The First Step

Pastor Stephanie Borsato and her husband Mario started their journey in January of 2006 when they discovered the meaning of Grace. Together they asked Jesus to be the Lord of their lives. After that moment, everything changed and they became passionate followers of Jesus.

“For me, one of the changes involved asking Jesus how He wanted me to serve Him. I wanted Him to have all of my life, Stephanie says. I felt that I heard Him say, ‘Feed my sheep.’ Being new to everything, I followed what he asked me to do.” Stephanie and her husband Mario started a food bank out of the medical clinic where Stephanie worked as a doctor. God blessed their effort and their heart for the community. Through this they were able to tangibly and spiritually meet needs in amazing ways.

All In

This time, Stephanie and her husband talked about what it would look like for her to go into ministry and leave medicine. They pursued God and His will, prayed, fasted, and asked Him to open the right doors. They continued this pursuit for a year and felt that they were to keep moving in the direction of ministry and away from medicine. God began to move things and made it clear that He was leading the Borsato’s into ministry. With that certainty, they began to plan how to close a large, thriving, and desperately needed medical practice. Stephanie’s desire was to leave transparently, recognizing that people might not approve, but would see their faith and their heart for God. “It was a challenging time because of the volume of work. Our families tried to support us, but sometimes didn’t even understand where we were coming from. Even some of our patients disagreed with us, but we continued and stepped out by faith. Stepping out by faith sometimes makes us feel a bit unsteady, Stephanie shares.”

A New Chapter

The Borsato’s closed the practice, and Stephanie began working part-time in ministry and once a week in medicine. It was at this point that they felt God calling them to Nova Scotia. They began speaking with Reverend Kevin Johnson, Maritimes District Superintendent, and Reverend Jim Molloy, Executive Director of Ministries and Missions, a couple of years earlier and began to pray about different communities in Nova Scotia. With support and encouragement from the Maritimes District, the Borsato’s pursued God’s will with a fresh sense of determination.

They sold their “dream home” that they had built and expected to live in for the rest of their lives. God continued to give them a heart for the people of Nova Scotia and Stephanie and Mario took a step of faith and moved.

God’s Plan Unfolds in Port Hawkesbury

Port Hawkesbury has experienced down-sizing of their paper mill, economic downturns, and has seen a number of businesses come and go over the years. Pastor Stephanie and her husband believe that hope changes everything, and are absolutely convinced that the community can be revitalized by the power and love of the Gospel.

The Maritime District of the PAOC is committed to reaching people and making disciples according to Jesus’ instructions in the Great Commission. Reverend Kevin Johnson and Reverend Jim Molloy have partnered with CityReach Network to plant churches in the Maritimes District. Together, CityReach Network and the Maritime PAOC District plan to reach many people with the hope of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Stephanie and her husband Mario will launch CityReach Church Port Hawkesbury on Sunday, September 18th 2016! God has a plan for this town and is going to show up in incredible ways to reignite hope and faith in this region, one person at a time!

For more information or to support CityReach Church Port Hawkesbury, visit porthawkesbury.cityreachnetwork.org.