Lewis, Patrick G.
Rev. Patrick G. “Pat” Lewis is a Global Missionary of The United Methodist Church, serving as director of training, promotion and interpretation for Give Ye Them to Eat in Puebla, Mexico.
A nonprofit organization created by the Southeastern Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico, Give Ye Them to Eat strives to combat hunger and poverty in the rural sector of south-central Mexico. In the past 40 years, the ministry has provided disadvantaged farming families with development opportunities to improve their lives and situations so they need not abandon their lands and leave their families by immigrating to the USA in search of jobs and a better income.
Pat earned a Master of Divinity degree at Iliff School of Theology. An ordained elder, he most recently served First United Methodist Church, Billings, Montana, related to the Mountain Sky Annual Conference.
Describing his faith development, he said, “I have been on this journey since I was young, first serving as an acolyte at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Laramie, Wyoming, which led to camp [attendee], camp counselor and youth group.
“From youth camp, where we installed a septic system, repaired tent platforms and cleaned the hiking paths, I found myself drawn to service and mission,” Pat remembers. “My father would take me with him as a youth, and we would help families in need, shoveling walks, repairing houses or fixing vehicles. It has been in my DNA.
“When I was 12, I had an encounter with the Divine during an operation that assured me I was being cared for and loved by God. During my college years, I drifted from the church but remained connected with God through prayer and conversations with those with whom I had a spiritual relationship.”
After college, Pat worked with several nonprofits as part of his employment at a television station.
“I learned about Habitat for Humanity,” he said, “and, within a few years, was the executive director for the central Wyoming Habitat for Humanity in Casper. Here I again felt connected with God and began to know my calling to serve.”
On Habitat mission journeys, he helped build houses in the state of Veracruz. “We worked in the villages,” Pat recalled. “I forged friendships and grew to know the presence of God in the side-by-side work with those who were in need and who served each other to build homes and community. I heard a call from God to ‘make miracles happen.’ I did not know how I would do that, but found myself on a path to serve others and help them to see the miracles they were in the world and to become the bright light God calls each of us to be.”
Within a few years, Pat married Kimberly Kardinal. “We began working in our lives to serve God and be greater connected to helping others realize their lives in God’s kingdom,” he said. “I returned to school and completed a Master of Divinity degree. As an ordained elder, he served in Denver, Salt Lake City, the Grand Junction [Colorado] area, and Billings, Montana.
“Through Habitat, volunteering with UMCOR and serving as a minister, I feel guided to grow in love and service each day so that others may know God’s grace and mercy in their lives. I feel God has particularly called me to serve those in Central America and has afforded me the opportunity to serve there on several occasions, growing my interests and abilities to break down barriers while lifting souls.”
Pat’s favorite part about mission is witnessing the miracles unfold – “the changes in people when they realize that they are called to something more. The peace that comes over them as they begin to see God’s light and find God’s love in their life,” he explained.
He is inspired by Isaiah 58:10 (NIV): “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
“I, too, am inspired through the teachings of John Wesley and the thought that we are here to earn all we can, keep what we need, and give the rest away to grow the world around us,” Pat said. “My wife and I have been blessed with the gifts God has shared with us, and we are blessed also to share of those gifts so the world we live in may be a better place.”
Pat and Kimberly are the parents of twin daughters.