cont'd. from 5/23...
Sorry for the gap in posting. It's been a crazy weekend.
So we sent in our initial interest form. Within a day or so, we received an email from a Lois Pankratz. She is the "welcome" person for GEM. We then talked on the phone and the next step was for her to put us in contact with Phil Kingsley, who is the Field Director for Ireland. Phil and I emailed back and forth a bit and then spoke on the phone.
At the same time, we had been in contact with Kevin Fitzgerald, a Calvary Chapel pastor who had begun a work in Dublin. Both Phil and Kevin seemed interested in the prospect of working with us, or shall I say having us work with them.
Its seemed at this point that the logical thing to do was to take a trip to Dublin and sit down face-to-face with both these guys, plus see first-hand what each ministry looked like and felt like. So we started checking into flights and lodging. It was August when we started this process and we were looking at going in November, less than three months to get the money together.
Beth is a wonder when it comes to planning trips and planning how we'll get the funds together. She came up with a plan that would get us the money we needed, when we needed it. The second week of November seemed to work well with both Phil and Kevin, so we forged ahead.
We hadn't yet bought our airline tickets when September 16 came along -- and with it, Hurricane Ivan. We evacuated to Nashville for almost a week and didn't have any work for two weeks. In short, the money we had saved was gone. I told Beth we would need to plan to take our trip after the first of the year.
It wasn't long after that, when Beth came to me with a plan she had devised, saying, "I think we can still go in November." I didn't believe her. She showed me the figures. I still didn't think it was possible. She showed me again. It took several tries, but she finally convinced me that it was possible. We can't explain how it worked, it just did. In addition to what we planned to save for the trip, we had several people who, when they found out what we were doing wanted to help out. One couple blessed us with $1000! In the end, the trip would not have been possible if it weren't for the gifts we had received.
So now all we had to do was wait for November. I was like a kid waiting for Christmas. I could hardly stand it.
To be continued...
May 29, 2006
May 23, 2006
A Not So Brief History, Pt. 4
cont'd. from 5/22
But for now, more practical considerations were at hand. We had to sort out how we were going to make a living. Beth put pen to paper and figured that if she would take on some more piano students, her income would cover our mortgage. Having a background in construction and knowing how to handle people, I put in applications at Lowe's and Home Depot. With my experience with things technical I also spoke with management at All Pro Sound. None of these panned out.
Then, without any effort on my part, I began to get call after call asking if I was back doing carpentry, the trade in which I was engaged before entering the ministry. Thus began my foray back into the world of construction. I also realized that now I could do what I hadn’t had the time to do for the past 14 years – teach voice lessons. Even now, 22 months later, I have had very few days without work and we have never been in want.
I often think back to, "...if you step out of the boat, I have you." He indeed has held us and sustained us.
Back to the aftermath of my resignation...
I resigned on Thursday, July 1, 2004. Sunday, the 4th was our last time to lead worship at Calvary Chapel. It's probably a good thing that we didn't know it at the time, as it would have been difficult to keep it together while leading.
Molly arrived home on Tuesday from Cork, Ireland. We sat her down that evening, knowing that word of my departure from my position would be made public Wednesday night at church. It was hard news for her. She had grown up in that church. For as long as she could remember, I had been the Worship Pastor at CCGB. She loved Ireland, but the thought of actually moving there didn't settle so well.
From that time until now, I knew in my heart of hearts that God had a plan. God's plan is always good. "All things happen for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." If it was His plan for me to resign and if it was His plan for us to go to Ireland, it was a good plan and it would be good for everyone affected by it. It was a hard sell at times, and I felt callous reiterating it, but I was convinced of this truth. That's what kept us looking ahead, seeking Ireland.
We are just now really seeing that plan take shape before our eyes -- but more on that later...
On the GEM (Greater Europe Mission) website, we found an initial interest form. We filled it out and sent it.
Now we just had to wait...
To be continued...
