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Rev. Jason Larson, obviously a handsome and debonair man, was born in
Olivia, Minnesota in 1971. In ’72 his parents moved to Holstein, Iowa where he
spent the remainder of his childhood terrorizing the good German people there.
He graced Galva-Holstein Community School with his amazing cerebral gifts, charming
acting skills and gazelle-like athleticism (the people of UMCL have no idea what
happened to these gifts between then and now).
He was confirmed a member of Holstein United Methodist Church where he preached a
few times and was even a pretty effective communicator. He knew at 13 that
God must have had a call on his life but was too ashamed to claim it. “We had
a brilliant pastor, and I could never have measured up to him. So, I figured
I was not good enough for God to use,” tells Rev. Larson.
It is surmised, by the people of UMCL, that Rev. Larson lost the above cerebral and
gazelle-like gifts after attending the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.
He majored in Mass Communications with an emphasis on radio and television production.
One of his gifts that did remain was his ability to communicate with people.
After graduation he worked for South Dakota Public TV in Vermillion and WNAX radio in Yankton.
It was in Yankton that he met Jessica and her girls Hailey and Katelynn. Jessica
fell wildly in love with him and in 1997 the three ladies allowed him in to their lives
permanently - they were married in Yankton. After that came two sets of twins,
Dylan and Cole and Noah and Grace. The entire eight settled down in Holstein where
Jessica ran a daycare and Jason ran a backhoe.
After they served the youth of Holstein UMC for two years, the call was too great and the eight
moved to Le Mars in the summer of 2002. Jason attended seminary at North American
Baptist Seminary in Sioux Falls while serving First United Methodist Church. Jessica
held their busy household together while the two became acquainted with the people of First
UMC and Le Mars.
Their children are growing along with their marriage and ministry to the new United Methodist
Church of Le Mars. Jason is the pastor in charge of youth and family ministries with
duties to confirmation, Kids 4 Christ, youth group, and the WeCare team. The eight
thoroughly enjoy camping, swimming, and fishing at their family cabin in Minnesota.
Jason loves motorcycling too, but every time he ordered one, he got a set of twins… so he
stopped ordering motorcycles.
Joshua Hansen was raised in the United Methodist Church, in Bagley Iowa,
but church wasn’t really his priority growing up. He was baptized, confirmed,
and attended Sunday school, but it was more of something he thought he should do because everyone else was
doing it. He never remembered doubting the Truth of what he heard there, and he certainly never
left the church. He just wasn’t really there, either. His heart wasn’t in it.
Josh's senior year of high school saw him join the Army Reserves. After graduation,
he left for Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training. It’s strange sometimes
when we look back and see how God has used our desires and tendencies without our even realizing it.
You see, Josh loves to read. Growing up, he would always have his nose in a book.
At Basic Training, the only book allowed was the Bible. So, for the first time in his life
he was reading the Bible for himself. That can change you. If you let Him,
God will touch your life and touch your heart, and it’s often Scripture that’s used to do it.
Josh remembers one day when he was walking along doing KP at Fort Learnardwood when it hit him
that he was supposed to be a pastor. It was plain as day, and he didn’t know what to do with that.
Josh's reaction was basically to say: “I’m doomed! Whatever it is you think you need God,
I’m not your guy. I can’t do this!”
That is basically where Josh was for a long time.
To him it feels a little bit blasphemous to say it now, but if you had asked him then what he
thought about entering the ministry, Josh probably would have told you it was the stupidest
idea he had ever heard. Josh had a list of excuses as long as your arm. He wasn’t holy enough,
he wasn’t outgoing enough, and there wasn’t enough money to be made in it. The list went on.
And so, Josh forgot about his Call. Perhaps to be more accurate, he tried to forget.
Josh went to Iowa State where he married Audrey. Every once in a while he would feel he was
supposed to be in ministry, but he always beat it down. Always talked himself out of it.
It became like some deep, dark secret that he needed to keep to himself. It was too ridiculous
to talk about, to think about, to dwell on for very long. It was during this time that his father,
Garold, heard and accepted his call to the ministry. Josh thought to himself “you could do this
too, it’s not impossible”. However, again he pushed those thoughts down.
Looking back Josh can see where God used even his weaknesses to benefit the Kingdom.
Josh had been an Aerospace Engineering major, but in his junior year, he started having serious
trouble in some of his classes. To make matters worse, the department was re-organizing
its courses which would have added about two years to the time it would take to complete his degree.
Josh changed majors and graduated the next year with a Bachelor’s of Liberal Studies. As a degree,
it’s more or less worthless, except to go on for further schooling. It has turned out to be a
great basis for a seminary degree, though. It seemed to be something of a waste at the time,
but it was probably the only way Josh would have ended up here. As long and as hard as Josh
fought the Lord on this, he just can’t imagine himself listening to his Call if he was still
chasing that career path. God had to break Josh down before he would be willing to truly
turn to Him, and listen to what he was being told.
When Josh's wife graduated with her Masters, she got a job at Wells' Dairy. So, they moved to Le Mars.
Josh was on the job hunt, and came to be interviewed at Youth for Christ in Sioux City.
They didn’t have a job for him, but during the interview they got to talking about how people are
called to different professions. Some people are called to be carpenters, others to be doctors,
and so on. As Josh was leaving, it washed over him that the only thing he had ever felt called
to do was to become a pastor. Over the next couple of days, Josh couldn’t shake the idea.
He didn’t know why, but all of those excuses he had used over the years no longer sounded so convincing.
So, he went to church, and talked to Jason, as it turned out, about entering the ministry.
Jason put Josh in touch with the right people to get the ball rolling.
That night Josh told his wife that he was going to be a pastor. It was quite a shock to her,
since he had never mentioned it to her before, but she’s been amazing through it all.
Over the years since then, there’s been a lot of uncertainty: about school, about finances,
about where they would live or what they would do once Josh was ordained. About how they
were going to raise a family if they couldn’t be sure of staying in one place indefinitely.
There was uncertainty about what it meant to be a pastor’s wife. About what it meant to be
a pastor, for that matter.
Time and again, they have had to remind themselves that God will get them through it.
It can sound a little trite until you have nowhere else to turn, but He will give us just enough
to manage. It can be a hard lesson to remember, but it’s always true if you let it be.
And that’s Josh's call. Josh doesn't think it’s a very unique story, but that’s how it happened for him.
In the meantime, Josh has been attending Sioux Falls Seminary. In January of 2007, Josh and his wife
were blessed with their first child, Maggie. Josh and his family look forward to getting to know
you better, and hopes that all of us can grow closer to Christ together.
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© 2007