Shownotes
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Description
What does it take to feel proud during life's hardest trials?
In a heartfelt conversation, First Nations worship leader Jared Ross shares his personal story on Journey With Care. He talks about the power of hearing "I'm proud of you," and how it might serve as the title of his life's book.
Jared opens up about healing through worship music, grappling with loss, and finding purpose in ministering to Indigenous communities. His reflections touch on the importance of compassionate leadership and his vision for using music to inspire and support mental health.
Time Stamps
[00:00] Conversations inspire, challenge, and encourage loving others.
[04:13] Always bad timing but found home later.
[09:55] Losing Nathan devastated me, disrupting our routines.
[10:51] Struggling with grief, finding solace through reflection.
[16:59] Inspired by Steve, embraced singing and music.
[19:54] Calling: Inspire Gen Z with faith and zeal.
[22:27] Indigenous desires guidance in youth-focused breakthrough.
[25:08] Support my calling toward First Nations community.
[30:01] Inspiring faith journeys with Care Impact initiative.
Other Links
Reach out to us! https://journeywithcare.ca/podcast
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
CareImpact: careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with the most vulnerable: careimpact.ca/donate
Editing and production by Johan Heinrichs: arkpodcasts.ca
Transcripts
Hey. Just a heads up. Today's conversation touches on sensitive topics
Speaker:including suicide, mental health issues, trauma, and
Speaker:loss. If you or someone you know might find these subjects challenging,
Speaker:please listen with care or consider revisiting our episode when you're in a
Speaker:good space to do so. Hey, everyone.
Speaker:Johan here. Welcome back to Journey with Care. I hope you enjoyed last week's
Speaker:episode as part of our series of handpicked and remastered favorites.
Speaker:These conversations have been chosen because they continue to inspire,
Speaker:challenge, and encourage us to love others well. So whether it's your first time hearing
Speaker:them or you're rediscovering their impact, we believe these episodes are
Speaker:worth a second lesson. Today, we're diving into part 2 of our
Speaker:conversation with Jared Ross. If you missed part 1, Jared is an
Speaker:inspiring First Nations worship leader from Cross Lake who has a
Speaker:profound calling towards the indigenous community and a vision that has been shaped by
Speaker:both immense struggles and unwavering faith. So I encourage you to
Speaker:go listen to that one first. If you're coming from that one, Jared's
Speaker:journey from hurt to hope is both deeply moving and incredibly powerful.
Speaker:In this episode, we'll explore how he navigates his calling in ministry,
Speaker:some of the roles he's been playing in ministry, and his hopes for the future
Speaker:of the church and indigenous youth. So let's jump right back
Speaker:into this inspiring conversation as we revisit this interview with
Speaker:Jared Ross from season 2. Enjoy.
Speaker:Hello, and welcome to another episode of Journey with Care. My
Speaker:name is Johan, and I am your host for today's interview.
Speaker:So last episode, I had the privilege of interviewing Jared Ross,
Speaker:an indigenous worship leader I met back in in a Bible College youth
Speaker:conference in 2016. He shared a little bit about his story
Speaker:growing up and what it was like, and it was very impactful.
Speaker:And I'm so happy to welcome back Jared Ross to talk a little bit about
Speaker:his calling in ministry and what he's doing and what the Lord's called him to
Speaker:do. Jared, welcome back to the podcast. Hey, Graham. Thanks for
Speaker:having me. It's great to have you back. So if you haven't listened to that
Speaker:last episode with Jared, I would encourage you go back, check it
Speaker:out. Such an amazing story. So I invited Jared back to record a
Speaker:second episode with me. I wanna chat a bit about what he is doing now
Speaker:and what he feels the Lord is leading him to do and how we as
Speaker:a church, the larger church, can best journey alongside indigenous
Speaker:leaders like him. So, Jared, give us a quick
Speaker:synopsis of what you're up to these days, what
Speaker:you're putting your hand to. Yep. So I'm, walking
Speaker:alongside, Deeper Life Ministries out in Strasbourg, Saskatchewan.
Speaker:And, we're kinda like the guinea pigs of the house of prayer that started
Speaker:out in their camp. So we're living out there. Basically, the the whole
Speaker:thing is just to minister on what what's on the father's heart. And, this
Speaker:whole thing's called the father's house. And we're just basically praying out
Speaker:everything that's going on in Canada. So we're praying on the church. We're praying for
Speaker:the church. We're praying for First Nations people. We're praying for all these
Speaker:things. And we're actually doing this new thing where we're actually
Speaker:recording, some stuff from people who are in the mission field.
