We have had some questions the last couple of months from family and friends. People who care about us, but wonder what on earth we are thinking and why we are thinking it! Sometimes it is difficult to fully explain the calling that God has put on our hearts to serve Him internationally. Adam and I have both been growing much deeper in our relationship with the Lord throughout the 13 years of our marriage. Our absolute deepest desire is to listen to God and to obey him completely. Starting with our first mission trip together in 2007, God began working on our hearts, preparing us for the path that He had for our family. Jeremiah 29:11 says: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God has been testing our listening skills as well as our obedience to Him over and over this year. It is such a blessing to see Him so clearly at work in our family and so clearly directing our path. Proverbs 3:5-6 says: "Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths." Multiple people have commented to us that they wish they were "young and fearless" again, or that they can't imagine changing their life so drastically.... I think some of them think maybe we aren't opening our eyes to the dangers of the world or to the reality of what we are doing. It has nothing to do with fear or ignorance and everything to do with the FAITH and TRUST that we have in our Heavenly Father. Will everything be easy? No. Will it be comfortable? No. Will we know what each day has in store for us? No. Has God called us as His children to ANY of those things? No. He has called us to Love and Obey. We are merely doing exactly what He has called us as His children to do. Jesus is our example and we seek to follow Him.
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.”
― David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
“My biggest fear, even now, is that I will hear Jesus' words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to Him. ”
― David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
“But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.”
― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
We have had some major changes in our path this summer, but what it all boils down to is that our utmost goal is to be in obedience with God's will for our life.
Many of you know that we have been planning and preparing for the mission field in West Africa for awhile now. However, in May, God began speaking to Adam and I each separately. We were both unsure what to think, wondering if we were listening to God's voice or maybe to fear instead. Nothing had happened, nothing had changed that would contribute to us feeling the way we did. We each prayed about it for several weeks before we even shared with one another what we felt that God was saying to us. Of course, in God's perfect and amazing timing He was telling us the exact same thing at the exact same time. We could literally finish each other's sentences! We talked to several friends and mentors, and they shared that God was telling them the same thing also. God showed us on many occasions that He was definitely in control of the situation and we are so thankful for the many assurances that He has given us that we are following His path for our family.
So in May, God began to lead us in a new direction. We spent a lot of time in prayer from then into early June until we were sure that we should make some changes. It was extremely overwhelming to still feel so very strongly that God was calling us to the mission field, but now we weren't sure of our direction. Adam and I spent hours talking in the car on the way home from St. Louis one night and I shared with him how overwhelmed I felt not knowing the best way to begin searching out where God wants us to be. He remembered a list that the International Conference on Missions (ICOM- my FAVORITE event of the year!) had on their website that listed organizations all over the world that are looking for missionaries. We got home very late, so he pulled it up on the computer and we went to bed. The next morning, he headed to work and I decided to look over the list. I knew that it could be a long time before God led us to where He wanted us, and that there are so so many wonderful ministries out there. I had no desire to hurry and pick something, just a desire to be searching and evaluating with an open mind and an open heart. Prayerfully, I began to look over the list, reading about each ministry. Ministry after ministry sounded wonderful and amazing, but I wasn't hearing anything from the Lord. Then I got to an entry about a children's home in South Africa. I read the information they had on the list and it was the only ministry that just jumped out at me. I spent the next 3 hours reading everything I could find about them online, in prayer and in tears. God was really speaking to my heart, and I knew I had to know more about this children's home called The Fold. I texted Adam at work and asked for him to call me when he had a chance. A few minutes later the phone rang. Adam asked me what I was doing and I replied that I was online looking at a children's home. His reply: In South Africa? He had taken his breakfast break, read over the list and felt God directing him to look into this place called The Fold! God had led us both to the same ministry at the same time! :) That night we spent more time reading together about their ministry and praying about contacting them to find out more. The following evening Adam sent them an email introducing our family and telling them where we got their information. They were so very excited to hear from us. Their ministry has been growing and they have been praying that God would send some missionaries to help them! They didn't even know that ICOM had posted the list! Since that first contact there have been many many emails, Facebook messages and Skype calls as we have all gotten to know each other a bit and asked many questions about The Fold. God has continued to assure us that this is our next step and that He is leading us.
The property had a strip mall on it as well as many camping sites. The Fold has family style housing. Each house will have 6-8 children and they have South Africans serving as house parents. (That is very important in their culture.) They have converted the strip mall into a home for Paul and Micky, a school room, a work shop, 2 children's homes for 6-8 children each, and an apartment. They have enough foundation left on one end to build their 3rd home. After that they will be building from the ground up! Their goal for their ministry is: To see the children become successful members of society and someday create a loving, supportive family environment for their children. Their ministry falls in line with the calling that God has placed on our lives to fulfill James 1:27: Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 
The past few weeks have been filled with meetings with our church's mission team, the elders, the pastor and some of our mentors. We have been working to plan an exploratory trip to South Africa to experience the culture, get to know the people at The Fold and to see if it is a good fit all around. We have been so anxiously awaiting the time when we could book our flights and know that we will soon get to meet all of these wonderful people in person. We have talked, emailed, looked at pictures and watched videos so much that we feel like we already know them! Then this weekend, we got the go ahead from our church to book tickets! Yesterday was so very exciting as we were able to purchase tickets to leave here on October 4th until the 26th!!! We are so thrilled to be able to have 3 weeks for our trip! We asked our pastor, Mark, and his daughter, Leslie, to join us for the first week. They should both have some valuable insight for us as well as having the opportunity to get to know Paul and Micky and their ministry firsthand. They also purchased tickets yesterday and we were so excited to call Paul and Micky at The Fold and let them know that we all had our tickets!
Now I know this has already been a very long post, but I HAVE to tell you a little more about The Fold. Paul and Micky Prince are a couple from Tulsa, Oklahoma who went to South Africa on a Bible distribution mission trip. While they were there, they realized the huge need for a children's home in the northern most province of the country called the Limpopo Province. The Limpopo Province is the poorest area of the country. Paul and Micky responded to this need by partnering with their church, Cedar Ridge Christian Church and moving to SA to purchase an 81 acre property. They started building in April 2010 and in September 2010 they received their first child.
*First and foremost - sharing Christ's love in all that we do
*Leading bible studies and discipling the house parents
*Nightly devotions with the children
*Tutor the children/help them with homework as needed
* Assist Paul and Micky in administrative roles
* Help stem sustainability initiatives
*Building projects as they go from 2 to 8 homes
*Coordinating local volunteer groups as well as short term mission trips
*Teaching the children life skills that will help them prepare for their future
-Auto maintenance, building, household projects and maintenance....
-Sewing, baking, soapmaking....
*Basically sharing the gifts and talents that God has blessed us with and helping to build them in the
children as we get to know them and the gifts, talents and passions that God has placed in them.
They have been preparing "our" apartment there on their property. They have received some donations that will help out so we don't have to purchase as much and they sent out the stove and refrigerator yesterday to be repaired. A couple of weeks ago they sent us a message to let us know that they have even made up our beds!!! We just can't wait to meet everyone and hug and love on these sweet children we see in the pictures!
Please pray for us as we along with Pastor Mark, Leslie, the elders and mission team work on our list of questions for Paul and Micky and for the Lord's guidance over what all we should evaluate while we are in SA. Also, please pray for us as this is all becoming REAL! We are excited, but at the same time, we know that every step forward takes us a step closer to saying good bye. Good bye to our current lifestyle, to our stuff and most importantly to our family and friends. We are so thankful for the internet, Skype, and mission trips!
Thanks for keeping up with us!
:) Adam, Jen, Ethan and Caeley