But for now, more practical considerations were at hand. We had to sort out how we were going to make a living. Beth put pen to paper and figured that if she would take on some more piano students, her income would cover our mortgage. Having a background in construction and knowing how to handle people, I put in applications at Lowe's and Home Depot. With my experience with things technical I also spoke with management at All Pro Sound. None of these panned out.
Then, without any effort on my part, I began to get call after call asking if I was back doing carpentry, the trade in which I was engaged before entering the ministry. Thus began my foray back into the world of construction. I also realized that now I could do what I hadn’t had the time to do for the past 14 years – teach voice lessons. Even now, 22 months later, I have had very few days without work and we have never been in want.
I often think back to, "...if you step out of the boat, I have you." He indeed has held us and sustained us.
Back to the aftermath of my resignation...
I resigned on Thursday, July 1, 2004. Sunday, the 4th was our last time to lead worship at Calvary Chapel. It's probably a good thing that we didn't know it at the time, as it would have been difficult to keep it together while leading.
Molly arrived home on Tuesday from Cork, Ireland. We sat her down that evening, knowing that word of my departure from my position would be made public Wednesday night at church. It was hard news for her. She had grown up in that church. For as long as she could remember, I had been the Worship Pastor at CCGB. She loved Ireland, but the thought of actually moving there didn't settle so well.
From that time until now, I knew in my heart of hearts that God had a plan. God's plan is always good. "All things happen for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose." If it was His plan for me to resign and if it was His plan for us to go to Ireland, it was a good plan and it would be good for everyone affected by it. It was a hard sell at times, and I felt callous reiterating it, but I was convinced of this truth. That's what kept us looking ahead, seeking Ireland.
We are just now really seeing that plan take shape before our eyes -- but more on that later...
On the GEM (Greater Europe Mission) website, we found an initial interest form. We filled it out and sent it.
Now we just had to wait...
To be continued...
May 22, 2006
A Not So Brief History, Pt. 3
cont'd from 5/21...
Is this getting too long? Boring? I mean, we have nearly three years to account for and I'd like to get caught up to the present in as few posts as possible. Stay with me. We'll get there one day soon and life will be cheery.
From the day I resigned until now, I have never doubted the decision. I've always had a true peace about it. Call it what you will, but I call it "the peace that passes all understanding" -- the source of which is God.
So here we were with no idea as to the direction we were to go. We weren't yet at liberty to share with the general public what had transpired. We went to choir and praise band rehearsal that evening, having tendered my resignation earlier in the day. Wow, that was hard! The weekend following my resignation, we met with good friends of ours to gain wisdom and counsel. Their word to us was, "It seems obvious that Ireland is where your heart is. Start moving that direction and see what God does."
Interestingly, our daughter Molly was in Ireland at that time on a short-term mission trip and would return the following Tuesday.
So we got on the Internet and began exploring missions opportunities in Ireland. I did a Google search - "missions ireland" - and one of the first hits was an organization called Greater Europe Mission (GEM). We had never heard of them, but upon exploring their website quickly realized that they were a solid organization. They had been working in Europe since 1949, yet their approach to ministry was edgy and innovative. We subsequently kept going back to the website looking for any red flags to pop up. None did.
During our first visit to GEM's website, we discovered a section entitled "Country Spotlights", and wasted no time finding and clicking on Ireland. After reading about Ireland and the great need there (which we had seen first-hand a year earlier), we saw a list of needs for Ireland -- a list of types of people they were looking for. There in the list, sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb, we saw it.
WORSHIP TRAINERS
My heart jumped. Could this be it?
To be continued...
Is this getting too long? Boring? I mean, we have nearly three years to account for and I'd like to get caught up to the present in as few posts as possible. Stay with me. We'll get there one day soon and life will be cheery.
From the day I resigned until now, I have never doubted the decision. I've always had a true peace about it. Call it what you will, but I call it "the peace that passes all understanding" -- the source of which is God.