Speaker:We actually take the time to do a service where we're actually just like prophesying
Speaker:over them and praying over them and we send it to them. So like, that's
Speaker:kinda what we're doing. So right now, I'm just in this new season of interceding
Speaker:on what the what's on the father's heart. But mostly for me, I'm just praying
Speaker:a lot on what the Lord's putting on my heart for First Nations people. So
Speaker:like that's the source of my prayer. So I'm walking alongside them, but I'm also
Speaker:as a walking alongside them as a worship leader. So wherever trips
Speaker:we take to, churches or, certain
Speaker:conferences, like, I'm leading the congregation in worship. So, like, I'm
Speaker:not only there as a prayer leader, but also just to help lead worship
Speaker:when it's needed. So how did you get in contact with him or get
Speaker:about joining this ministry? Yeah. So ever since he started,
Speaker:deeper life, I think back in 20 17, I think when it all
Speaker:started or 2018, Adam's been just bothering me to recruit
Speaker:me ever since. Like, hey, dude. I would like to have you out. Do you
Speaker:know? You'd be such a huge asset. And they were talking about, like, we wanna
Speaker:take our ministry towards, First Nation Communities, and I feel like you can help lead
Speaker:in that. And, I remember telling him, like, dude, that sounds great, but
Speaker:I'm kind of in a season where I'm in a season of rest. I'm figuring
Speaker:that out and I'm kinda doing this new job. So you, like, every time you
Speaker:contact me, it's always bad timing. Every single time is twice where,
Speaker:hey, would you like to come work at our summer camps? Like, I'm already at
Speaker:Cedarwood. Would you like to come out for the ministries? Like, I just
Speaker:started a new job and I can't quit right now. So, yeah, it took
Speaker:him a few years, but eventually, the summer of,
Speaker:2022 was when I actually was able to get 2 months off of work.
Speaker:And then I went to work at their summer camp and it wasn't until I
Speaker:crossed the border, I realized, like, you know, this feels like home for some
Speaker:reason. And the Lord's been calling me to walk alongside
Speaker:them. I remember I was in their small church chapel in Strasburg because they don't
Speaker:have like a big sanctuary. We were in a small church and I remember we
Speaker:were just leading worship and I looked out at the prairies and just seeing
Speaker:this beautiful evening sky and just the valleys
Speaker:and just how secluded it was. I was like, man, it just feels like I'm
Speaker:back home again. To be in the middle of nowhere, secluded and just praying on
Speaker:what the father's heart is, it's just like, I feel like I need to walk
Speaker:alongside these guys for a while. So that's kinda what been happening and how he
Speaker:convinced me eventually. But, I think the Lord just told me I
Speaker:was sit standing outside landmarks theater and it's just like, I don't know. I
Speaker:just feel like I need to walk alongside these guys and all he said was
Speaker:talk to Adam. I remember the next day in training, I just told him, yeah,
Speaker:dude. This is what I've been going through and, feel
Speaker:like the Lord told me to talk to you. And I remember him just standing
Speaker:up and he's like, Dude, you're confirming a lot of prayers right now. I've been
Speaker:struggling with, like, if this ministry thing is me or if the Lord's really in
Speaker:it, then now you're telling me you wanna join. It's like, he was actually tearing
Speaker:up. It's like, this means a lot, you know? And he's like, well, if the
Speaker:Lord trusted you to talk to me about it, I'll definitely pray about it. And
Speaker:it took him the weekend. He's like, yeah, come along. Come alongside us. We'd love
Speaker:to have you. And that's kind of where I'm at now. When I met you
Speaker:back in 2016, you were at Eston College leading a lot of
Speaker:worship, doing a lot of ministry. And since then, like, we've had
Speaker:COVID and all these challenges. In the meantime,
Speaker:you probably have been ministering. Not many people are ministering at all during
Speaker:that time. So what what has this season been like leading up to
Speaker:being launched back into doing ministry? Yeah. So I wasn't,
Speaker:when I left Esten, the lord called me back to Winnipeg in
Speaker:2017. I was just ready to go wherever, And, he
Speaker:just said, come back to Winnipeg. I came back and I met with your good
Speaker:friend, Joel, and he kinda just said to me, like, I feel like this
Speaker:season is gonna be a season of rest for you, and I feel like you're
Speaker:gonna just gonna from this season of rest, you're gonna start to propel into your
Speaker:calling. And, I was like, okay. Well, what does rest look like then? So
Speaker:I remember reading about rest a lot and come to me all
Speaker:over weary, heavy burden. I'll give you rest. Like, all those scriptures I was reading
Speaker:about, just trying to figure out, like, okay, what does this season of rest look
Speaker:like? And from 2017 until 2022,
Speaker:I figured out this season of rest was, actually
Speaker:some traumas that I needed to heal from and some things that went
Speaker:alongside that. So, like, in that season of rest was kind of confusing.
