DP1

Steve Ruttan - "I Trust in You"

DP1 Ministry Season 1 Episode 10

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0:00 | 33:15

Steve Ruttan, a 17-year veteran Canadian Armed Forces armored crewman and current DP1 instructor at the Armored School in Gagetown, New Brunswick, shares how his Christian faith shapes his military career, family life, and daily walk with Christ.

Faith Journey 
Raised by a bold, Gospel-sharing mother and mentored by a faith-filled boss, Steve recommitted his life to Christ around age 21 after recognizing God’s protection during his challenging Katimavik youth volunteer year and after losing his best friend in a car accident.

Family & Church Life 
Steve and his wife Megan are active at Oromocto Baptist Church (just five minutes from home), where he’s known for greeting newcomers and making coffee. They pray with their daughter nightly, and the church has connected them with other military families.

Faith in the Military 
In his early years in Petawawa (2009–2015/16), Steve kept his faith mostly private amid the intense Afghanistan-era tempo. Now as an instructor in Gagetown, he openly shares how prayer and trust in God give him calm, positivity, and strength—especially during exhausting ruck marches, competitions, and high-pressure training with live weapons and heavy armored vehicles.

Real-Life Examples 
Steve points to multiple “close calls” on the range and in training where God clearly protected him and his students (including a near-miss with a live grenade). He credits these moments—and his improved work-life balance since moving to Gagetown—to God’s faithfulness.

Daily Walk  
Steve maintains his relationship with Christ through early-morning prayer walks (often to work), family prayer time, and regular church attendance. He encourages others facing “the wall” in training or life to turn to prayer and rely on God’s power rather than their own.

Overall, the episode presents Steve as a humble, steady example of quiet Christian witness in uniform—showing how faith brings peace, protection, purpose, and encouragement in the demanding world of military service and family life. Warm, practical, and encouraging.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome to DP1 podcast. Today we have Steve Ratan with us. And Steve, it's good to see you. Same, good to see you. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00

All right. So I am currently at Norm or correct in Gage Town. I'm posted to the Armored School. I've been in uh 17 years. I joined up in 2009. I am Armored Crewman or Armored NCM, uh whatever you want to change the name to. I was originally in Petawa for I think 10 years. And then we have got posted here, and I've been here ever since. I'm happily married. I have one daughter, and I honestly we hope to stay here as long as possible.

SPEAKER_01

We've got it in the Gage Town area or a muckto area.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, actually Gage Town. I like working out to school. We love the area, and we actually live really close by to Romakto Baptist Church, ironically enough.

SPEAKER_01

Oh well, you go to OBC. You know Pastor Perry. Yes, I do. Oh, good stuff. How do you like it at ABC or OBC?

SPEAKER_00

OBC. I actually I actually like it. When we first got here, we tried a few other places around, and ironically enough, Megan found our Mukto Baptist Church, and we literally live like five minutes away.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that's great. Can't beat that.

SPEAKER_00

No, exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Good. So we're gonna we'll start uh asking you a few questions here, and I want to start off with uh some faith-based questions. And how did you come to know how did you come to faith in Christ?

SPEAKER_00

Well, growing up, I have really two people I can credit it with. One was my mom, she was very religious right up till the end. And my other one was my first boss when I was a teenager. He I grew up, I was born in Timmins, Ontario, a really small town in northern Ontario, and we it was actually a small division actually called South Porcupine. It's a tiny, I think like three to five thousand people, so it's really small. So it was uh we moved there and we found this little church, and it was a small little church, and then when I became a teenager, he was my boss, so he was a really, really good boss. So it was funny. If I was, you know, the teenager and decided to sleep on a Sunday, I showed up on a Monday to work with him after school. He's like, I didn't see you at church on Sunday. Guess what we're gonna do? Like, all right, so I literally had a sermon, and it was really good. It was really because uh he was an aircraft mechanic. Oh, yeah, so at a young age, I got to experience you know, mechanical trades and stuff like that. And like he's again, he was very religious and he was a great guy. And what better way to see God's creation than up in the air? He taught me how to fly at like 15, 16 years old. Wow, there was awesome, man. Yeah, it was quite the experience, and we're stuck in an airplane and we can either sit in silence, which we have done a few times, or he we would talk, and again, we were up in the air, we could see everything. So, what better way to see the creation of God than through the air?

