My name is Jonathan and I have been attending the same church since birth. My family has always been very involved with the church and the different ministries. I was enrolled in Pathfinders and Adventurers where I continue to serve till this day. I’ve been teaching the teen Sabbath school class for around 5 years. I have been blessed to have finished my third and final diploma in the forestry and environmental field. I love my job working as a professional tree climber for a small tree care company in my area.
I have always been very passionate about nature and all living things. Animals and plants fascinate me and I understand God when I study them; I also feel closer to him when I am surrounded by nature. This is why Pathfinders appealed to me as much as it does. When I was younger (around 6 years old) I almost crawled into a box with a snake during a demonstration at a public library. I loved animals and wanted to be as close to them as physically possible. My soul is bound to God’s first Church and that is where I feel the most at peace.
Because I grew up in the church it’s hard to pinpoint an exact time when I met Christ, but I would have to say it was when I went to my first international camporee in Oshkosh Wisconsin in 2009. That camporee inspired me so much, being able to see all those people there who loved Pathfinders the same as I did was really special and moved me to be baptized at that camporee. It was till much later in my life that I truly started to understand who Christ was and what he meant to me.
One of those most challenging times in my life was when I met my girlfriend Brittany. She grew up Catholic and wanted nothing to do with religion. She went partying and was into tarot cards. She kept finding herself in situations that ended up hurting both of us; but no matter how it hurt I had something. God kept showing me the life of the prophet Hosea, so I kept standing by her. Eventually after she got tired of trying to force me to leave her to her “fate” she began to come to church and her life was changed. I’m glad that I have been blessed to be the one to show her Christ unending love and that she ended being the perfect person for me.