Speaker:I went through so many valleys, like peaks and valleys. I
Speaker:feel the Lord was taking away worship music, like congregational
Speaker:worship, leading worship at my church. I felt like I was
Speaker:pushing it and it didn't feel like authentic. And I just felt like,
Speaker:okay, what are you trying to tell me? Like, you're taking away worship music
Speaker:and I'm losing a lot of family members to COVID. Like, I don't understand what
Speaker:you're calling me to right now. And, he just told me to take, time
Speaker:away from being worship, congregationally. And that was
Speaker:something like my bread and butter. I love doing that stuff. I love leading
Speaker:worship at church. So after finding out he took all these
Speaker:things away, I think the huge blow was just like, well,
Speaker:actually drinking on top of that. I don't understand this
Speaker:season. I'm just partying all the time. And where are you? Like, I feel like
Speaker:I'm just pushing things. And the huge blow came the
Speaker:summer of 2021 or, I lost an
Speaker:uncle to a heart attack after he recently had surgery.
Speaker:He died. They didn't tell me how he died. I think he just went in
Speaker:his sleep or his heart gave out. And 2 months later, my
Speaker:great grandmother died of just natural causes and
Speaker:this was during COVID. So, that was
Speaker:a huge blow. And then that November, I
Speaker:kind of mentioned Nathan from the first episode. So he was the guy who told
Speaker:me about the gospel at a young age and he actually helped me do
Speaker:church on the reserve because we didn't initially go to church, but we did,
Speaker:like, read the gospels together. We prayed together. Like, he was kinda the guy
Speaker:who pushed me to go after what god was calling me to do. He was
Speaker:a younger guy around your age? Yeah. He was well, he was a year older
Speaker:or a few years older than me, I think 2 years. But, yeah,
Speaker:he was, he went through a lot of things after I
Speaker:left the college. I remember I was this is what I was talking about. Like,
Speaker:I feel like this is not fair that I'm learning all this stuff and walking
Speaker:with God and walking with people because I wanted everybody to experience it.
Speaker:But Nathan dealt a lot with the pandemic that
Speaker:happened. His mental health just kinda started
Speaker:and he started talking about depression. He started talking about
Speaker:suicide thoughts, and the only way he coped with it was smoking
Speaker:marijuana. And I didn't like seeing him that way. And every
Speaker:time that we did drink alcohol together, I just didn't feel right.
Speaker:But Nathan eventually lost his battle with
Speaker:depression. He committed suicide in November
Speaker:of 2021, and I remember just that being the day my
Speaker:life changed. I felt I never lost someone so close who was
Speaker:basically a brother and getting that call from,
Speaker:the chief. Usually, when bad news comes, the chief calls you or they visit
Speaker:you. And as soon as I got the call, I was like, I don't want
Speaker:it to be my mom. I still want it to be my mom. And as
Speaker:soon as they mentioned best friend or, like, a close friend of yours, and I
Speaker:remember thinking, like, k. I hope it's not
Speaker:Farley. I hope it's not Norton or, like, I'm hearing all this, and then I
Speaker:heard Nathan and I lost it. Like, I was
Speaker:crying. And, you know, just I had to
Speaker:call my friends right away just because I wanted them to hear it from me
Speaker:and not Facebook. And I think walking,
Speaker:getting used to not having him around has been the hardest thing
Speaker:where, you know, we used to go to Smitty's and have breakfast together
Speaker:and just driving by that place was so hard and driving around the
Speaker:city, we used to do a lot, talk about Jesus and that was even
Speaker:hard just to drive around. I couldn't be at home because we had so
Speaker:many sleepovers in that house and one of our closest times
Speaker:was actually tipping waitresses at Boston Pizza.
