The Call

Okay, in my last post I promised to tell more about the leap that God is calling Stephen and I to make. Get ready, it's kind of a doozy. We're still adjusting, but we're excited about what God is doing.

Let me give a little background... During the summer of 2002, we had the opportunity to take a life-changing mission trip to Manila, Philippines. On our first morning there, we attended a worship service at Lighthouse Christian Community Church, the church that we would be working with over the next week. Their pastor and missionary, Chuck Quinley, preached a sermon about the Great Commission. Today, I don't remember exactly what he said, but that message so resonated in my heart that I would never be the same again. As Stephen and I made our way to the altar to surrender our lives to the call to foreign missions, someone snapped a picture of us on our knees, holding hands, sobbing, and praying. It is a beautiful reminder of what God spoke to us that day.

When we returned to the states, Stephen and I started making initial preparations to move to the Philippines and enroll in the Asian Seminary for Christian Ministries, which we thought would lead to us becoming full-time missionaries somewhere in Asia. However, God had other plans. About a month later, we found out that we were expecting our daughter, after a year and a half of trying, and she was due at the exact time we were supposed to leave for the the Philippines. So, even though we were ecstatic about Laynie's impending arrival, we were a little confused after hearing God's call so clearly.

What He knew, that we didn't, was that a within months of our anticipated departure date, Stephen's mom, Cheryl, would be diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer and that we would be needed here. After a 22 month battle, Cheryl went home to be with Jesus. Her death rocked our world in a way that I cannot even describe. God, in His sovereignty, knew that it would have been too difficult on our family to be so far away during that trying time. However, during everything that happened, we never forgot the call God had placed on our lives.

In 2007, He began to stir in our hearts again regarding the Great Commission and we joined an organization called Apartment Life to do missions right here in metro Atlanta. We rented out our house (and almost lost it in the process, but that's a whole different post) and moved our family into an apartment complex to plan community events and provide care to residents in need. The whole purpose of the ministry is to build relationships with your neighbors, which opens the door to share the love of Christ. While God has blessed our ministry here and we know that He is working through us, we also knew when we started this that it was just a preparation ground for an even bigger work that He has planned.

Back in the Fall, I began to feel God stirring in my heart about foreign missions again. I began to pray that God would reveal the next step in His plan and show us the location He had in mind. On October 2, I went to the website of a church near our apartment that we have partnered with on several events. On their home page was a picture of David and Nicole Hannah, a couple who are getting ready to leave for Italy to become full-time missionaries. I was intrigued because I had never heard of a missionary going to Italy, so I clicked on the link to read more. What I read shocked me to my core.

When most people think of Italy, they picture the Vatican, beautiful cathedrals, incredible artwork, architecture, food etc. What the majority of Christians don't realize is that only about 0.4% of Italians know Jesus as their Savior. Out of 33,500 cities and towns in Italy, 32,000 have NO evangelical witness. In the absence of truth, many Italians are turning to the over 100,000 full-time "magicians" or "seers" to fill the void in their lives. That's more than 3 times the number of Catholic priests in the country. Almost more disturbing is that many more Italians are totally indifferent to religion and feel that they have no need for God.

As I read these statistics, I began to weep and had to get up and leave the room. That evening, I spent hours on the Internet researching Italy and everything I read told the same grim story. I knew then that God was calling us to Italy. The next morning, Stephen and I went to breakfast together. Over our chicken biscuits, I told him everything I had learned the night before. By the end of the meal, Stephen was convinced that God was calling us to Italy too, but we agreed to pray about it.

In the months since then, God has confirmed it to us both over and over. We've sought godly counsel, talked to missionaries in Italy, searched the Word, prayed, and fasted. We are convinced that this is the plan God had in mind when He called us on that hot summer day in Manila. So... where do we go from here?

After the first of the year, Stephen and I submitted applications to The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) to become full-time missionaries to Italy. The application process can take 5-6 months, followed by a time of training and raising support. So, while we won't be moving to Italy right away, the next couple of years will be busy getting ready to go. We ask you to join us in prayer that God will continue to lead and guide us during this process and that He will provide the resources we'll need to make this happen. We are excited about this adventure and extremely humbled that God would call us to the work He's doing in Italy. We know that it won't be easy, but the things that are worth doing usually aren't. Stay tuned and we'll keep you updated...

P.S. Sorry for the long post! I promise they won't be this lengthy all the time.