A young man on a mission – meet Evan Buckpitt!

I love Facebook! The other week I was trawling to see if any of my friends had friends that used to be my friends a long time ago but that I hadn’t connected with in a while (what a mouthful!)….I turned up a few. One in particular was an awesome find. It was Evan…..let me tell you about Evan.

When Al and I were young-marrieds (might have been around when the boys arrived…can’t remember exactly)  we used to go to a bible study at the home of Jeff and Lindy Buckpitt. They were an older couple with older kids, and they were a wealth of information and support to us and the other couples in the group. Their oldest child was Evan. He would have been around about the age that my boys are now when we were visiting their house regularly. It was this Evan that I discovered on Facebook!

He’s all grown up and serving God. I was so excited to hear about what he’s up to that I thought I’d interview him and let you get to know him a bit too, and so that you can pray as he ministers…. (this is my first e-interview…thanks for letting me practise on you all 🙂 )

So…Evan….introduce yourself to my readers…..

I’m 23 years old and the oldest of six children. I’ve spent the last five years playing in a Christian rock band, touring around and using it as an opportunity to build relationships, share the gospel and create beautiful music.

The last two years I’ve also worked in a primary school as a teacher’s assistant. I love working with kids and young people, but I found it frustrating not being able to share my faith with the kids I was working with.

So that sums up the two passions God has given me. Creativity (especially with music) and discipling and encouraging young people.

You’re currently on a mission trip to Hawaii with YWAM. What are you doing over there?

So far we have had opportunities to help run a soup kitchen, rebuild a skate park for the community, help out with a local weekly skateboarding event and run a weekly Bible study with several of the skateboarders that we have gotten to know.

Also we’ve been able to help out in some very practical ways such as helping a young family to move house, volunteering with a local Sunday school program and running chapel service for a couple of local Christian schools.

Why have you chosen to do the mission?

I’m here because I want to get to know God better and be more dependent on Him. I’m also here because I love meeting people and building relationships and building people up with the truth.

What has impacted you the most during your time there?

Two main things have stood out.

One is how much I need regular quiet times with God just to get through the day and maintain my focus. A lot of what we’re doing is quite tiring and without my eyes on God is can be easy to just cruise through it without really engaging my heart.

The second thing that has stood out is how much communities like Hawaii have two faces. There is the tourist friendly face, and there is also the huge problem here with crystal meth addiction that sits below the surface but is very very real.

What has been the most difficult aspect of your trip?

The most difficult aspect has probably been being away from my close friends and support networks from back home. I have great people here with me, but best friends are irreplaceable.

What is your long term plan? Are you looking to go into full time ministry?

The way I see it, my life will be full-time ministry till the day I die.

I’m still not exactly sure what I feel called to after this mission is over, but I have several things on my heart including staffing at the YWAM base in Newcastle and getting on board their community outreach music program and maybe one day helping out a friend of mine who will soon be pioneering a school and eventually an orphanage in Uganda.

There are a lot of great options.

At the moment I’m just trying to listen to God to discern His timing.

What are you doing when you get back to Australia?

When we get back to Australia we have three more weeks of outreach planned in the town of Swansea on the NSW coast. We’ll be running music, dance, surf and sports groups for kids there and looking for opportunities to speak into their lives.

After that, I’m open to whatever God has planned.

How are you supported?

So far I have received some amazing support from my parents and a few great friends.

I also had the oppotunity to share what I was doing about a month ago at the Alliance Church city campus and several people felt led to contribute towards the mission expenses.

I’ve also done a little bit of busking on the street on my days off and that helped as well.

You’re into writing and playing music…tell me a bit about that…are you looking to record?

Yes! I was actually in the middle of recording a CD when I left Canberra to get involved with YWAM. I’m hoping to get it finished early next year with the help of a few good friends.

I find music is a great tool make contact with people and share values with them, so I’m pretty keen to move forwards in that.

What is your vision and passion in life?

Love God, love people, share the truth with people about who God is and how He sees them, create music that is beautiful and give the glory to God.

That’s why I get up every day.

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Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions Evan!

If you want to connect with Evan, you can find his Facebook profile here. Or you can give him a shout out in the comments section.

Michelle