SPEAKER_01

All right, man. That sounds good. What is the moment everything changed for you as far as Christ is concerned?

SPEAKER_00

Well, growing up, like my mom again, she was very religious. Okay. Uh uh everything changed uh for me after a few tragic tragic moments in my life. Yeah, so uh I think 16, 15 years old, my best friend moved away from Timmins, and I think he moved to London. And I think it was like a year later, uh, I got the news that you know he was killed in a car accident at a young, young age, and I don't want to say I spiraled, but it was definitely was a rough spot in my teenage years. I did not take it very well at all, so that kind of spiraled out, and it wasn't till uh yeah, so high school wasn't really that great. Then uh after high school, yeah, I didn't apply for the military right away. I applied for this government program called Katimovik. The easiest, easiest way I could describe this, it was considered it was like a co-op placement, so I volunteered for this program and I got to move all across Canada and take uh do different jobs. So, one of the jobs was working with troubled youth in Kelowna, BC. Wow, and it wasn't until I finished the program. There were some spicy situations where I've been in uh while working there was troubled youth. Yeah, there's a lot of I have had knives pulled at me so many times. I have been cornered by three or four people, and it wasn't till I got back home after the program ended. I told my mom all that, and she told me, she's like, Yeah, I prayed for your protection. And I was like, Huh. Okay, because yeah, I have had so many people in my younger years either threatened me either physically with knives or by like just brute force, right? And it didn't really clue in till like 21 years old. That's when I was like, Okay, I I spiraled away. I I want I want to be better, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Right on, man.

SPEAKER_00

And I've been trying.

SPEAKER_01

Keep trying, brother. Keep trying, that's good. Nothing wrong with that. Are you currently part of a church family? And I think we did you did say you were tell us about tell us about your relationship with OBC and oh actually with OBC.

SPEAKER_00

We've been there for uh how they help your family and oh we the help we help each other out. Actually at OBC when I get a chance to, I try to ironically enough, I make the coffee for everyone because I love coffee. I love me meeting new people and just oh you're the popular guy. I love making coffee.

SPEAKER_01

Besides Pastor Perry. So you you and Pastor Perry are the two popular guys.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it's not just me. There's a whole team that makes the coffee. I just try to try, but that's how I make. But they just they're very close by, and I mean, my wife, she has a lot of friends through the church. I actually have met a lot of people that in the military through the church. It's actually ironically enough. I see more people around, and it was like, oh hey, I recognize you, recognize you. Or I was like seeing him on Sunday. Like actually, a funny story is like I'll see Peter like every Sunday, I'll make him coffee or something, like and we'll talk. And then there was one day I saw him in uniform. I looked at him and I was like really confused. And then he saw me. We looked at each other, we're like, Who is this guy? Then it clued in, we're like, Oh hey, and then so it helps me that way, whereas like I get to meet more more Christian people around the base, and also they have a good my wife has uh some good friends that we met along the way, and there's a bunch of programs throughout. So I know my wife tries to make it to a few of them. My daughter used to go to, I think it was Glow Kids, if I remember correctly, the little kids program before she got busy with uh Taekwondo.

SPEAKER_01

So, but they do have we do try to help out each other uh a lot of times, and so would you would you say that or Mocto Baptist Church is a is a really military family friendly church?

SPEAKER_00

Definitely really, really friendly. Uh, you don't have to be in the military to go to go there. I know there's a lot of military members, both serving and retiree, that go go there, but I know if you're ever to walk in the door and you're brand new, it's probably will be me or someone else on the coffee who'll be like, I know Perry or there's a Perry or Ryan or Sheridan, they're like the first ones to greet you and say, Hey, first time, and then I'll be there with a coffee and I'll be like, Hey, what would you like? And you know, try to make it up all fancy for you.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, right, good stuff.

