Cont'd. from 6/27...
So here we are trying to figure out the best thing to do so that we're fulfilling the ministry to which God has called us, yet meeting the needs of our 18-year-old daughter at a critical time in her life.
One day, Beth came to me and said, "I have an idea that came to me during my prayer time and I wanted to run it past you in case it might be from the Lord." She proceeded to tell me that she was impressed with the thought that perhaps we could have our ministry to Ireland be based from our home here in Florida and for the next couple of years or so take regular trips to Ireland and Europe to conduct various worship oriented events. Between our trips, then, we could spend our time planning future trips and events, making contact with those with whom we will be ministering, and developing curricula and materials for training. Eventually, when we felt that it was time and Molly was well grounded, we would then make our move to Ireland to be there fulltime.
The most intriguing aspect of her proposal was that I had just had the same thought. Coincidence? I don't think so. I am fascinated by the way the Lord works. Some people look for the Lord to always work in ways that are mystical and supernatural. What we have found in our years of experience is that God will use the very basics of life to accomplish His will. It is often through our humanity and things ordinary that God works. If His Holy Spirit dwells within, why wouldn't this be so? So we examined this idea from the "how does it make us feel" angle. In all honesty, although my heart's desire is to live in Ireland, I felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted. This just seemed right.
The next step was to approach GEM and see if this was at all possible. We didn't feel at all confident that this plan would be something that they would approve. So our first contact was with Phil Kingsley, our Field Director in Dublin. When we told him of our proposal, he immediately thought it was a great idea. He has, over the years, seen instances of missionaries who, at the same juncture in life as we are, get to the field only to have their college age child spin out or get into trouble, which causes them to have to leave the field and return home. In fact, we know of a Calvary Chapel pastor and his wife who were serving in Cork, Ireland, who experienced this exact thing and are now back in the US. We don't expect Molly to go off the deep end. However, she is an only child and doesn't have too many people, besides one set of grandparents to lean upon when we leave.
So Phil took our proposal on up the chain of command and everyone along the way thought it was a great plan. So what this means is that we are starting our ministry sooner, but we have more time with Molly as she begins exploring life on her own.
All of our closest friends and our family have been very supportive and somewhat relieved. They all knew our move away from Molly would be difficult for the three of us and had been praying for us about how we should handle it. Here was our solution.
The tricky thing is that we are still trying to raise our support for fulltime ministry, but some people think that if you are not "on the field" you aren't a fulltime missionary. We know several missionaries who do work overseas in various parts of the world, who are living in the US and yet are fulltime in their jobs. The work they do and the work we will be doing is a fulltime job, whether on the field or not. in fact, even now we are spending upward of 20 hours each week at this work and not even coming close to doing everything that we could be doing.
This approach to missions is possible today, more than any other time in history, due to the technology that exists in the area of communication combined with the abillity to travel anywhere in the world in a relatively short amount of time.
So now, we begin planning trips overseas. In fact, we have one coming up in just a couple of weeks -- and boy is it a doozie!
To be continued...
Jul 23, 2006
Jun 27, 2006
A Not So Brief history, Pt. 13
I want to apologize for keeping so many of you hanging for the past ten days -- especially pastor Robert. I know that all of you depend upon this blog for a sense of completeness in life and I have let you down. I'll strive to do better...
So now it was somewhere around May, 2005...
Coast Community Church is one of those church fellowships that has a true missions focus. Now that we were a part of the fellowship there and getting such strong support for what we were doing, it seemed only natural to ask them to be our sending church. We asked Pastor Robert if Coast would indeed be that and the prospect was welcomed with excitement and grace. We would, in fact, be the first missionaries sent out from among the body at Coast and everyone got excited about it.
We have have no qualms or reservations whatsoever about our decision and know that Coast will be caring, supportive and a solid base from which to work. Coast has been a great blessing to us and will continue to be so.
So for the next 10 months or so, there's not a lot to tell. Only that we continued in our pursuit of supporters while working and maintaining a family.
Speaking of family -- Beth and I were in a growing quandary regarding Molly and what role she might play in Ireland. Would she go with us? Would she stay here? What did God have for her? She turned 18 in November. She was now technically an adult. She had pretty much decided that she didn't want to go to Ireland to live. She loves Ireland, but began to feel that she wanted to stay here and pursue a career as a violinist.
Here's the breakdown:
- We feel called to Ireland as missionaries - no doubts about that
- God has opened widely every door that we have tested and we've walked through
- In order to honor the Lord in this we feel we need to raise our support as quickly as possible and move to Ireland
- Molly isn't planning on moving to Ireland with us
- Molly is just now 18 and we don't feel like we're ready to leave her here on her own
- We can't abandon her at this critical stage in life
- I have known for the past two years that if God was in this, His plan would be perfect
What was happening? Where was God's perfect plan? What are we to do?
