Tim was raised in a churchgoing family in Eastern Ontario. His father was a professor of classics at the University of Ottawa, and his mother remained at home, raising four boys. They lived on 20 acres of bush country where the two seasons were snow and mosquitos. Tim’s father was from a Plymouth Brethren background and his mother was a high Anglican from England.

The family attended an evangelical congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Tim traces his conversion to his late teen years when he was struggling with identity issues and depression. He had moved into Pentecostal circles to be with the few school friends he had.

Having graduated from high school, and still searching for direction, he applied for a one-year program at a nondenominational Bible College in Toronto. He embraced ministry activities, including street preaching and coffee house counseling. Friends challenged him that God had gifted him for pastoral ministry and recommended he pursue a bachelor of theology degree with a pastoral major. He did so, graduating in 1989.

Lynette was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She is the ninth of 15 children, all of whom learned to read by sounding out words in the Bible during family devotions. She is a certified teacher and taught for over a decade in Trinidad’s primary schools.

In 1990, Lynette traveled to Toronto pursuing healing for debilitating back pain. While recovering, she and Tim met at a Pentecostal church where she was a popular Sunday school teacher. He had recently graduated from Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale University College). Their friendship grew while working together on children’s ministry, and they married in 1991.

Our marriage was one of a confluence of changes that diverted Tim from pursuing pastoral ministry. Another was his move into the Reformed orbit by way of a growing conviction that Christianity was a worldview and not simply a get-out-of-jail card.

Once we were married, Lynette’s daughter, Ulyn, 13 years old at the time, came to Toronto to live with us. Our son, Daniel, intruded on our second anniversary, Dec. 7, 1993. Soon after this, we returned to Ottawa.

Not long after this move, Tim found work as an assistant to a member of parliament (MP) in Canada’s national government. Tim proved himself in the areas of research, writing, and analysis, enabling long-term employment in this field. Over 15 years of this period were spent employed by the second MP for whom he worked. His employment ended with the completion of the MP’s final term in office in Oct. 2015.

We attended the Ottawa RPC for our first three years in Ottawa. We began attending the Russell, Ont., RPC as soon as the group began meeting for Lord’s Day worship services. We remained there until our move to Pittsburgh, Pa.

During these years in Ottawa, Tim, with Lynette often working alongside him, produced a biblical worldview newsletter, launched a tabloid monthly paper with his brother, wrote three books, and launched ChristianGovernance, a ministry to promote worldview thinking and to disciple youth.

He Leadeth Me…

In 2010, we were reintroduced to nouthetic counseling. It was of great benefit personally to us, and we became passionate about promoting and teaching this biblical counseling to others. Subsequently, in 2013 some pivotal things occurred:

• Tim became more excited about biblical counseling than politics. As he pursued NANC (now ACBC) certification, he realized that he could complete an MDiv at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) with a concentration in biblical counseling.

• In Aug. 2013, before Tim even thought about applying to RPTS, we had made a commitment to faithful financial stewardship. We secured financial counseling with the Canadian Christian organization More Than Enough for Sept. 2013. This helped us to become debt-free over the next year, except for our mortgage.

• In Sept. 2013, Tim applied to RPTS. He was accepted in December. He began classes via distance learning in Mar. 2014.

• Also in the fall of 2013, Tim’s MP employer announced that he would be leaving politics with the Oct. 2015 federal election. During the subsequent year (2014–15), Tim had enough time to pursue almost the maximum allowable distance learning credits before moving to Pittsburgh for onsite learning at RPTS.

• In Jan. 2014, we bought memberships in Toastmasters to improve our communication skills. Before we left Canada for Pittsburgh, Tim earned his competent communicator and competent leadership certificates.

In Jan. 2016 we moved into our Pittsburgh home, and Tim continued his RPTS studies on campus. God graciously provided a furnished six-bedroom home for us, at a very accessible price, from a graduating student. We now share our home with a mix of longer-term renters and Airbnb guests. This has been an important source of financial provision from the Lord.

While in Pittsburgh, to eliminate unnecessary financial stressors and to remain solvent, we sold our vacation rental property in southern Florida and our home in Ontario.

We began attending Covenant Fellowship RPC upon our arrival in Pittsburgh. In coming to RPTS, the Lord has used couples both in Covenant Fellowship and at the seminary to walk beside us and mentor us in key areas of our lives. God was continuing the work of sanctification and preparation for full-time pastoral ministry that He began with us in the years leading up to our move to Pittsburgh and the seminary. God has provided for all of our needs.