SPEAKER_00

But definitely very after all the other churches growing up, definitely the Ramukto Baptist Church is one of the friendliest, welcoming ones that I've been to.

SPEAKER_01

So OBC is the is your outstanding church right now.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

That's great. It's good to have a good family church, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, especially I suppose if you if you get posted and to know that you have a church that's you know there for your family too, eh? Which would be great.

SPEAKER_00

Posted or on course because I know Gage Town is a big training school.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's true, that is true. So, how do you keep close to Christ, Steve?

SPEAKER_00

Uh, ironically enough, I I like to go for walks. For those that know me, you know that I take walking very seriously, especially as a DP1 instructor. I like to go for walks, and it depends on how much time I'm giving, is how far I get to go. But honestly, yeah, I like to go for walks, ironically enough. So when I'm teaching, and if you've ever been to a school and part of a DP1 or basics uh section, it's very, very early in the mornings. So there's been some times where Megan can vouch for me where my phone will go off at 4, 4:30. I'll have breakfast and I get my stuff on and I go and I walk to work, ironically enough. Yeah, I walk to work and I use that time to just clear my head of any anything, and I just walk. I walk to work and I'm all refreshed, ironically enough. I'm refreshed, ready to go, ready to go, ready to wake up the students at whatever time and see how they're doing. Get the day started, get the day started, and but no, I go for walks as much as I can.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, let's talk about family now. And are there any other members of your family who know Christ too? Like in your immediate family, like you say your wife, your daughter.

SPEAKER_00

My wife, yes, she's she's very religious as well. My daughter, we're we're slowly we're working on that. Okay, and other than that, unfortunately, like my dad. Um I'm not too sure of my half-brother is actually in uh Winnipeg. My dad and my half brother are both in Winnipeg. Uh I know my brother, he goes to a church there, and he he preaches every so often on a Sunday there.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, right on. So you he's a pastor, is he?

SPEAKER_00

Uh, not a pastor, but he helps out a lot.

SPEAKER_01

He helps out a lot. Wow, that's great. And you said your mom was she knew the Lord too, right?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yes, she uh she was she did, and she was not scared to share it with anybody. Oh yeah, oh yeah, no fear. She had no fear right until the end. No fear, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that's that's awesome, man.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah, she was she was someone to talk to for sure. Like you could say, hey, how's it going? And she would talk about faith and everything, and she even if you ask her for the time, she would be like, Hey, the time is you know, two o'clock in the afternoon. By the way, have you heard this? And she would talk to anybody.

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow, that is cool. So how do you you know what experiences have you and your family faced where you have seen God act in your lives?

SPEAKER_00

Uh, for I can tell you right now, for for me specifically, uh, he has kept me safe because one of my main jobs here at the armor school is teaching brand new people how to drive.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, really? Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_00

So I teach them how to drive like small vehicles, and then I teach them how to drive the bigger 30 to 24 to 30 ton armored vehicles. So there has been interesting times, interesting times, and the only way I could describe it is through you know the Lord's protection, because I haven't told Megan everything, but there has definitely been some days that it was like, oh boy, at the end of the day, wow to stop, look up, take a breath. Yes, and same with teaching uh recruits uh weapons. There has been a spicy incident that happened on my previous course that just finished at the end of March. We had a student get really nervous, unfortunately, at the wrong time. It was during the live grenade. Uh-oh. And yes, and the uh unfortunately dropped dropped it while they're pulling the pin. So uh yep, everything again, everything happened, all people okay, everyone's okay. But it was really that moment where took a moment, looked up at the sky, and didn't say anything, but I just looked up at the sky and was like, Oh yeah, we're good. Let's have some coffee, okay? Take a few minutes. All right, everyone good, sweet. Let's continue on.

SPEAKER_01

Catch your breath and away you go.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, there you go. Yep.