Speaker:And even just thinking about him during that time was very
Speaker:hard. I think, dealing with his death
Speaker:was like the hardest for me because I had to get used to
Speaker:doing life without him when I was so used to walking with Jesus with
Speaker:him. And that was such a huge part of me. I felt like a part
Speaker:of me died that day when he died. And, my friends
Speaker:and I were consoling each other and all we did was just watch videos and
Speaker:just seeing a picture of him smiling was enough for us to just
Speaker:cry and pick up a bottle and just start drinking, you know,
Speaker:because we miss him even to this day. But, I remember I
Speaker:was sitting at my job. I was working a painting job, which is
Speaker:a good gig in trades. I remember us sitting in the break
Speaker:room and I felt like the Holy Spirit was just
Speaker:wanting to talk to me. And I felt the Lord come into the room and
Speaker:he said to me, are you gonna be angry that Nathan left? Are you
Speaker:actually gonna be thankful for the years that you've had with him? And
Speaker:I remember just telling him just, like, reflect. Take the
Speaker:time and pray about it. Talk to me about it. And
Speaker:I remember sitting on the chair just like, Lord, thank you for
Speaker:the man of God that he made me to be. Thank you that you brought
Speaker:him to me to share the gospel. And that's when the tears started flowing. I
Speaker:was just, like, oh, Lord, I thank you that he's with you now. You
Speaker:know? And then, actually, after that prayer is just, like,
Speaker:a breath of relief. I was like,
Speaker:I'm letting him go. I'm finally letting him go. And then,
Speaker:the Lord kind of just put his hands on the table and he's like, this
Speaker:is your season that you needed to walk into. Like, this is the season of
Speaker:healing that you needed to go through. And I remember thinking, man, it took Nathan's
Speaker:death to figure out what my season was and why
Speaker:didn't you tell me this in 2017? It's like, well, you weren't listening.
Speaker:You were busy drinking. You wanted to do the things of your
Speaker:flesh desired, but it took until Nathan died for me to get your
Speaker:attention. And then I was like, oh, all right. Well,
Speaker:let's do this. It sucks, but I need to do this with you. And he
Speaker:said, Alright. Time to work on your mommy issues. And I was like, I'm not
Speaker:ready for that. I just went back to work. Then he started,
Speaker:in that season, I started noticing a difference right away where he's
Speaker:like, okay. Your mom left you And, all these girls
Speaker:that teased you when you were young. I mentioned that in the first episode where
Speaker:I was known as the gross kid. Like this, like, is there a reason
Speaker:why you look at yourself this way? Like, why do you always think you're ugly?
Speaker:Why do you think you're unattractive? It's the bullying I got
Speaker:through and not having my mom around, you know, and that's why.
Speaker:And that's when you just kinda walk through me where it's just like, just because
Speaker:you said it in Martyr's life and girls affirm that you aren't ugly
Speaker:and unattractive, like, that you're not done with the healing yet. You need to let
Speaker:me in. That's when I kind of felt the open heart surgery started.
Speaker:And he's just like, k. Why do you look at yourself this way? Like, why
Speaker:do you see yourself as unattractive when you're in front of a beautiful woman?
Speaker:Just what the girl said about me, ugly, unattractive. And it's
Speaker:like, alright. Well, you're not that. You're beautifully and wonderfully
Speaker:made. My scripture mentions that. And then, he started,
Speaker:working on the issues. It was just like I went to therapy for a while
Speaker:and that's what helped too, was going to talk to somebody about Nathan's death.
Speaker:And then actually, it wasn't until, Lorraine told me,
Speaker:like, do you have a mother figure in your life? Do you have someone who
Speaker:can put their arm around you and just let you know, like, love you? It's
Speaker:like, well, Shelly was in Eston and arena,
Speaker:but she lives in Saskatchewan. And she's like, don't you have anyone
Speaker:here? No? And then I remember her tearing up and was
Speaker:like, I'm sorry that you don't have anyone. And I was like, honestly, I didn't
Speaker:know I didn't have anyone until you mentioned it. So she gave me the challenge.
