Missions
have always had a special place in my heart. I remember going to GA's (Girls in
Action) every week and learning about missionaries around the world. And I
remember thinking that if I didn't find someone to marry; I would just move to
Africa and work in an orphanage, being the mom to all of the children without parents.
But I did find someone to marry, someone to start a family with, and yet my
desire to serve God through missions is still stronger than ever.
This
year that special man and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage together!
The
Lord has been so good to us!
5
years ago we wanted to travel to Europe and started putting some money away so the 2 of us could take that trip when we reached 10 years. Then, last Fall I was sitting in
a church service listening to the sermon when all of a sudden I could feel the
presence of the Holy Spirit. He was telling me that my desire to travel to
Europe was very selfish. If I truly loved missions and wanted to serve Him as
much as I say I do then why am I not using that travel money for just that.
And whose money was this really?
Punch to the gut!
Ouch!
I
left church a little angry to be honest. We had worked so hard to pay off our
debt, including all of our student loans. We were good and faithful stewards.
In my head I selfishly deserved to go, but in my heart I knew He was right. I
ate lunch in silence and when I could bring myself to tell my husband what the
Lord put on my heart he just laughed and said he didn't think we should go to
Europe anyway. It was a little extravagant just go spend money on
sightseeing. Why not take a more simple, less costly trip to celebrate 10 years and put the rest toward missions.
Seriously?
A
little late in the game to tell me my dreams were off our path since I'd been
planning for a while now, but better late than never I guess.
Next time a little earlier would be nice babe ;)
So
with that confirmation, I knew what we had to do. We needed to start praying
about where the money we saved should go.
Through
prayer, it was quickly revealed that it needed to be invested in relational
missions. “What do you mean ‘relational missions’" you ask? I mean sharing
the gospel by building relations with non-believers. Living life with them.
Sharing our family with them! Plainly speaking, love them.
As we continued praying, we were drawn to a specific region of the world where
the people that live there struggle with relations. They do not rely on anyone
around them, much less understand relationships. Their hearts are hardened to
the outside world and they believe that God does not exist. Trust is something
they do not practice. Adoption is a word they have never heard of, nor
understand.
And
for this reason, we are going to trust them with our children. We are going to
trust them with our family. We are going to go over there as a whole family
unit and love them, talk to them, hold their hands, and tell them they are
beautiful! We are going to let them hold our toddler; let our older son play
soccer with their teenagers. Show them how a father treats his children and how
a husband treats his wife. And we are going to share our story of adoption with
them. Explain how following Him with obedience to adopt a teenage son forever
changed his life and ours. And that He does the same by adopting us!
We
are saying yes to a trip that is not easy, not cheap, and not what we had
originally planned. But we are saying yes to Him who asks this of us.
2 John 1:6 says "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his
commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that
you walk in love."
And
so, we walk in obedience and love,
following
Him to the ends of the earth.
"But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth." -Acts 1:8
We would love to have you partner with us
in 1
(or more) of 3 ways...
First,
You
can pray for us and our team.
It
is a small team traveling to this undisclosed location.
We
would greatly appreciate your prayers!
Second,
You
can purchase a t-shirt.
All
of the proceeds will go towards our team traveling funds.
They
will go on sale sometime in the upcoming weeks,
so
look for a link to purchase in some of the future blog posts.
Third,
You
can give!
Flying
a family of 4 across an ocean is not a cheap endeavor. While we set aside money
we have saved, it doesn't cover all of it by any means. If you would like to
help us fund the rest of this trip, you can donate through our fundraising
site HERE. If we raise more money
than we need for our family, the rest will go toward helping fund others going
on the trip; along with supplies we will take to the people we will be
visiting.
If
you so desire, please feel free to repost/share this blog with friends you think might
want to partner with us as well.
And
don't worry,
this is just Part 1
of a series of blog posts
about our
trip.
Stay
tuned for more!
