall community. You know, it's an it's a it's been a missing element, and we've got a lot of great preaching. Pastor Bambi's done a great job of of building the church, but now in this next season, we have uh a pastor that's there on location, looking to lead Bible studies, looking to be involved with the community and looking to just be someone that's available to both the church and the community. And and I just love that. So I got one more question for you, Pastor Troy. And I I think this is probably our most important question is how can we as a church pray for you in this next season? What are some things we can pray that God would do in and through you in this next season?

SPEAKER_00 13:03

So, in this next season, as God allows us the availability to move through Fort Hall, um, pray for the provisions to be there, pray for the people's heart to be tender, to reach their community. Pray, pray for the pray for the church's attitude to be ready to receive those those those messed up people, those those people who are just coming to Christ. Uh, pray for us not to have a judgmental spirit, but as we look at them, uh one of my favorite quotes to say is when people look into my eyes, Lord, let it be you that they see. And and so in that sense, that is kind of the thing that I've been praying for for Fort Hall. When when people look at the eyes of people in Fort Hall, we want those people to see Jesus through us.

SPEAKER_01 14:05

No, I I love that. I love that. And I I think that's so good. And I appreciate your pastoral heart, Pastor Troy. I I think that that I appreciate that that's not just a title for you, but that's a reality of who God's called you to be and how God shaped you. Also, church, don't forget we're still praying for Pastor Kyle. Let's get some square toe boots on that, man. Come on. With God, all things are possible. He can cast the Nikes out of our life and bring the square-toed boots within our hearts. Amen. Amen. But with that said, uh, I appreciate this special episode of Power Hour where we are able to get to know Pastor Troy just a little bit more. And I pray in the months, the years to come, as we do different services and move things around, that every single person in Powerhouse will just have the opportunity to get to know him, to love on him, to pray with him, and just to be blessed by him. So with that all said, we thank you guys. We will catch you next time on our very next episode of Power Hour. See you then.