SPEAKER_01

How do you and your family stay close to Christ?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, well, I know my wife, we usually she prays usually every night with Natalia and every morning before school. Okay, I try to be around and we try to go to church as much as we can, and we're involved in the church. I know my wife, when she can, she helps out at the kids' nursery or the the kids' nursery or the kids' wings, and I help out as much as I can. No, with the coffee, just meeting everyone and talking.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that sounds good. That's great, man. Let's talk about work now. And were there any tensions or challenges in being a Christian in the military?

SPEAKER_00

Uh it was at the very start. I know through the 2009 to 2000 2015-16, that was a really big challenge, especially if being religious in the in that time frame, especially in in uh Petawa, with everything that was going on. It was a very yes, it was very, I'm not gonna say awkward, but it was a different time, you know. And that job, you know, during the Afghanistan time frame was to fight. Right. And my unit, I know specifically, lost a lot of members, okay, at that that time, unfortunately. And so being in that environment well it wasn't as well say open as it is now, you know, okay. Where religion was it was a more uh I'm not gonna say uh frowned upon being religious, but it was definitely not as friendly as it was.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so you you were you were uh like a Christian, but you sort of just kept it to yourself or unless somebody asked you.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it was it was they didn't necessarily ask me because uh again at that time I was like very quiet because that that atmosphere was very different for for me, so I was very quiet, I didn't share a lot, but I also didn't talk about you know the daily activities people were doing. So a couple people asked me like questions, they're like, Why don't you talk about you know this, this, this, this, or that, you know, why not to? Are you like what's up with you? So then I talked a little bit of it, and then uh and then one guy even was directly like very direct, and he asked me a few questions, but I won't repeat it online. But he asked me some certain things. I looked at him and was like, no, it's because of this. Oh, okay. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So, Steve, do you find that it's sort of a different atmosphere now, especially being here in Gagetown?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely, especially like me being the DP1 instructor, I am meeting all kinds of people from all walks of life, all different faiths. I mean, I have had students who believe in nothing, have believed in something, and I have actually opened up to a few of them when they ask me because I may not talk about it right away, but it's weird, like people know that there's something different about me just by how I the way I act, how I just act and do things. Like, there's some recruits who at the end of it, like after they graduate, they'll come and they'll talk to me like the right away. Because ironically enough, I had one student on one of my earlier courses who was a wicked, if I remember a wicked, and he said the second I walked into a room, he did not know I was like a Christian, but he knew there was something different about me compared to another instructor. Okay, and he knew right away just how I don't know how he knew, but yeah, he said there's something different about you, and he's like, Can you tell me what this was at the end of a course? And I said, Right, I'm I'm a Christian and I'm religious. He's like, That's what it was. He's like, I knew the second you walked into the room right away that there was something different about you, but I did not know what it was, and I was like, huh, well, that's that's interesting, and again, through you know different religions that are allowed in the military, like there, I have worked with so many other different religions, and again, they know right away I don't even have to say anything, just how I act and walk, or I don't know what it is, but they say I I'm different. I would say different, but they know right away. Even people who aren't religious know that how I act and talk and work, that there's something different about me, and then you ask me like what's different, and at that one-on-one, that's when I I open up a little bit more.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. It it really sounds, Steve, like how your light is shining. Like you're you got that you got that light that that I don't know, for lack of a better word, you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_00

I think so.

SPEAKER_01

The Holy Spirit's in you, man. And people are seeing that. And that's awesome. Because that really I think that really opens doors up too. Because I think who what what's this guy all about? There's something different, like you said, there's something different about him, and I gotta find out or I gotta ask him what what's going on, and what an opportunity to tell people about Christ. And and what you know, and what he's done for you and everything. That no, I that's awesome, man. Good stuff.

SPEAKER_00

And as well as with the students too. I always I mention it now to them, not like so I I always I show them a ironically enough, my competition wall. And then I I have a picture of my competition wall where I've done a lot of competitions, and some of them will say they're like, How do you do it? And now I don't even I don't even hide it. And I say, Well, there's one moment where you'll be you are physically exhausted, your body hurts, your mind just doesn't want to do it anymore. And I tell them I'm like flat out now. I'm just like, you know what I do at that moment when I hit the wall as it is, I talk to God. And I have said one line and I say it on every competition. I literally say it. I'm like, I'm exhausted. Lord, if you want me to to finish it, it's under your power. It's not through me.

