There are so many surprises in the way life unfolds, the way God walks us down paths we didn’t anticipate. We are convinced enough of the Word of God, and have enough evidence in living it out to hold to the truth in Ephesians 3:20, that He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask for or think. And He does. To Him be the glory forever! It is a really exciting time, then, when the time of waiting and anticipation becomes a bit more of revelation! We have definition of our next steps as a family, and are so thankful for the doors God is opening up and inviting us through.
Bob is joining the International Support Services staff with a ministry through SIM called Sports Friends. He will be doing media and communications to help support and further grow this global outreach that is reaching over 200,000 young people in 14 different nations with the love and hope of Jesus. The more we have learned about this ministry (how it began in Ethiopia during our daughters’ early childhoods, how it is bringing purpose and hope to the lives of young people ravaged by the brokenness of this world, and how with a ball it walks the gospel into the most unreached areas and right onto the field that calls thousands of youth to come join in), the more we love the prospect of working with them. You can learn all about Sports Friends here, and catch some videos of how this growing vision is impacting so many lives and communities. Bob will serve from the home base of their office at SIM International, in Ft. Mill, SC (right outside of Charlotte). He (and the kids, at various/appropriate times) will go on short trips to the field, to encourage and assist the national staff (which make up 86% of Sports Friends full-time ministers), to collect media and communicate stories, or to help staff some of the bigger events that happen throughout the year.
It is so exciting, not only to be a part of this highly strategic and effective ministry, but to see how God is placing our family in a role that is so fitting and inviting to all of our kids as they continue to grow and discover what He’s doing worldwide. What’s better than meeting and joining the global church, bringing hope and vision to hurting kids, on their own turf, through the avenue of a soccer or volleyball match? Well, being personally invited by Jesus to go there with Him.
Mary’s role is yet to be defined. In the immediate future, she is dedicated to caring for a newborn, moving a few states away, and settling a long-transitioning family into a new city before new time commitments are made. SIM does a lot of medical work, though. She anticipates serving the medical missionaries from a supportive angle, and taking shorter trips to the field over time as well. An exciting prospect would be to get involved in educational trips, training nationals in basic healthcare, midwifery, etc.
Our route forward is full of opportunity for our God of the impossible. Currently, we are training for long-term service with SIM by doing several online courses and required reading for team-building, family-sustaining in missions, Bible/theology, history of missions, etc. This will keep us pretty busy over the coming weeks to months. (Besides things like finishing the homeschool year, preparing to sell our home and move to Charlotte, having a baby, etc.)
Building our long-term team of committed prayer and financial supporters is a critical part of our move forward. There is no possible way to do what we’ve done or continue to walk this particular road of obedience on our own. We have been supported in a sustaining way by so many people, both through our adoption and its necessary challenges & transitions, and through this past year of following Jesus into the crazy goodness of moving a big family that needs big grace into a position of full-time service, ready to give all our time and resources to God’s Kingdom.
THANK YOU for being part of us, for laboring with us, praying & fighting for us, encouraging & loving us. You have seen and invested in God’s work in and through our family. It is a remarkable and humbling thing. We so clearly recognize how we are just one small part of this team of disciples given to seeing Jesus’ truth, salvation, justice, hope, and redemption brought on earth. All of this work of His becomes work of ours-together with each variation of our “yes” to His call in it.
SIM’s motto is “By Prayer”, because that’s how everything happens. We need at least 400 partners committed to praying for our family, encouraging us and holding us accountable. They have no delusions that a missionary family can make it on their own, either!
SIM as an agency also accepts as necessary the value of their missionary families being fully supported and free of financial burden. We will not be able to start fully serving with Sports Friends until we have enough consistent financial partners to meet a baseline budget developed for a family of our size, in this country.
You are the ones already so faithfully engaged in this journey and work. We so desire to have you as part of our long-term team, and to continue walking this road together! There is such value in knowing we are not alone: that the people of God and people who love us “have our backs”. We are so small, but God is SO BIG, and one way He demonstrates that is through you all standing up around us to defend and sustain. What joy there is in knowing that as we are all faithful together, we all will see the rewards of faithfulness together. Our God is generous and fills our lives with such abundance!
We ask you to pray: to ask God what He is specifically inviting you to in the context of this story and this ministry. He is changing a multitude of lives through the outreaches of Sports Friends and SIM’s medical work. Within our own home, He is having us strategically disciple six young people from two different nations in preparation to reach the world in unique ways He’s prepared for them. Ask Him why you are connected to this work, and how He wants to share it with you. Ask Him what sacrifices He wants you to make, knowing that the return is far greater than the investment. Saying “yes” to Him is worth it. He is worthy.
If you’re not already on our newsletter list (we have quite a few of you following primarily through Facebook), please click right here, or on the “Newsletter” button at the top, and do let us know if you’ll be one of our prayer partners. We want to have good contact information, and to be faithful to you. We want to stay connected and accessible, and to pray for you in what you need as well.
If God is inviting you to invest your dollars to this corner of His Kingdom (where your treasure is, there your heart will be), please use this Support button to give Him your “yes” with us! You can also just click the button the top of the page. We truly believe that every bit of everything we give to Him will not be wasted but blessed, and we believe that for you, too. He is worthy of our extravagance; He alone has given us all we have.
We are blessed by you, and would love to hear how God is blessing you in return! Let us know what He’s doing in your lives, how He’s providing, what challenges you’re walking through with Him. We’re all in this together, and He is with us. And stay tuned for more information on Sports Friends, our move, and more opportunities for you to get involved (soccer/Bible camp in Ethiopia, anyone?)! Adventure always awaits!
He is worthy.