So here we were with no idea as to the direction we were to go. We weren't yet at liberty to share with the general public what had transpired. We went to choir and praise band rehearsal that evening, having tendered my resignation earlier in the day. Wow, that was hard! The weekend following my resignation, we met with good friends of ours to gain wisdom and counsel. Their word to us was, "It seems obvious that Ireland is where your heart is. Start moving that direction and see what God does."
Interestingly, our daughter Molly was in Ireland at that time on a short-term mission trip and would return the following Tuesday.
So we got on the Internet and began exploring missions opportunities in Ireland. I did a Google search - "missions ireland" - and one of the first hits was an organization called Greater Europe Mission (GEM). We had never heard of them, but upon exploring their website quickly realized that they were a solid organization. They had been working in Europe since 1949, yet their approach to ministry was edgy and innovative. We subsequently kept going back to the website looking for any red flags to pop up. None did.
During our first visit to GEM's website, we discovered a section entitled "Country Spotlights", and wasted no time finding and clicking on Ireland. After reading about Ireland and the great need there (which we had seen first-hand a year earlier), we saw a list of needs for Ireland -- a list of types of people they were looking for. There in the list, sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb, we saw it.
WORSHIP TRAINERS
My heart jumped. Could this be it?
To be continued...
May 21, 2006
A Not So Brief History, Pt. 2
cont'd from 5/19...
We couldn't get Ireland out of our minds. In fact, I thought maybe I was going out of my mind. Finally, I told Beth that we needed to consider the possibility that God may be calling us to Ireland.
At the same time this desire to train worship leaders was growing. So now we had two things tugging at our hearts -- Ireland and Worship training. This was so beyond us that we knew that either we were crazy, or it really was God, and could only happen if He were orchestrating it. We thought that maybe we were to start a school of worship in Ireland. But that's nuts! First, neither one of us could be in any way described as the administrative type. Second, how does one go about moving into a new country, with a new culture, new government regulations, having never done anything like establishing a school and have even a hope of doing just that?
We prayed.
And prayed some more.
The one thing that kept resonating in my head was, "God doesn't call those equipped. God equips those called."
So I began my research. I contacted people in Ireland who might have a feel for the validity of a school of worship. I contacted people who had schools of worship in the US. I looked at ministry plans of various ministries. I took notes. I began to formulate a ministry plan. But it still just seemed ludicrous.
Then it occurred to us. What we needed to do, if this thing was going to fly, was to move to Ireland and assimilate into the culture, do our research over there, instead of from Florida.
It was now the summer of 2004. After 14 years as the Worship Pastor at Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze, I felt that God was moving us out of that position to move in a new direction.
So July 1, I resigned. No plan. No job. Just this -- I pictured myself in the boat with the apostles. Jesus was out on the water and he said to me, "If you step out of the boat, I have you."
So I stepped out...
To be continued...
We couldn't get Ireland out of our minds. In fact, I thought maybe I was going out of my mind. Finally, I told Beth that we needed to consider the possibility that God may be calling us to Ireland.
At the same time this desire to train worship leaders was growing. So now we had two things tugging at our hearts -- Ireland and Worship training. This was so beyond us that we knew that either we were crazy, or it really was God, and could only happen if He were orchestrating it. We thought that maybe we were to start a school of worship in Ireland. But that's nuts! First, neither one of us could be in any way described as the administrative type. Second, how does one go about moving into a new country, with a new culture, new government regulations, having never done anything like establishing a school and have even a hope of doing just that?
We prayed.
And prayed some more.
The one thing that kept resonating in my head was, "God doesn't call those equipped. God equips those called."
So I began my research. I contacted people in Ireland who might have a feel for the validity of a school of worship. I contacted people who had schools of worship in the US. I looked at ministry plans of various ministries. I took notes. I began to formulate a ministry plan. But it still just seemed ludicrous.
Then it occurred to us. What we needed to do, if this thing was going to fly, was to move to Ireland and assimilate into the culture, do our research over there, instead of from Florida.
It was now the summer of 2004. After 14 years as the Worship Pastor at Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze, I felt that God was moving us out of that position to move in a new direction.
