Live It -- choosing to go

Our church has been challenged over the past several months to "Live It" and spend our lives living out the great commission. I plan to share with you several different posts over the course of the next 3 months that describe our choosing to go, the monetary preparation, the physical/mental/spiritual preparation, the execution of our trips, and the after effects in a series called "Live It". I want to share with you our story and what/why we are doing this summer with our church. The following is an excerpt from a letter sent to some of you personally that tells our story that led us to Live It a little differently than expected this summer. 

I would like to share with you an opportunity that Moose and I will have this summer that will certainly be life changing for us, as well as for many others that we will come in contact with. This past year, Moose and I were making big plans. We thought our summer would be full of getting ready for a baby, growing our family, and focusing on us. However, God had different plans for our summer of 2015. I miscarried in October and we were devastated to lose our first child this way. Only recently have I begun to see God’s hand writing our story, even through this trial.

I have always had a heart for the orphan. Young women, little girls, and teenagers without love and families touch my heart each time I hear their stories. When we initially heard that there would be opportunities to go to Baltimore, Maryland and the Dominican Republic this summer, we thought that would be nice and a good opportunity. Little did we know that these unique missions experiences would be scheduled around the same time we had “planned” to have a child. We were sad that we would not be able to participate. However, we truly believe that God has called us to use our time differently than initially planned. I will be going to Los Asises in the Dominican Republic for a week and we will together be going to Baltimore. We pray we can use our trials, our life experiences, and our personal walks with the Lord to love on the people of these two cities.

While in Baltimore, we will have the opportunity to reach out to inner city youth and children, loving on these kids who often are left unloved. We will minister to the community through Bible School, construction, and simply sharing Christ with those in the community. In the Dominican, I will have the opportunity to help build a center for Compassion International to host a school and facility for the young people there. Additionally, there are many orphans who simply need love. Many of the people we will work with in both locations are from broken homes, have no physical dwelling, and are affected by poverty, addictions, abuse, and hunger. My prayer is that we can open our hearts and show them the love of Jesus and His provision for their spiritual and physical needs.

While we are certain God has opened the door for us to serve Him this summer by clearing our schedule, we are trusting Him to provide support for us as well. We covet your prayers that God will prepare us for each of these opportunities and will bless our efforts as we minister to the people of Baltimore and the Dominican Republic. We also need prayers that our financial needs will be met. We are praying that God will provide for us to be able to go and share the Gospel this summer.

We look forward to answering God’s call to “go and make disciples” in both Baltimore and the Dominican Republic and letting you know how God has worked through our teams and our hearts when we return in July. 

I'm so looking forward sharing the rest of our journey through this Live It experience with you.

*****For more information on how you can support either our Baltimore or Dominican Republic missions teams, please comment or contact me personally. I would love to talk to you!