Patrick Sullivan
Retired Director of Shepherding/Mentoring
Tribute to Patrick on His Retirement:
“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. ”
Friendships are difficult to come by. Long-lasting friendships are rare. You will be fortunate to have six friendships in your lifetime and realistically you can really only manage three or four at a time. Those who claim to maintain dozens of friendships are at best describing the shallow relationships they have with those individuals.
I have known Pat Sullivan for nearly fifty years. We met in 1975 at Logos Bible Institute at Grace Community Church. He was newly married, I was engaged. I could not perceive that our nine months studying together would result in a lifetime of friendship. After we graduated from Logos, I returned to Kansas to marry and complete my final year of undergraduate studies. When we returned a year later to the Los Angeles area for my seminary education, Pat and his wife Sharon assisted immensely in our transition—but only for a year! The Lord took Pat and his family to Northern California for ministry—but our friendship did not end, it remained. It remained when he moved for ministry in Arizona—most likely for my benefit rather than his! He is a man I have admired for his devotion and example to being a Christ follower.
When he determined to retire from local church ministry, he honored me by requesting to join Encouragement International, Inc. (EII) and minister alongside me internationally among the Slavic people. It must have been difficult for him to ‘scale back’ his activities and influence in the ministry. But Pat did so with a humility that continues to serve as an example to me today. He was an asset to EII. Not only did he bring a discipleship program which was translated, introduced and developed in Russian speaking countries as well as Poland and Australia, but he taught when called upon even though that was not in his comfort zone. More importantly, his example of following Christ challenged me in my spiritual refinement and his ‘critiques’ of my ministry are improving our approach to serving the Lord’s people in the Slavic world.
So, when Pat announced during the COVID lockdown that he was retiring from ministry with EII, it was a great disappointment to me. He had been warning me for a couple of years, but it still was a shocking reality that he would no longer be accompanying me on the field. He remains a friend—in absentia! While I no longer have the benefit of personal interaction with him on the field, his influence remains a legacy in my life. When I return to places where we have ministered together, I am always reminded of the conversations and examples he displayed in those places.
Thank you Pat for your service to the Lord through EII and to me as a friend. Blessings as you reduce your ministry (not retirement) from ministering with me around the world to focusing in the community where God has placed you and Sharon. I look forward to worshipping our King with you in eternity.
Hal Hays
President and Founder of EII
Patrick’s Testimony:
When I was a young boy mother thought it was important to expose her children to church; so she sent my brother, sister and me to a church close to our home. I continued going to this church through junior high and into my senior year of high school, not for spiritual reasons, but because I had good friends there. I honestly believed I was doing a good thing for God by showing up. As I walked down the street, I believed that people were looking out their windows saying, “There goes that nice Sullivan boy on his way to church.”
When I was a senior in high school I got a job working at a McDonald’s. One night after work, one of the guys I worked with asked if I would like to play basketball with his high school church team. I quickly said yes and looked forward to the game all week. When I arrived at the gym the night of the game, it was already in progress, and I could hear the noise of the crowd as I changed clothes in the parking lot. The moment I walked into the brightly lit gym out of the darkness of the parking lot, I noticed that people were having a good time but not doing anything wrong.
After the game they invited me to church the next morning. As I sat in the 8:30am service that next day, I heard things about the Bible and God that I had not heard in all the years I attended the other church. Pastor Richard Elvee ended his message by saying that Jesus wanted to be my friend and that I only needed to ask Him for forgiveness and to come into my life. The pastor did not have to ask twice. I quickly did what he asked and trusted Christ as my Savior that morning.
When I went home after the church service, I remember telling my mother that I was feeling different; I was feeling something new and bright that was hard to explain. Until that point in my life I had always believed there was a God and that His son, Jesus, had died for the sins of the world. I just had not made it personal until that day. The other church I had attended all those years was not a spiritual place; it was strictly social. The pastors never talked about a personal relationship with the God of the universe. As I continued to attend this new church, I learned what God’s Word said about life and how I was to live it. God became very real to me as I saw Him in the lives of others and how He worked in the small and big things in my own life. Over the years I have learned the importance of His place in my life and how He changes my desires from pleasing myself to pleasing Him.
Personal Mission Statement:
My mission is to assist other Christians with needed resources to help them mature in relationship with Jesus Christ and be fruitful for His Kingdom.
Devotional Life:
Over the years I have been through many variations of devotional life. Currently, I am reading through the Bible in a year.
Ministry Responsibilities:
We are thankful for the Kingdom investment that Patrick had on the ministry workers of Eastern and Western Europe. His leadership in shepherding and mentoring was a blessing to all he came in contact with. We praise God for his time with Encouragement International.
Patrick worked with Hal to in overseeing the shepherding and mentoring of ministry workers in Eastern and Western Europe. This entailed:
Building relationships through consistent electronic communication and personal visitation
Providing a trusted spiritual environment to share needs and frustrations
Identifying personal and ministry needs and providing wise direction for filling those needs
Overseeing Special Projects that will enhance the ministry of those we serve for the glory of
Encouraging spiritual and ministry growth in by:
positively influencing their spiritual lives
practically resourcing their identified ministry needs
providing pastoral care training through modeling and teaching opportunities
Contact:
Email: encourgagepat@gmail.com