I’ve been waiting to write this blog post for a while. A lot has happened in a very short amount of time and God is calling
our family into new territory. We started saying yes to the possibility that God may want us to step outside of our comfort zones
and serve him half way across the world. While reading this you may wonder, where this is coming from. Dustin and I have always
planned that we would someday do missions. We also planned that we would probably be done having kids at that point. We planned
that we could go to a spanish speaking country so we could use our language skills. WE PLANNED.
Then we started wondering what
it would look like if we stopped planning and just started saying yes to what God had planned for us. What would that look like?
It wasn’t a loud in your face yes by any means. It was a quiet and nervous yes. A yes that was unsure of what lay ahead. A yes
that was open to God’s plans, but felt ill equipped.
A whispered yes.
About a year ago we started looking into a few service possibilities, but very passively. Asked a few people to keep their ears
open, and occasionally checked some Mennonite service sites waiting for an opportunity to jump out. More recently we started actively
looking, and when we did, God flung the doors wide open. We had been praying for God to prepare our hearts for where his plan would
take us. We prayed that whatever opportunities lay ahead, we would feel at peace with where we felt God was leading us and a strong
connection and desire to serve there together. We had put in our name with several Mennonite Mission organizations and filled out
applications. Then Dustin decided to get in contact with Tim Troyer from The Reckoning, who also serves on the board where Dustin
works. He had asked Tim to keep his ears open about a year ago, but hadn’t talked recently or heard anything. About the same time
Dustin contacted him again to check in and let him know we were serious, Tim was praying for a couple to send to Africa. A couple.
Husband and wife. Man and Women. Us.
Africa feels like new territory to us, but exciting territory with endless possibilities of God showing up wherever we say yes.
And while God definitely shows up everyday wherever we choose to serve Him, this is where we feel we are being called. This change
is a little scary and will be like something we’ve never experience, but in a good way. We’ll be pushed to rely on God more and draw
close to Him in our moments of fear and doubt. We’ll also have the opportunity to serve Him and provided justice for those that he
has called us to serve. There are still many details to be worked out and there will be many blogposts to follow, and ways we will
be asking for your support, but this is a start. A look into our journey of saying a whispered yes and having God lead us to the
‘most thunderous place on earth’ (look up Tororo, Uganda weather. God has a good sense of humor).
“Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time.”
– James 4:8 MSG