SPEAKER_01

Right on, man.

SPEAKER_00

Good stuff. I will try to unhook my my computer and I'll show you my competition wall. And I show that to the students, and they'll be like, Oh, all right. So I'll try it here and let me see. Oh, wow. I show them that.

SPEAKER_01

So you're a runner.

SPEAKER_00

Actually, most of those are ironically enough, rucking with my rucksack. So when I say I like to go for a walk, I go for a I go for a walk.

SPEAKER_01

You need to meet my my son sometime then. He loves rucking too.

SPEAKER_00

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. When he he tells me that in Petawa they go, I think every Thursday or Friday, they uh once a week at least, they load their rucksacks up and go about, I don't know, 10 kilometers, probably.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And he says it's just like a walk in the park.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, for for some. I know I uh ironically enough, I that's how I introduce myself to my my students when I'm about to teach the lesson. I'm like, hey, yeah, I'm uh mass cobra tan, I'm R C D, was in Pedawall for this long. You messed up if I have to take you for a walk. And they're like, What do you mean? And then I show them at competition and be like, that's my competition. Well, a lot of these are with rockets. If you show up with my rucksack, you messed up. And they're like, uh oh. And I have done I have done it. I have woken up courses two, three o'clock in the morning and be like, hey, you messed up. Let's go for a walk.

SPEAKER_01

Let's go for a walk.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and there's nothing better for me than going for a walk and seeing the sunrise over Gage Town, and we're in the woods, and be like, Oh wow. Sun I have seen sunrises and sunsets. I have seen meteor showers, and I was like, You made all this, God. You made all of this, and you're having fun doing it. And I'm having fun. The students are miserable, but you're having fun. I'm having so much fun.

SPEAKER_01

I have yeah, you're communicating with the Lord and teaching the students at the same time. Exactly. Oh, I love it. Love it. How did being a Christian in the in the calf help you help with your work life?

SPEAKER_00

Oh help with my work life? Oh once I uh let go, actually. Uh Petawa was great for some things. One, that's where I met my wife, and we got married. So Petawa's good for that, but for family life, it was extremely, extremely busy, and it was really hard on me. Okay. So once we actually got posted, it was actually my wife's idea to get posted to here to Gage Town.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And once I got to Gay Town, I don't know if it's maybe because we were closer to a church or a little bit older. But I just I get or maybe it's because I walked a lot more, ironically enough. I don't know. Okay, but like I let go, like the sh I have very little stress. Ironically enough, I have very little stress when it comes to work, unless I'm in a vehicle with a brand new driver, but the it is what it is. But like I'm not as we'll say stressed or burned out or overworked because I know at the unit it was like I don't remember what the temp or the the keep going, but I know there's been a lot of times where it was like I was gone for it seemed like months on end. Oh yes, like it was just go, go, go, come back, go, go, go, come back. And at that time, too, it was when everything was over, ironically enough. So that was when Afghanistan was over. Latvia wasn't a thing yet. So there was a good I'd say six to eight years where we were like it was peaceful, you ironically. The world wasn't what it was now, so there was really no mission for us. So ironically enough, that was more. I think I was more busier then than I am like now. Wow, where because and we were literally, it was like, come home, go on exercise, come back, go on exercise, come back, go on exercise, come back, right? And I was like, Oh my goodness, Megan showed me pictures. She's like, Oh yeah, do you remember this? I'm like, No, I don't remember when the tally was this. I'm like, uh-huh, no, I don't. Like, it was stressful, just stressful and gone. And at that time, like the big Wainwright exercise, if I remember correctly, was called Maple Resolve. I remember there was I tallied up there sometimes I was there longer than like some deployments to Lafayette just because I was there early. I know there's one year we drove our MSVS trucks from Petalwall to Wainwright. Great, great road trip. I had a great time, but it was just we were gone for so long that when I came back, it was it was like, oh my goodness, and then it was like you do that, you come back, and then boom, something else happened, something else happened. Exercise is like I'm like, it was just it was really hard on the family, and then I might have gotten sidetracked a little bit, but yeah, then we got posted to the to Gage Town, got posted to the school, and I was like, the stress is gone. Wow, like it's a completely night, night and day difference. My wife can vouch for me. She's like, We are so much happier here, and ironically enough, I have more family time. That might be a two. I have more family time at the school than I ever did at the unit.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that's that's quite a deal. That's good. Glad to hear it. How did you stay close to God when on exercises or deployments?

