More Than the Accompanying Spice

(Plus a quick financial update at the end)

The Call

I can remember the moment I felt God begin to call me to foreign missions.  It was the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. It was a tugging I couldn't ignore.  After four short-term trips to Mexico I knew it was time for the next step.  A year later I stepped off a plane to begin a summer-long internship with a missionary family in eastern Asia.  Shadowing and participating in the day-to-day activities of missionaries was eye opening and challenging.  It wasn't all romance and adventure. It was hard and it was lonely. God spoke to my heart in eastern Asia and made it clear that he was asking me to serve him in full-time, foreign missions.  I said yes, though I did mourn what I thought would be the sacrifice of a husband and family. There are not a lot of eligible bachelors on the mission field.  Just saying "I'm planning to work as a missionary after I graduate" generally clears the vicinity of any would-be wooers. Has anyone else noticed this? Just me? Well anyway, I was committed and I planned to head overseas after finishing my food science and human nutrition degree at Colorado State University.

Obviously God had other plans on the family front and I am thankful he did.

 I met Dave on my last short-term trip to Mexico and besides his good looks, I was drawn to him by his shared burden to reach the up and coming generations for Christ.  We are both passionate about life mentoring.  I'll define life mentoring as being involved in the everyday activities of students with the intention of guiding them to become all God designed them to be while modeling an authentic life of faith. God picked out a wise, dedicated and selfless man to be my husband, leader and partner in ministry.  I'm so grateful I get to be his wife and serve on the foreign field next to him, but even if God hadn't brought Dave, I would still be going.

My Role

I am more than the accompanying spice to Dave's classroom ministry. While my goals on the home front are also to encourage and equip believing students, live the gospel for all to see and support the missionaries, these goals take slightly different shape for me. First, we have our own little third-culture kids (TCKs) to equip and encourage towards a Christ-centered adulthood.  If I (we) neglect them and their discipleship, our ministry to other TCKs falls flat like a chubby toddler in the Wyoming wind. Second, by serving our own TCKs we model to our students what a Jesus-following family looks like.  Sometimes it isn't pretty, but we do have Christ and the gospel makes a difference in how we live. The way our family does life also impacts the missionary community around us and it is my goal to be an encouraging, loving, helpful co-laborer.

Better Together

Watching Dave as a father and husband as well as their teacher gives Dave important credibility with his students, makes him more approachable and paves the way for meaningful conversations about life and faith. Dave is more effective in the classroom because we serve as a unit with complementary roles. Not to mention the fact that it will be easier for Dave to make a difference in the lives of our students if he has clean-ish clothes, is fed and is the beneficiary of what I generally call "domestic support." When not being about the business of  nurturing our young kids and keeping our household running proficiently, if not smoothly, I plan to engage with our students by supporting them at extracurricular events, helping out in the classroom, opening up our home to them as family life allows, and eventually facilitating small groups for girls. Who knows? A nutrition, science or health course might even be in my future!

Clearing A Major Hurdle

By the way, did you hear that we are 91% funded?! God is moving in incredible ways and he keeps taking us by surprise. We can now begin the process of securing tickets to Hungary! However, we will not be cleared to actually board the plane and leave the U.S.A. until we are 100% funded.  Please join us in continuing to pray towards the remaining 8.76% of our funding.  Considering  a monthly pledge or lump sum financial gift to further our ministry to TCKs? Follow this link to sign up!