From Saving Merchandise to Saving Souls: An Interview with Church Planter Christian Lefko

Christian Lefko is the new Church Planter in Residence at New Life BFC in Oley. Although he has only been at the church since September 1, the Lord has been working on his heart for many years to lead him to this point.

Christian grew up in a home with parents who love the Lord and serve Him. His grandparents were the Greiner Family Singers who you may remember since they traveled around sharing music and the gospel. (I remember their many visits to Camden BFC, especially the glass harmonica and Theremin.) However, Christian describes himself as a head-knowledge Christian when he was young. It wasn’t until his senior year of high school that the gospel really hit home for him.

That’s Not Fair

Christian was invited to youth group at Trinity BFC in Blandon by a good friend of his who ran track and cross country at Oley High School. They attended and really enjoyed their time there. The friend unexpectedly got sick. Doctors were baffled and were unable to save his life. In March 2013, Christian’s friend passed away. Christian was left with a lot of “why” questions about who God really is and why He let this happen.

Shortly after his friend’s death, Christian heard a sermon at Fleetwood Bible Church where his family attended. The pastor was preaching through the parable of the generous employer (Matthew 20) in which the employer gives equal pay to his workers even though some worked much and some worked little. Throughout the sermon, the pastor repeated “that’s not fair” —the very thing that had been echoing in Christian’s heart. The pastor commented, “That’s right; God’s not fair. And that’s a good thing or else we would all be in hell. God does not give us what we deserve when we trust in Him. God forgives us and gives us His righteousness.” This is when the gospel became heart-knowledge for Christian.

Later, the same pastor preached Romans 12 which emphasized Christian living and serving the Lord with one’s life. This sermon made Christian realize he should consider serving the Lord vocationally. Christian received confirmation of this calling in 2016 at Montrose Bible Conference with the Greiner family ministry. Although his grandparents had passed away ten years before, Christian’s extended family continued on with the music ministry. They gave Christian the opportunity to preach at one of the events. Christian was in college and inexperienced, but he received lots of positive feedback from that one session. Christian could now think of no other thing he’d rather do than serve the Lord full-time.

Reaching the Culture 

When Christian finished college, he went to Dallas Theological Seminary. He graduated in 2022 and was drawn to church planting in order to reach communities of people who are unreached right in his own backyard. Although initially Christian had thought of going far from home, the Lord led him back to the place where he grew up in Berks County. Christian said, “I get the culture there and because I am someone who grew up with smart phones as a digital native, I am equipped to reach younger people more easily than pastors from older generations. I also know the skeptical questions my generation asks and have thought through them.” The thing that really excites Christian is figuring out how to reach the culture while staying completely biblically grounded.

One unique way the Lord has honed Christian’s heart for the unsaved is through his 13 year long stint working security at Target. He quipped, “I used to focus on saving merchandise and now I can focus on saving souls!”  His time in security gave him opportunity to interact with people he may not have ordinarily come in contact with especially people who are involved in crime rings or are involved in drug use. Working security allowed Christian to think through grace and mercy and how it fits with justice.

Christian’s wife, Bekah, is a nurse at Lancaster General Hospital. She is very onboard with this new church planting venture. She doesn’t know all the details yet about how exactly the Lord will use her in a church planting core group, but she is great with kids and was a soccer player at Liberty University. Maybe those skills and interests will come into play.

Church Planter in Residence

Christian has only been at New Life BFC in Oley since September 1, but he has done a lot of reaching out to Dan Hoffstetter already. Not too long ago Dan Hoffstetter was in Christian’s shoes as a Church Planter in Residence at New Life BFC. Just this past year Redeemer BFC in Topton, PA graduated from Church Extension. They have seen 11 baptisms so far in 2024. Dan Hoffstetter is very grateful for Oley BFC and the way they were able to be an incubator for the church planting process.

Christian is still in the very early stages of the church planting journey. He has been scoping out potential planting sites as well as getting to know the people of New Life since eventually the church will send out a core group with Christian to the new site.

Please pray for Christian and Bekah Lefko as they start a new church plant. Pray for Christian and the leaders of New Life BFC as they develop the church planting plan. Pray for the Lord to move in the hearts of the people of New Life as they consider becoming a part of the Core Group Launch Team.