SPEAKER_00

Uh, so exercises, ironically enough, I went to that's how I met Mark Tully. Ironically enough, was in the middle of a field in Wainwright during one of the Sunday services. Uh, again, I didn't mention to my bosses at all that I was religious back then. Like, I did not talk about it, right? But again, they knew something was different. And I remember my warrant at the time came up to me. He's like, Hey everything, just so you know, Sunday, I think he said Sunday mass is at this time at this tent. And I was like, Okay, I went there and I ended up meeting Mark Tully randomly in the middle, I think, of a field in a mod tent, and we just talked. And ironically, when I got posted, I saw him at OBC. I looked at him and I was like, I you know, elbowed my wife. I'm like, I think I know that guy. She's like, well, go say, go say hi, and I was like, hi. And he looked at me, he's like, hi. I'm like, Where do I know you from? And he's like, We met in Wainwright. I was like, oh yeah, that's right. Ironically enough.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. But yeah, that's so that that basically you you attended services and plus you had in that particular exercise, you had a fellow Christian there when in the world.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, at the time, yeah, didn't didn't know it at the time. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Always helps. How how do you here's a good question for you? How do you show your faith to others when asked, or if the opportunity arises to talk about it?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, when I when uh like I said, when the students come up to me, if they don't know at the very end, or if they know something's different, and then I will actually talk to them as much as I can in the time that I do have them. But a lot of the time it's uh again, a lot of them will come up to me at the end and be like, again, they may not be religious, or they might believe in something else, but they just know something is different from from me to a different instructor just from my maybe it is because I am religious and I carry myself a certain way, but they just know, and then that brings up the conversation, all right. Or, like I said, like I'll be it'll be kilometer 12 with the students, and you know, I'm just happy go lucky, drinking my ironically enough, my coffee, and I'll have a student who'll literally be like, How do you do it? and I said it'll be like okay, I'm like, try this, try this, try this. They're like, Okay, nothing works. I'm like, Are you religious? They're like, No, I'm like, okay, or if they say yes, I'm like, have you talked to God again? They'll be like, I don't broadcast it for all to hear as just like one-on-one trying to get them to keep going, just to show them that you know, I tell them, like, your mind will get bored before your body breaks, but the easiest way to keep entertained is either talk, listen to music, uh, which they're not allowed to do. So the only other way to stay entertained is talk. If you don't want to talk out long, talk to God in your head, and you'll be surprised. Next thing you know, kilometer 20 or kilometer 19, and we're at the finish line, and we look around and be like, huh, wow, I made it. Yeah, you made it. It's like exactly, or kilometer six, and people are just struggling. It's just like, all right, and like so uh when the when the students ask me that, they're like, How do you keep going? I was like, right, and then that's when that opens the door to conversation, and I say, you know, my main big thing is I talk to God every time I go for a rock, every time I have that canoe over my head and it's a competition, I talk to God, especially with that canoe, and I'm like, I am exhausted, I have nothing left. And I was like, Alright, I did what I could on my own, Lord. This is all on you. If you want me to finish, I trust in you and keep going.

SPEAKER_01

We hope you have enjoyed this episode of DP1. Also, if you are hoping to connect with other military Christians in your area, consider joining the Military Christian Fellowship of Canada, which you can connect with online at mcf Canada.ca.