Friends are so great. Old friends. New friends. Future
friends. ALL THE FRIENDS! Our journey to missions depends on friends. We can’t
do this alone and along the way God uses people (aka friends!) to make it
possible for us to serve. God is sovereign and he directs our path. He can do
it without us but he demands our obedience and desires our hearts to follow
him. YES. So our friends partner with us in prayer and financially to SEND us
into the mission field. And this is not new. Since the early church began,
church communities have been sending missionaries out to spread the gospel.
Think Paul. Timothy. Silas. All the apostles were SENT. And they WENT!
Today was filled with old friends and new friends and
yet-to-be-friends. The old friends remind us of all those who, prompted by God,
have believed in what the Lord is doing in our lives and partnered with us.
Their prayers and support have brought us 70% of the way to being fully funded.
Jamie and Clifton (pictured below) have been our friends since 2001 when we are all either
students or campus ministry staff. They live about an hour from Coshocton, OH
(home of MMS)!
Our new friends give us a sense of hope in transition. The
Pottners and Hammitts welcomed us into their homes over the past few days and
offered gracious hospitality.
Over lunch, I met not-yet-friends and it warms my heart to
know God is preparing us for new relationships. We will leave behind a strong
community in Harrisburg but we trust in God’s provision for friendships.
Someone asked us today what some of our greatest prayer needs are right now. In the spirit of sharing and opening our lives to our friends, here is what we told them:
1. The remaining 30% of our funding. This is an additional $1500/month. We know that God has called churches and individuals to support this ministry and we are praying for them to come forward quickly!
2. Housing in Coshocton when we move in June. It is a little too far out to think about leases/rentals but we are praying for the right house and location for our family. We'd like to live outside of town, have some space to garden and play, and possibly expand our family to include chickens!
No comments:
Post a Comment