Tim graduated from RPTS in May with his MDiv, and we are planning our next steps, which include Tim completing his presbytery exams in order to become licensed to receive a call.

Challenges and Blessings of Health

One of the greatest blessings we exper­ienced since moving to Pittsburgh was the healing of our now 25-year-old son in 2017. RPTS and local RP congregations grieved with us when Daniel’s health in Ontario plummeted and rejoiced with us when he was healed.

When Daniel was nine years old, he had a bicycle accident. This caused internal bruising and scarring on his abdominal wall. As he grew, nerve endings got trapped in the scar tissue. He experienced 13 years of almost continuous pain. One brief respite enabled him to attend TFY.

We tried a variety of traditional and alternative treatments. Following an experimental treatment, we ran out of ideas in Dec. 2016.

Then Daniel remembered a Christian Chinese acupuncturist in Austin, Tex., with whom he had spoken 18 months earlier. Daniel had hosted his wife as an Airbnb guest at our home, and they discussed Daniel’s suffering. The doctor agreed to waive his fees to treat Daniel, Tim found free accommodations with one of his brother’s friends, and Allegiant offered very low-priced flights from Pittsburgh to Austin. Daniel was treated for three weeks, sometimes twice a day, with acupuncture and a Chinese herbal tea. He returned to us healed and has had no relapse since. He is back in Canada rebuilding his life. We serve a merciful, wonder-working God.

Ministry Opportunities with Covenant Fellowship

We made the right choice in settling at Covenant Fellowship (CF). We are growing special friendships in the congregation, and we have many opportunities to serve. Tim completed an internship with the congregation. Tim was also taken under care of the Presbytery of the Alleghenies upon the recommendation of the CF session. In April 2018, Tim was licensed to preach by the presbytery.

Lynette organized a community garden effort, which began with 18 vegetable garden plots around the parking lot of the church. It expanded to a community orchard on a neighboring vacant lot we purchased and to two pollinator gardens. This multi-stage effort involved a growing network of community partners as well as much engagement from members of the congregation.

Blessings through the Seminary

Among the many benefits of being in Pittsburgh and attending RPTS was the new RP Home visitation practicum. Tim began to visit the denomination’s seniors’ residence while earning credit hours toward his degree. He continues to visit residents regularly, including the nine members of our own CF congregation. He also often leads a monthly devotional study for the nursing floor residents.

We benefited greatly from the personal counseling ministry and counseling teaching of Prof. George and Eileen Scipione of RPTS’ Biblical Counseling Center.

Tim has been blessed with many opportunities to preach during his time at seminary, providing pulpit supply and now doing some candidating from Western Quebec to Phoenix, Ariz. He also preached at the western Pennsylvania branch of Teen Challenge, a Christian rehabilitation ministry for men overcoming substance abuse.

This has accelerated the growth of his competency in preaching and enabled him to balance his academic studies with active ministry to a much greater degree than he anticipated. These opportunities highlight the value for RPTS students of being on campus for their studies and being integrated into one of the local congregations during their time at the seminary.

Although we have seen the hand of God over our entire lives, these last few years have been a period of dramatic growth for both of us in faith and sanctification as we have launched into a new phase of life, and into many unknowns. We are, therefore, very much preoccupied with thoughts of thanksgiving over this latest chapter of our lives in which God has led us from Canada to Pittsburgh with many tangible evidences of His guidance and care.

We had character and relationship growth to deal with, and the Lord provided biblical counseling resources of various kinds for that need. We had communication weaknesses to overcome, and the Lord led us to Toastmasters. We had financial stewardship issues to take care of, and the Lord provided a financial coach. All those structures were put in place before Tim even thought about applying to RPTS.

Now we need to take the faith He has grown in us and apply it in both waiting and in moving forward as we continue to serve at Covenant Fellowship, as Tim looks toward completing his presbytery exams and becoming licensed to receive a call, and as we wait for US immigration approval to remain in America to minister.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths (Prov. 3:5-6).

Tim and Lynette Bloedow are members of Covenant Fellowship (Wilkinsburg, Pa., RPC), having moved to Pittsburgh from Russell, Ont., in Jan. 2016 for Tim to complete an MDiv at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary and to pursue pastoral ministry. Their children, Ulyn (married) and Daniel, remain in Canada.