While on a call one time, Sloan was spraying inside a house. Suddenly a SWAT team burst through the door – weapons drawn – looking for a suspect at the residence. Sloan and his wife were detained before the suspect was found hiding in the attic.
“It was a rental property and one of the family members was a convicted criminal,” Sloan said. “It must’ve been a big deal, because around 40 cops came in. They put me on the ground, pulled my wife out of the car. We were in 30-degree weather for about 40 minutes.”
On another occasion, an Indian family would not harm or remove rats in their home due to their religious beliefs. It eventually reached a point, though, where the infestation forced them to call Sloan.
“They asked for me to get rid of them; do whatever I needed to do,” he said.
New City Church has provided financial support for Believe Church, including in areas such as assessment and training. Through his company, Sloan focuses on pest control that requires continued visits – “No snakes or wildlife,” he said – and thus, consistent residual income.
It’s a model he’d like to see other church planters copy.
“I’d like to train ‘pest pastors’ who can offset their costs while building relationships with others,” he said. “Like anything, you have to do it the right way. Iron out the wrinkles as you go and don’t cut corners.”
A core team of about 25 adults and children meet on Sunday nights in the Sloan garage for Bible study. It appears those who first met Sloan as an exterminator are set to join them.
“We had a big client dinner last week, with about 80 people, and announced to them about the church,” Sloan said. “Our launch team served the food.
“About seven families came up to me afterward to talk about the church. They said, ‘Yeah, we want to be part of that.’”
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