Speaker:She's like, what are the barriers around your heart that is stopping you from
Speaker:receiving love from people and you giving love to them? And then that's when the
Speaker:Lord started showing me, you need to let me be
Speaker:that mother figure in your life. You know, like, I not only want to be
Speaker:a dad, but I want to show you the things that I can do to
Speaker:be what your mom wasn't. And after walking
Speaker:through that healing, it's still taking time, and I feel like he's still doing that
Speaker:work and I'm still walking through it. I noticed my conversations
Speaker:with women are changing. Like, I'm not looking at myself this way anymore,
Speaker:and I kinda just looked at myself one day. Oh, you know, you're
Speaker:still you're working on that now. And like, this is great. You
Speaker:know, I hate to keep doing this. So, like, still walking through that healing and
Speaker:coming out of that season of rest, I finally started
Speaker:doing worship again. And my songwritings have
Speaker:been, like, going like crazy. And ever
Speaker:since dealing with Nathan, dealing with my mom, these songs had just
Speaker:started to come out. But I feel like I need to get these 3 songs
Speaker:that I've been writing for the past 5 or 6 years out, and I
Speaker:feel like my creativeness will start again. But there's so much songs
Speaker:that are coming in this season, which has been great. So what role would
Speaker:you say music and writing has played in part of your
Speaker:healing journey? Yep. So one of the things that I noticed was,
Speaker:every time a death happened, I always picked up a guitar and my
Speaker:tears stopped flowing because the lord was doing his work already. Just me playing a
Speaker:few chords. So that role is just, like, worship has always been my
Speaker:go to thing where I think it started in Austin
Speaker:where nobody was in the chapel and I went in there every single
Speaker:day and just sang and sang worship songs. So
Speaker:music definitely played a big part in that and it's always, like, my go to
Speaker:thing when the hardest things happen in life. I just need to pick up my
Speaker:guitar and start singing, and these prayers and stuff start
Speaker:flowing out through that time. So I feel like that's been the big thing
Speaker:for me. So take me back a little bit. When did your
Speaker:love for music and the discovery you had that this is actually a gift?
Speaker:Yeah. Nathan brought it on. Okay. I was,
Speaker:19, and I told him, like, I wanna learn worship music. So
Speaker:he brought his 2 guitars over, and, we did
Speaker:the 4 chords that they usually play in worship music, E minor, G, C, D.
Speaker:And it's like, you can play any worship songs with these ones. And, I remember
Speaker:him and I sing never once by Matt Redman. And we played through
Speaker:that and he stopped singing because I was getting into it and I stopped and
Speaker:he looked at me. He's like, you have a really good voice, man. You should
Speaker:sing more. And I was like, thanks, Steve. And I asked him, like, can I
Speaker:borrow your guitar for a week? I just feel like I need to do this.
Speaker:And he was gracious enough to ask his dad to let me
Speaker:borrow his really nice guitar. And I just sang for
Speaker:that whole week and I feel like doing everything in the secret place actually
Speaker:helped a lot too. But, yeah, my first love for music, I think when I
Speaker:was young, I remember my family well, I don't know if they told me, but
Speaker:when I remember ever since I was a young kid hearing Guns N' Roses on
Speaker:the radio, singing a bunch of songs in my grandmother's house, you know, hearing
Speaker:all those gospel tunes and that old hymn, how great thou art.
Speaker:So just growing up around music and my families who are
Speaker:singers when funerals start. Like, I just grew up around music and
Speaker:knowing that Ernest Moniz was my grandfather's. Like, oh, that's where probably the
Speaker:love for music came from. Yeah. I mean, when I first saw you
Speaker:sing it in 2016, I wouldn't have imagined that you were
Speaker:fairly new to leading at that point. Yeah. I just saw the
Speaker:anointing and the gift. I'm like, oh, man. This guy's got something. But But But
Speaker:it wasn't until I went to Esten, everybody started telling me, like,
Speaker:you have a gifting there. And I remember one guy named Jake Eisler,
Speaker:who I went to school with said, I just saw a picture of you of
Speaker:your guitar and there's fire coming out of it. So I think you have a
Speaker:calling and anointing in this worship music thing. So how
Speaker:has that vision developed over the years, your calling and
Speaker:where you feel like the Lord has taken you and your music? Again, it started
Speaker:from, like, Esten where I remember doing a coffee house
Speaker:thing, and I remember sharing one of my songs that I've been
Speaker:writing since 2017 or 2016, actually.
