Gilbert Plante of New Life Sanctuary says that the Lord led him to his position at the church after he asked the Lord to use him. Now the associate pastor of New Life Sanctuary Church, he says how his ministry journey started. "I remember when I first came to the Lord, I was in my living room floor on my knees asking the Lord to use me in a mighty way. I gained employment at a place called West Heat Industries where one of my coworkers was a pastor at New Life Sanctuary Church." Sharing his story Plante says he was invited to share his testimony with the congregation. "I was very bold and asked him all kinds of questions. He said, 'Why don't you come and share your testimony with our congregation?' I said, 'Sure, that'd be great.' Well, I think that was 2007, and I just never left." .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Grateful for God's grace He is grateful for God's grace. "I'm a recovered addict and I'm a very stubborn man. The Lord literally dragged me out of this miry pit, scratching and screaming. If people think that the Lord is not doing miracles in this day and age, they need to come and have a cup of coffee with me because I'm a walking, living miracle. By God's mercy and grace, I'm standing here today." Other ministry work Beyond serving as the associate pastor at New Life Sanctuary, Plante is the Family Ministries Manager at Union Gospel Mission (UGM). "We had a missions trip come up to Winnipeg, and we were prayer walking the North End and the St. James area where New Life Sanctuary Church is located. Three weeks later, we received a phone call saying, I think it's time for an Indigenous man to do a plant in the heart of the North End." Plante was excited for the opportunity. "They say, 'Gilbert, you're our man.' I was blown away because being as green as green. My wife and I started prayer walking the North End, we were living in the North End at this time." New opportunities After meeting the executive director at UGM, Plante says a wonderful opportunity was presented to him. "He wanted to know if I'd be interested in using the Family Life Center for a church service on Sundays. I said, absolutely, this is wonderful. I'm beginning to see the Lord work here. "He had called me back a little while later and said the Family Ministries manager is retiring and asked if I wanted a job. My first response was, no. I went home and told my wife and she looked at me and said, 'What is wrong with you?' I called back and said, 'I don't know what I was thinking. After lots of prayer, I certainly would be interested.' We went through all the protocol and the procedures, and I was hired on as the Family Ministries Manager." Since joining the team at UGM, Plante has seen God at work countless times, specifically in the Adopt A Student Program. "I have the privilege of going into these sponsored families' homes. The ultimate goal is to introduce our Lord to the family. I've seen individuals who really didn't know who Christ was. Shortly after, in home visits and the school curriculum, entire families come to have a personal relationship with our Lord." 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The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to those of us being saved, it is the power of God." Highlight of serving Getting to lead others to Christ, continues to be a highlight for Plante. "I have a great privilege of sharing the Gospel on a daily basis. There's no greater privilege in my mind. I've had the privilege of doing it numerous times and I look forward to these days getting out there and being bold, not softening the Gospel. There are a lot of hard truths in Scripture, and people are looking for truth." Plante is humbled to be used by God, and says being a pastor is the best job in the world. "I've never really got comfortable with the title pastor. I just feel myself as a humble servant of the Lord. He's given me this great privilege. I have probably the best job there is and to utilize it to the best of my abilities to get out there. I get paid to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So can it get any better than that?" Pastor Appreciation Month Plante was recently nominated in Pastor Appreciation Month, running through October. During the month of October, each week, one nominated pastor will win a ticket to the Global Leadership Summit, $100 worth of dining gift cards, and a VISA gift card thanks to Missionfest Manitoba, Glawson Piling, The Redeemed Christian Church of God, and Glory & Peace Church. Nominate your pastor and tell us why they should win in Pastor Appreciation Month and they could be the next winner.