Member Spotlight: Shaun and Cristi Lewis, Civil Servant Ministries

If Christians don’t bring the light of the gospel to a place, it will inevitably be spiritually dark. Two Samaritan members have been called to bring that light to the Illinois state capital. Bob Vanden Bosch has been lobbying for Christian values for more than 20 years, and Shaun Lewis is ministering through prayer and Bible study to legislators and others working in government. Here’s Shaun’s story. You can read Bob’s here.

Shaun Lewis is shining the light of the Gospel in a “very dark place”—the Illinois General Assembly.

The Samaritan Ministries member’s mission as part of Civil Servant Ministries is to evangelize legislators, Illinois Supreme Court justices, and staff members, lead them in Bible studies, and minister to them personally.

He never expected to be there, though.

Shaun’s route from his hometown of Peoria, Illinois, where Samaritan Ministries is located, to Springfield, the capital of Illinois, was via the Master’s Seminary in California. He had a heart for missions even before graduating from Bradley University, but was advised by church leaders to continue to test it and serve in the local church. After a few years of working at Caterpillar Inc. as a mechanical engineer, Shaun’s desire for missions was still there, and the Lewises’ congregation, Living Hope Community Church, sent him forward to seminary, where he studied from 2004-2007.

During Shaun’s third year at the seminary, the Lord unexpectedly started to work on his heart about ministering to political leaders.

“I had no background in politics,” Shaun says. “I didn’t know a lot about it, so I wasn’t very interested in this kind of ministry.”

But Shaun started to realize that most churches tend to be either politically passive or overactive. Either way, not many of them view political leaders as lost men or women who need Christ. “We tend to overlook that, when we get into politics,” he says.

He started to see the political arena as a mission field, and both he and his wife, Cristi, felt pulled in that direction. They moved to Springfield, Illinois, and Shaun began to visit offices in the state Capitol, meeting representatives and senators, meeting lobbyists.

“Things developed from there, and the ministry started to become established,” Shaun says. He eventually affiliated with Capitol Commission and now is overseen by a local church and ministering as Civil Servant Ministries.

When he first arrived, he quickly learned about the darkness of politics.

“It’s dark in the sense that there’s not a lot of interest or acceptance of Biblical truth,” Shaun says. Even the approval of same-sex “marriage” by the Illinois Legislature and governor in late 2013 was merely another manifestation of politics’ darkness.

Shaun’s way of trying to shine light is through teaching the Light of God’s Word. He holds weekly Bible studies in the governor’s office while the state Legislature is in session. Legislators, staffers, and lobbyists, such as Bob Vanden Bosch, attend, more than a dozen people some weeks.

Those who don’t make it can still benefit from the teaching, though. Shaun delivers a printed version of that week’s study to all 177 offices in the state Capitol complex. Ministry happens then, too, whether it’s simply getting feedback from staffers on other studies, being asked for prayer, or counseling individuals.

Shaun conducts a similar Bible study at the Illinois Supreme Court for justices and staff when the court is sitting and delivers studies to that building’s 30 offices. Seven justices plus some staffers typically attend those studies. He doesn’t leave out local politicians, either, holding a more informal, home-based Bible study for members of the Sangamon County Board.

Shaun spends about 15 hours over three days each week during a legislative session going office to office in the Capitol building distributing his teachings, praying with people, having conversations. His Thursday morning study is only 30 minutes, but he’ll usually spend about two hours at the Illinois Capitol in conversations.

His ministry isn’t restricted to Springfield, though. Whenever the court or Legislature isn’t in session, he travels around the state to meet with elected officials and to speak in churches, where he tries to get congregations to think of politics as a missions field.

Shaun says it’s “kind of hard for me to gauge how many people have become believers” as a result of his efforts in Springfield.

“There’s been a lot of interest,” he says. “A lot of people have responded positively. Time and truth go hand in hand. If somebody has come to Christ through this ministry, I think that will become more apparent in time.”

Mixing politics and faith hasn’t been an issue, Shaun says, even when he has, for example, taught on parts of Scripture that are blatantly pro-life such as Psalm 139, with verses such as “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb” (NIV, v.13).

“I am pro-life and everyone pretty much knows that, but that’s not the identity I’m trying to take on,” he says. “I want to be very careful of my identity. I want to be seen first and foremost as the guy who teaches the Bible in the Capitol and ministers to people. If they ask me where I stand on an issue or what Scripture says about an issue, I will gladly tell them.”

He says that while he stays away from issues, he also didn’t mince words when politicians who profess to be Christians voted in favor of same-sex “marriage.”

“As a minister of the Gospel, I made it clear to them that ‘You know I love you but what you are affirming is an offense to God,’” he says. “That was a little bit more of a difficult time for me. Some of those people I still remain in contact with, one of them still comes to the Bible study but knows we don’t agree on that issue.

“I just want to be faithful with the ministry of the Word.”