Speaker:And she actually came up to me and said, like, you know, I got delivered
Speaker:today of what you're saying and like, if something left me
Speaker:and that's when I kinda looked at it and was like, you actually want
Speaker:me to do something with my music. You know, I was talking to Jesus and
Speaker:all right, well, let's let's see where you wanna go with this then. You know,
Speaker:I just kinda think about when, David played for Saul and
Speaker:the spirit left. And, I've been kinda just
Speaker:looking at the gifting where it's like he can take this away anytime,
Speaker:you know. So I try not to take the gifting for granted. So what I'm
Speaker:doing now with it is just like, I do wanna write songs and I do
Speaker:wanna make music a priority as well. Because I remember getting a
Speaker:vision from someone saying, like, thousands of people will hear your songs.
Speaker:And it was like, I used to look at myself like that's never gonna
Speaker:happen. You know, just, being obedient and wanting
Speaker:to see what he wants to do with the music and also the ministry that
Speaker:I wanna carry is what I'm going for, staying obedient. That's One way I
Speaker:can answer it. So in in last episode, you alluded a little bit
Speaker:to how you feel like the lord's called you to minister to the
Speaker:indigenous people and and even having a vision for that and the lord's giving you
Speaker:a vision. What is that vision? Maybe share a little bit more about that and
Speaker:and even where music plays a role in that. Yeah. For the longest time, I've
Speaker:been trying to figure out, okay, where are you gonna call me? Like, is there
Speaker:a community you want me to go to? Do you want me to go back
Speaker:home? What does it look like? You know, because I've been trying to
Speaker:just see the full picture of what it is, but, you know, First Nations in
Speaker:general, he didn't just give me a place, but it's the whole people, you know,
Speaker:so it'll probably be a bunch of places. So what I feel that
Speaker:calling is is just I have a heart for the young adults and the
Speaker:youth. They're the next generation of people who need to come in. The
Speaker:word that I had for the youth of this generation now, it's
Speaker:I heard, that a lot of them are called Gen Z, but I
Speaker:heard, Gen Zeal. Where they'll have such a zeal for the Lord
Speaker:and hunger for him. And it'll just be like something that has ever been seen
Speaker:before. And once I heard that, I was like, k, what can I do to
Speaker:do this? Like, I wanna be a I wanna see this happen. I wanna see
Speaker:these kids on fire for the Lord. I feel like that's one of the things
Speaker:that he's been showing me for the youth and the young adults. It's
Speaker:just like, a lot of them are dealing with such mental
Speaker:health stuff where it's like a lot of the young guys or young women are
Speaker:saying I'm not good enough. And I feel like they see like the
Speaker:mindset of just like, I'm, I'm never going to leave the reserve. You know, I
Speaker:might as well just they're drinking every day. They don't have anybody to talk to
Speaker:and they just feel like I'm not enough. So they kill themselves, you know? And
Speaker:that's, that's heartbreaking to me. So like just speaking true identity
Speaker:into them where it's just like, you know, you not just the you are enough,
Speaker:but also just letting them know, like, hey, we're here to listen. And I
Speaker:want to be that, leader where it's just like, you
Speaker:know, I've gone and lived this life out of the reserve,
Speaker:but, you know, this doesn't have to be your end game here, but there's
Speaker:more for you and, you know, there's more opportunities. It's just like that mindset. We're
Speaker:so used to hearing so much death in the community. Like,
Speaker:someone passed away and it brings you into that sadness. I think,
Speaker:one of the things that changed for me where it's just like, I hear bad
Speaker:news all the time from home and I was like, you know, I just had
Speaker:enough. Let's just stick with this mindset. Alright, Lord, you
Speaker:in your scripture says you healed all people. We're gonna pray that.
Speaker:And this came out of just there was a young woman who was in the
Speaker:hospital and she was about to have a miscarriage and she was in
Speaker:a coma and they were saying that she wasn't gonna wake up. Up. Their odds
Speaker:of her dying were very high. And I got that news and I was like,
Speaker:I'm just not dealing with this. You know, like you said, you healed all. I'm
Speaker:gonna stick with that and we're gonna pray that she wakes up. I just said,
Speaker:Lord, be with her and let her wake up. And we
Speaker:just we stay true to your word that you did heal all people. And,
Speaker:you know, we're coming to you as indigenous people and we want to see breakthrough
Speaker:and we pray for that. And a few days later, she woke up and I
Speaker:was like, all right, this is the mindset you want from my people.