Once again, God opened another door. A biggie.
To be continued...
So now it was somewhere around May, 2005...
Coast Community Church is one of those church fellowships that has a true missions focus. Now that we were a part of the fellowship there and getting such strong support for what we were doing, it seemed only natural to ask them to be our sending church. We asked Pastor Robert if Coast would indeed be that and the prospect was welcomed with excitement and grace. We would, in fact, be the first missionaries sent out from among the body at Coast and everyone got excited about it.
We have have no qualms or reservations whatsoever about our decision and know that Coast will be caring, supportive and a solid base from which to work. Coast has been a great blessing to us and will continue to be so.
So for the next 10 months or so, there's not a lot to tell. Only that we continued in our pursuit of supporters while working and maintaining a family.
Speaking of family -- Beth and I were in a growing quandary regarding Molly and what role she might play in Ireland. Would she go with us? Would she stay here? What did God have for her? She turned 18 in November. She was now technically an adult. She had pretty much decided that she didn't want to go to Ireland to live. She loves Ireland, but began to feel that she wanted to stay here and pursue a career as a violinist.
Here's the breakdown:
- We feel called to Ireland as missionaries - no doubts about that
- God has opened widely every door that we have tested and we've walked through
- In order to honor the Lord in this we feel we need to raise our support as quickly as possible and move to Ireland
- Molly isn't planning on moving to Ireland with us
- Molly is just now 18 and we don't feel like we're ready to leave her here on her own
- We can't abandon her at this critical stage in life
- I have known for the past two years that if God was in this, His plan would be perfect
What was happening? Where was God's perfect plan? What are we to do?
Once again, God opened another door. A biggie.
To be continued...
Jun 18, 2006
A Not So Brief History, Pt. 12
Cont'd from 6/10...
Yeah, I know, it's been a week now. A rather crazy week around our house.
So back to fundraising -- the daunting task...
We have felt all along that God was in this. It was apparent in the way things just happened without our planning or striving. But now, this is (to use an over used cliche) where the rubber meets the road. We were told that the average time of appointment (the time between orientation and going to the field) was 2 years. We thought we could easily accomplish our goal in much less than two years. Yeah, right.
Fundraising could easily be a full time job. In fact, many appointees start living off partial support as they near the last of their fundraising and spend that time concentrating solely on getting the final pledges needed.
Taking into account that we were both teaching music lessons and I was doing carpentry, computer work and other odds and ends to make a living, plus the time spent in family matters, the hours left over in a typical week to actually do fundraising (a.k.a. Ministry Partner Development or MPD) were few and it remains that way today.
There were some remarkable things that began to occur as we contacted those on our list, or as we would run into people in public. As we would share what was going on with us and how God was calling us to Ireland, we heard time and again, "How can we be involved?" or "Where can we send a check to support what you're doing?" We even had one individual say, "I want a piece of that!"
We quickly realized that there were many who counted it a privilege and not a burden to financially partner with us. When we contacted a man (who had expressed an interest when we saw him out somewhere) and gave him particulars as to how to go about supporting us, he said, "Thanks for taking me at my word." Gee, people really wanted to give their money for God's Kingdom! Go figure!
At the same time, we were beginning to feel a bit dry in regard to ministry. At Calvary Chapel, because we had been in such a highly visible role for such a long time, there was no practical ministry role for us there. We had been in contact with a friend, Robert Pooley, who had planted Coast Community Church in Gulf Breeze 7 years earlier and was still the pastor. Since it's beginning, Pastor Robert had led the worship as well, but was at a place where he felt that it was time for a change. Not wanting to throw ourselves into such a position, we did volunteer to help him out in any way that was practical. So we began playing on their worship team and have had somewhat of an "advisory" role in the worship, while at the same time I am working with a couple on the team who are up and coming worship leaders themselves. It has been almost like pre-field training for us in that these are some of the types of things in which we will be involved in Ireland. We also have opportunities to lead worship at Coast from time-to-time.
But the best thing about us being at Coast we hadn't yet discovered.
To be continued...
Yeah, I know, it's been a week now. A rather crazy week around our house.
So back to fundraising -- the daunting task...
We have felt all along that God was in this. It was apparent in the way things just happened without our planning or striving. But now, this is (to use an over used cliche) where the rubber meets the road. We were told that the average time of appointment (the time between orientation and going to the field) was 2 years. We thought we could easily accomplish our goal in much less than two years. Yeah, right.
