Editor’s note: Answering  The Purcell Register’s five questions this week is Justin Blankenship, pastor of Landmark Church in Purcell.

Q. What do you enjoy about your work as a pastor?

A. From a very young age I wanted to be a preacher like my Father. There are pictures of me at two years old holding a Bible and acting like I was preaching. At 11 years old I felt that God called me to preach and I preached my first sermon at 13.

After high school I moved to Oklahoma to attend Bible College and ended up staying here. That eventually led me to become the pastor of Landmark (formally Purcell PH Church) in 2008.

Q. What do you enjoy about your work as a pastor?

A. My greatest joy of pastoring is seeing lives changed and transformed by the power of the gospel. I love being able to make connections with people and walk with them through life.

Seeing people go from hopeless to finding hope in Christ and God radically changing their lives is a joy that is indescribable.

Q. What challenges do you face?

A.  Some of the greatest challenges of ministry is walking with people through difficult seasons of life. Seeing people relapse or lose a loved one and trying to be there to offer hope can be difficult.

Many times there are no answers for what they are experiencing and the only thing you can do is be there to offer the ministry of presence during their trying time. Watching them experience these things is painful and has many challenges.

Q. How was it growing up as a pastor’s child and how does that influence your decisions with your own children?

A. Not all preacher’s kids had my experience, but I loved growing up with my father, a pastor. My parents were very good at keeping bad experiences from me and making the ministry of the church part of our normal life.

Our boys are very social and love visiting people and places with me. We want church life to be a positive thing and something they enjoy being a part of and so we have worked to make it part of our normal life.

Q. What do you like to do in your spare time?

A. With a four year old, a two year old and a newborn baby I wish I knew what spare time looked like. When I’m not doing things for the church I enjoy spending time with my family.

We try and keep the boys busy by letting them play at parks and be outside as much as possible.

If I am able I love to sneak in a round of golf a few times a year.