Speaker:So I'm gonna stick with it and I'm gonna chase it after you with that.
Speaker:So, the young adults and the youth have been my heart. So that can be
Speaker:a wide range of things, whether it's just like, is he calling me to be
Speaker:a pastor? I don't know. Is he calling me to just be
Speaker:there for them or work in the schools? Do you want me to be a
Speaker:school guidance counselor? That way, I'll always have a job going from community to community.
Speaker:Like, I'm just still figuring it out as I go. You find
Speaker:thinking about your childhood and and even with what you
Speaker:went through with Nathan, what kind of leader would have been helpful to have around
Speaker:you in those points in your life? You know, that's a good one.
Speaker:As hard as it is, we needed someone to actually
Speaker:listen and be patient and walk through with us what we were going through.
Speaker:But that type of leader we needed was just like we needed a pastor
Speaker:for 1 and we needed a church and we
Speaker:needed someone who we can come to to ask for prayer for. And we needed
Speaker:that community around us to just let us know, like,
Speaker:okay, we're being prayed for at home. And we didn't have that. We didn't have
Speaker:that church. I only had Nathan and I only had his parents. They were the
Speaker:only Christians I had in my life. And that was one of the hardest
Speaker:things that I had to learn. It's like, we just need a church. And that's
Speaker:what we've been praying for. Nathan's been wanting it to happen. We I've been
Speaker:wanting it to happen. And it's like, I just wanna do church planting. Let's do
Speaker:that. So as someone that's gone to Essen Bible
Speaker:College, again, it is ethnically diverse, but mostly white
Speaker:people still. Right? Yeah. White leaders? And you lead in
Speaker:apostolic church as well. You've led worship there. Yep. So
Speaker:being an indigenous worship leader, what does it look like for the
Speaker:church around you, the people around you to walk alongside you,
Speaker:to journey alongside you in order for you to be able to step into
Speaker:the calling that god has called you to do? How can we use the
Speaker:church journey alongside you to support you in doing that? Yeah. I mean, the big
Speaker:thing for me is prayer. I need a lot of prayers. And,
Speaker:it's kinda funny how you bring this up because I had a conversation with my
Speaker:leaders at the House of Prayer where, I actually sat
Speaker:down with them and I said, listen. I'm thinking about telling this
Speaker:to Adam and I'm thinking about telling this to Sean from Destin.
Speaker:But, you know, most of the time people are used to seeing me as
Speaker:Jared, the First Nations kid from Cross Lake, and he tends to
Speaker:make, you know, some jokes here and there that are not that are not appropriate.
Speaker:And, he likes to joke around. He's somewhat not serious most of the
Speaker:time, but I'm just being myself. Yeah. I
Speaker:just like joking around sometimes. And, you know, I was like,
Speaker:you guys see me this way, but, you know, you guys know I have a
Speaker:calling towards First Nations people. And this is my vision for it and what I've
Speaker:been mentioning to you. And it's just like, I'm used to people seeing me as
Speaker:this kid from Cross Lake and this First Nations
Speaker:kid, but like, look at the calling and push me towards that, you know,
Speaker:whether it's just praying for me or like keeping me accountable and just like telling
Speaker:me things, look at that kid who needs to look at that man
Speaker:of god that needs to be pushed towards that calling. So prayer is one
Speaker:thing, but also, like, you see the calling and you heard me talk about it.
Speaker:But look at me as that guy and what what what can you do for
Speaker:me and pushing me towards that that, calling as
Speaker:well. Would you say the same thing for other churches that might have
Speaker:emerging indigenous leaders in their in their context? How would you
Speaker:say the church around them could support them and and push them into their
Speaker:calling? Yep. I think the big thing is just, like, you know,
Speaker:we just want somebody who will listen to us and hear us.
Speaker:And at the same time, it's like, we need we need a lot of patience.
Speaker:We need a lot of care. We need a lot of like, when you're seeing
Speaker:somebody who's dealing with trauma, you need to walk through that with them
Speaker:gently and as patient as possible. And the Lord's going to walk them through it.
