Hello and welcome back to Pastor to Pioneer season 3. This week, on episode 20, Britton—still on the road—connects with Nick and Caren Harringshaw. Nick and Caren are based in St. Paul, MN, and have known our host for quite some time. Caren was part of the first house church that Britton experienced, dating back to 2014 when he was first exploring the world of simple church. Caren shares how that time transformed her life—how she then continued to be part of the gathering that met at Britton’s home and became part of the Smith family. Caren and Nick go on to discuss moving to the Twin Cities area for a teaching job for Caren, how they had separate ministries there, as well as the challenges of those ministries coming together. Nick had been a well known presence in the Frogtown area of St. Paul and Caren was joining in on that. They realized that they were helping people have powerful encounters with God but it never translated to lasting discipleship.
Nick and Caren have recently stepped away from their other ministries and into intentional disciple making and simple church planting in their own neighborhood as missionaries. Nick and Caren have 1 year old twin girls and share the ways in which their world shrank drastically when the girls were born. They also talk about how they wrestled with what felt like a shrinking impact. They realized, however, that they have grown and that God has taught them so much through slowing down and prioritizing their family. They have come to realize that you can’t bypass or work around your family to help others become a spiritual family.