So July 1, I resigned. No plan. No job. Just this -- I pictured myself in the boat with the apostles. Jesus was out on the water and he said to me, "If you step out of the boat, I have you."
So I stepped out...
To be continued...
May 19, 2006
A Not So Brief History
So it occurred to me that we didn't have down in print anywhere, just how we got to this point (missionaries -- going to Ireland, etc) in any sort of detail. You may find this extremely boring and give up after one or two posts. Or you may find it intriguing and have a hard time waiting until we get around to the next post. Hopefully, you will find it entertaining, encouraging, maybe challenging (if you are a Christian and you feel that God may be calling you to a new ministry).
This may take a while. After all, the entire process really started about 3 years ago. So I guess we should get started.
I (Gary) was at a point in my carreer as a worship leader (13 years as Worship Pastor - Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze, FL) where I was beginning to feel a bit restless. I felt that there was a change coming, whether that be in the next few months or next few years, I wasn't sure. I began to ask God what the next thing would be. What was the next ministry focus that He had in mind? As I prayed about it and thought about it, I realized that my heart was really to train worship leaders -- to bring up the next generation, grounded in the Word and focused on the presence of God. This excited me -- I love to teach and I love to lead worship. It seemed natural. But what form was this to take? A school of worship? A traveling ministry? Not a clue.
Beth and I were asked to go to Ireland and be on the leadership team of a short-term mission trip to Cork. I'd always had a soft place in my heart for Ireland, always loved the music, the scenery, the accent...
That trip took place in July of 2003. We were in Cork for about 12 days, doing various forms of ministry from music concerts to skateboard demos (no, you don't want to see me skate). Our focus was the music, and providing the sound system for the street events. We fell in love with Ireland, as most who travel there do. We loved the people, we loved the countryside, we didn't love the weather. Well... I loved the weather -- Beth didn't. She's rather cold-natured and the weather is anything but hot in Ireland.
As we were flying out of the country, it occurred to us -- there was too much work to be done in Ireland and not enough people to do it. I thought of Jesus' words, "...the fields are ready for harvest, but there aren't enough workers." What were we doing? We came into Cork, set off our fireworks and left. Okay, there was more to it than that. We did see fruit from the efforts, but we had only scratched the surface.
The next few months were excruciating.
To Be Continued...
This may take a while. After all, the entire process really started about 3 years ago. So I guess we should get started.
I (Gary) was at a point in my carreer as a worship leader (13 years as Worship Pastor - Calvary Chapel Gulf Breeze, FL) where I was beginning to feel a bit restless. I felt that there was a change coming, whether that be in the next few months or next few years, I wasn't sure. I began to ask God what the next thing would be. What was the next ministry focus that He had in mind? As I prayed about it and thought about it, I realized that my heart was really to train worship leaders -- to bring up the next generation, grounded in the Word and focused on the presence of God. This excited me -- I love to teach and I love to lead worship. It seemed natural. But what form was this to take? A school of worship? A traveling ministry? Not a clue.
Beth and I were asked to go to Ireland and be on the leadership team of a short-term mission trip to Cork. I'd always had a soft place in my heart for Ireland, always loved the music, the scenery, the accent...
That trip took place in July of 2003. We were in Cork for about 12 days, doing various forms of ministry from music concerts to skateboard demos (no, you don't want to see me skate). Our focus was the music, and providing the sound system for the street events. We fell in love with Ireland, as most who travel there do. We loved the people, we loved the countryside, we didn't love the weather. Well... I loved the weather -- Beth didn't. She's rather cold-natured and the weather is anything but hot in Ireland.
As we were flying out of the country, it occurred to us -- there was too much work to be done in Ireland and not enough people to do it. I thought of Jesus' words, "...the fields are ready for harvest, but there aren't enough workers." What were we doing? We came into Cork, set off our fireworks and left. Okay, there was more to it than that. We did see fruit from the efforts, but we had only scratched the surface.
The next few months were excruciating.
To Be Continued...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)