Fundraising could easily be a full time job. In fact, many appointees start living off partial support as they near the last of their fundraising and spend that time concentrating solely on getting the final pledges needed.
Taking into account that we were both teaching music lessons and I was doing carpentry, computer work and other odds and ends to make a living, plus the time spent in family matters, the hours left over in a typical week to actually do fundraising (a.k.a. Ministry Partner Development or MPD) were few and it remains that way today.
There were some remarkable things that began to occur as we contacted those on our list, or as we would run into people in public. As we would share what was going on with us and how God was calling us to Ireland, we heard time and again, "How can we be involved?" or "Where can we send a check to support what you're doing?" We even had one individual say, "I want a piece of that!"
We quickly realized that there were many who counted it a privilege and not a burden to financially partner with us. When we contacted a man (who had expressed an interest when we saw him out somewhere) and gave him particulars as to how to go about supporting us, he said, "Thanks for taking me at my word." Gee, people really wanted to give their money for God's Kingdom! Go figure!
At the same time, we were beginning to feel a bit dry in regard to ministry. At Calvary Chapel, because we had been in such a highly visible role for such a long time, there was no practical ministry role for us there. We had been in contact with a friend, Robert Pooley, who had planted Coast Community Church in Gulf Breeze 7 years earlier and was still the pastor. Since it's beginning, Pastor Robert had led the worship as well, but was at a place where he felt that it was time for a change. Not wanting to throw ourselves into such a position, we did volunteer to help him out in any way that was practical. So we began playing on their worship team and have had somewhat of an "advisory" role in the worship, while at the same time I am working with a couple on the team who are up and coming worship leaders themselves. It has been almost like pre-field training for us in that these are some of the types of things in which we will be involved in Ireland. We also have opportunities to lead worship at Coast from time-to-time.
But the best thing about us being at Coast we hadn't yet discovered.
To be continued...
Jun 10, 2006
A Not So Brief History, Pt. 11
Cont'd from 6/8...
We have spoken to several people who wonder at the amount of support that GEM missionaries are required to raise. Most people have the concept that, of you are a missionary that God has called you to be poor -- to sell everything, to live in the most modest housing available and live hand to mouth.
Let me give you a little perspective on this. There is a couple that we know of whom God has called to reach out to a particular segment of society in Italy. Now, to reach the people in their, shall we say, "target market", they need to live as those people do. There needs to be a common ground, or they will be ignored and ineffective in their mission field. In the same way that someone trying to reach the bush people of Africa, this couple must live like those who they are trying to reach.
Now in the case of the one going to Africa, that person most likely would downgrade their lifestyle and live as close as practical to the way the natives do, to establish a commonality and open the doors to ministry. This couple going to Italy, on the other hand, must live in an area where the average small apartment rents for about $5000/month and people drive only the finest cars. There is no way they would be able to establish relationships with the people in their field if they were perceived to be from an inferior segment of society.
Regarding what we are required to raise, it is enough for us to live comfortably in Ireland. Not in excess, not in want. It could be argued that the number one reason that missionaries leave the field is because they are underfunded. GEM wants their workers to be as effective in their ministry as possible without having to worry about money. In addition to living expenses (Ireland's cost of living index is 64% higher than the US) , we also are covered on our insurance, retirement and tax preparation.
Now back to our story...
So now it was time to begin our fundraising. A daunting task, to be sure, but we had been given some good tools and training at orientation. One of the things that we were asked to bring with us to Colorado was a list of potential supporters. It was suggested that there should be 200-400 names on this list. If memory serves, we were able to come up with about 360. (Even now, there are still about half of those that we haven't yet contacted.)
Here are some things we had to keep in mind as we began this process. First, God's pockets are deep. Second, this was a test of our resolve -- did we really feel called? Third, we began to see that this process of raising support was also ministry in and of itself.
I'll explain...
To be continued...
We have spoken to several people who wonder at the amount of support that GEM missionaries are required to raise. Most people have the concept that, of you are a missionary that God has called you to be poor -- to sell everything, to live in the most modest housing available and live hand to mouth.
Let me give you a little perspective on this. There is a couple that we know of whom God has called to reach out to a particular segment of society in Italy. Now, to reach the people in their, shall we say, "target market", they need to live as those people do. There needs to be a common ground, or they will be ignored and ineffective in their mission field. In the same way that someone trying to reach the bush people of Africa, this couple must live like those who they are trying to reach.
Now in the case of the one going to Africa, that person most likely would downgrade their lifestyle and live as close as practical to the way the natives do, to establish a commonality and open the doors to ministry. This couple going to Italy, on the other hand, must live in an area where the average small apartment rents for about $5000/month and people drive only the finest cars. There is no way they would be able to establish relationships with the people in their field if they were perceived to be from an inferior segment of society.