Speaker:Like, what can you do in that for them? It's just like, just
Speaker:listen and also pray for them when it's needed, even when
Speaker:they're not in the congregation and they're partying. Just like always have them
Speaker:in your prayers and, always push them towards
Speaker:what you see in their calling is the huge thing for me. It's like we
Speaker:have so many young adults and youth that are called
Speaker:to such bigger things than what they think is
Speaker:for them. So, like, just seeing that calling, pray for them when they're not in
Speaker:the congregation. It's just like just need someone to listen to. They need someone to
Speaker:lean on. Right? So We do have many indigenous listeners of this
Speaker:podcast. I was wondering, is there is there one piece of advice that
Speaker:you would give to a young emerging indigenous leader just starting
Speaker:out? Yeah. Just, trust God is one thing. Like,
Speaker:it's scary. If I was talking to my 18 year old self for
Speaker:1, it's just like the insecurities won't always be there. You know, just
Speaker:just trust in the process of what the Lord's calling you to. That's the
Speaker:big thing is just trust for 1, but also just, like,
Speaker:search for some mentors as well. You know, you need some good mentors in your
Speaker:life, whether they're, you know, men, because a lot of us didn't grow
Speaker:up without dads or moms. So it's like, it's okay to seek out that mentorship
Speaker:and look for somebody who's a father figure as well. Someone who you can trust
Speaker:as well. And yeah, just trust that you won't have it all together by
Speaker:30 as well. It's like you don't have to have all all your crap together
Speaker:by your twenties or thirties. It's like, it's okay. Just trust the Lord,
Speaker:and he'll walk you through whatever you need to go through. So you talked about
Speaker:how you feel like the Lord has a calling even for the indigenous
Speaker:people and a and a big role to play in revival in Canada. Where do
Speaker:you see the indigenous community in 10 years from now in
Speaker:Canada? Well, we mentioned church planting, and I hope to
Speaker:see a few more churches planted for 1. But
Speaker:also, I just see I wanna see a bunch of youth and young adults
Speaker:actually starting to come to church. And I wanna see a revival
Speaker:start, obviously. And that's the big thing, big goal. But,
Speaker:you know, I I want to see mental health improve as well in my
Speaker:community and all the surrounding communities of First Nations people.
Speaker:I guess it's like, I don't wanna look at it as like a safety net
Speaker:or something like that, but I just want the church to be like, hey. It's
Speaker:like what Jesus said. Healthy people don't need a doctor. Sick
Speaker:people do. I come to call those who are sinners, and he ate with those
Speaker:sinners. You know? Just the church to be, like, such outflow
Speaker:of love that it's reaching out towards the community,
Speaker:and the gospel is just reaching them, and the true gospel is
Speaker:being reached in their hearts, and there's just people just not loving on fire for
Speaker:Jesus that they can't help but just reach out to other communities. You know, that's
Speaker:what I wanna see happen. So looking back at your life,
Speaker:let's say Jesus wrote a book about you. What would the title of that book
Speaker:be? Oh, boy. I'm gonna try not to get emotional anyway.
Speaker:It's just like every time I see him
Speaker:the way he's looking at me, everybody's always telling me he's smiling at you,
Speaker:and he tells me the 4 words, I'm proud of you. I don't know what
Speaker:that's for, but I think that would be the title of the book. He says,
Speaker:proud of you. And the book would just be, like, my life story and
Speaker:just how he saw me throughout all of it. And, yeah,
Speaker:it's just the way he sees me every day, even when I'm not doing good
Speaker:or I feel like, okay, I struggled with sin. I watched porn last night, and
Speaker:he's like, proud of you. Why are you telling me you're proud
Speaker:of me? It's like, I feel like such crap right now. And he's like, I'm
Speaker:proud of you because you're actually walking through what I'm calling you to. I'd be
Speaker:happy with that being the name of my book to you. Yeah. Alright. Thank you
Speaker:so much, Jared, for joining us on the podcast. Yeah. Not a problem. Thanks for
Speaker:having me. Thank you for joining another conversation
Speaker:on Journey with Care, where we inspire curious Canadians
Speaker:on their path of faith and living life with purpose in community.
Speaker:Journey with Care is an initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian
Speaker:charity dedicated to connecting and equipping the whole church to
Speaker:journey well in community. You can visit their website at careimpact.
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Speaker:curious.