Regarding what we are required to raise, it is enough for us to live comfortably in Ireland. Not in excess, not in want. It could be argued that the number one reason that missionaries leave the field is because they are underfunded. GEM wants their workers to be as effective in their ministry as possible without having to worry about money. In addition to living expenses (Ireland's cost of living index is 64% higher than the US) , we also are covered on our insurance, retirement and tax preparation.
Now back to our story...
So now it was time to begin our fundraising. A daunting task, to be sure, but we had been given some good tools and training at orientation. One of the things that we were asked to bring with us to Colorado was a list of potential supporters. It was suggested that there should be 200-400 names on this list. If memory serves, we were able to come up with about 360. (Even now, there are still about half of those that we haven't yet contacted.)
Here are some things we had to keep in mind as we began this process. First, God's pockets are deep. Second, this was a test of our resolve -- did we really feel called? Third, we began to see that this process of raising support was also ministry in and of itself.
I'll explain...
To be continued...
Jun 8, 2006
A Not So Brief History, Pt. 10
Cont'd from 6/6...
Okay, so it was the president of Greater Europe Mission, Ted Noble, with whom we were having dinner.
The next 8 days were some of the most intense days we've experienced. It was a time of GEM getting to know us and us doing likewise with GEM. We had made a conscious decision to be totally up front with our shortcomings and failures as we went through the process. The purpose for this was so that we knew that we hadn't manipulated things in our favor at all. We wanted this to be a God thing. The last thing that we wanted was to be oversees living in a foreign land and realize that we weren't supposed to be there.
There was so much to cover in just over a week and our days were jammed full of
general meetings and one-on-one evaluations. We did, however, have enough time to get to know our fellow candidates and formed some really great friendships that I'm sure will last a lifetime. Many hours of a game called Farkle were played. We had learned this game on our first trip to Ireland. Including ourselves, there were 14 individuals in our orientation class -- 6 couples and 2 single persons.
Wednesday was the day we met as a couple with a committee of GEM personnel and were asked all the hard questions -- those which help to determine if you are really cut out to be a missionary or not. At the end of the interview, we were told that we would be recommended for appointment to Ireland! So we had passed the mustard -- whatever that means. They liked us and we liked GEM, so we accepted the post as "appointees".
The next morning, everyone seemed so much more relaxed and convivial, as all had been appointed. The remainder of our week was mostly spent learning how to raise funds. Then it was back to the real world.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It snowed while we were there! We hadn't seen snow in years, having been in Florida. It was a wonderful treat. Many of you reading this may live where it snows and think, "I don't care if I never see snow again in my life." You might feel differently if you lived where it never snows.
So now -- the task facing us was no small one. We had a large monthly sum of financial support to raise. We had been given tools to work with and now came the challenge of putting those tools into service. Could we raise that much money? We'll see...
To be continued...
Okay, so it was the president of Greater Europe Mission, Ted Noble, with whom we were having dinner.
The next 8 days were some of the most intense days we've experienced. It was a time of GEM getting to know us and us doing likewise with GEM. We had made a conscious decision to be totally up front with our shortcomings and failures as we went through the process. The purpose for this was so that we knew that we hadn't manipulated things in our favor at all. We wanted this to be a God thing. The last thing that we wanted was to be oversees living in a foreign land and realize that we weren't supposed to be there.
There was so much to cover in just over a week and our days were jammed full of
general meetings and one-on-one evaluations. We did, however, have enough time to get to know our fellow candidates and formed some really great friendships that I'm sure will last a lifetime. Many hours of a game called Farkle were played. We had learned this game on our first trip to Ireland. Including ourselves, there were 14 individuals in our orientation class -- 6 couples and 2 single persons. Wednesday was the day we met as a couple with a committee of GEM personnel and were asked all the hard questions -- those which help to determine if you are really cut out to be a missionary or not. At the end of the interview, we were told that we would be recommended for appointment to Ireland! So we had passed the mustard -- whatever that means. They liked us and we liked GEM, so we accepted the post as "appointees".
The next morning, everyone seemed so much more relaxed and convivial, as all had been appointed. The remainder of our week was mostly spent learning how to raise funds. Then it was back to the real world.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It snowed while we were there! We hadn't seen snow in years, having been in Florida. It was a wonderful treat. Many of you reading this may live where it snows and think, "I don't care if I never see snow again in my life." You might feel differently if you lived where it never snows.
So now -- the task facing us was no small one. We had a large monthly sum of financial support to raise. We had been given tools to work with and now came the challenge of putting those tools into service. Could we raise that much money? We'll see...
To be continued...
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