In this update we have some amazing stories to tell and some BIG news to share! Thanks for joining us in the journey!
Many of you have been asking with us about our friend Chuck and his commitment to read John and focus his worship in September. I have been checking in with him and normally it has been at my initiative that he said things were going well. However, recently he sent me a text message thanking me for the challenge and testifying to the power and peace found in J!! Please continue interceding for him!
Last week we had the incredible opportunity to host our friend AB from Allahabad (the first city we lived in). He rode the train over and spent two full days with us. He had shown so much interest in our story before, but always seemed held back by something. We were able to have many discussions during his recent visit and he is asking tons of questions! There is a possibility I may get to see him again next week. Please ask that this would happen!
We have experienced some craziness over the last month related to our home. The apartment we live in is on the second floor and the land lord decided to put a women's clothing store beneath us. Well, somehow this required removing the support beams that hold up our floor? T actually heard the house drop and huge cracks are on almost every wall. Needless to say, we are moving soon!! G provided the perfect temporary housing situation for us just in time!!
T is not in this picture, but we will have one like it in a few weeks! She is signed up to run in the Delhi half marathon and is training like crazy to get ready. I tried to keep up for a while, but got tired of eating her dust!
C has a new coach on his baseball team. Joe Joe Potato has stepped into the much needed 3rd assistant role on the coaching staff. We desperately needed his expertise and good looks to pull of a winning season!
Game days are so much fun! The embassy has an incredible playground that actually gets more attention than the baseball field.
We have some big news that is probably going to catch you completely off guard, but I don't know a better way to say it than just to say it! We are planning to return stateside at the end of the year and to pursue opportunities in ministry full time to college students.
Here is the back story to this dramatic change in plans.
T and I got married on May 24th 1997. At that point we both loved J, but didn't really have any vision for what He wanted from us. That fall semester (we were still in college) I began a discipleship relationship with a man named Tim (many of you know this part of the story). I quickly began to feel G's passion for the students around me and started reaching out to them. We felt G's pleasure with our efforts and some truly amazing things took place. After graduating we made plans to begin full time collegiate ministry, but before the new school year began I traveled (without T) to India.
The experience shook me to the core and I returned to T a different man. I hadn't spoken much of India before and now I was telling her to pack her bags because we where moving there. She instead told me to pack my bags because she wasn't going anywhere! This began a journey that we have been on since that day. Our time in India has really served to clarify things and for the first time in our married life we have peace about our direction as individuals, as a couple, and as a family.
At the heart of the matter there has been a misunderstanding on my part related to how G calls and sends His children. From day one I approached the possibility of going in a very common sense manner. India is the most spiritually needy place on the planet and yet the workers there are ridiculously low. In my mind it made perfect sense that anyone who really loved J would go there!! I know this wasn't good theology, but at the time it somehow made perfect sense. I see now that this misconception has been driving my ministry and relationships from the beginning.
Three years ago T agreed to come to India with me. She believed that it must be God's desire for our family because it wouldn't let go of me. We sold all of our belongings and crossed the ocean believing we were following the G we both love. We still believe that He wanted us to come here, but now we see that it was as much about correcting and restoring us as anything else. We wholeheartedly believe that bringing us here was the only way G was ever going to loosen my grip on India and free me from the burden I was carrying.
For the most part we have enjoyed our time here. I can honestly say that my love for this place and it's people is as intense as ever, but during our time we have made some massive discoveries! First of all, T has been amazing and has done really well even though it is obvious to us both that M life is not her calling. Secondly, in my most intimate moments with J I only hear Him confirming our original and driving passion, to make disciples on the college campus. He has confirmed from every direction that this is what He has equipped and ordained us to do. For the first time I have experienced peace about what it is that He wants and it has taken bringing us to this place to break my stubborn heart.
The things that have happened here (recorded on this blog) have been amazing. There is no doubt that He is at work! We have and will shed many tears over the things we will leave behind, but we can't deny what the last 10 years point to and what our journey to India has confirmed. We were made to labor among college students! Even our most fruitful activity here has been connected to the discipleship of American college grads that are working all over the country.
As for the timing, many of you are aware that our company is in transition. It is more than just a few adjustments here and there, it is a total transformation. The job we originally came for doesn't even exist anymore. As things get set in the new order, people are committing to new roles and responsibilities. As we evaluate the situation, we feel strongly that transitioning now is better than committing to things we don't feel led to do.
So, our future is a bit uncertain. However, for the first time in our married life we feel complete unity and confidence about what it is G wants us to do. It's not a new direction, it's actually the original direction. We have taken quite a journey to arrive back at the starting line, but believe that the experiences of the past decade have equipped us for the work we have been called to. You guys have amazed us in your support along the way and we ask that you would join us as much now as ever!
We can't explain G's ways, but just know that we know His direction. We follow His leading in this with confidence of His faithfulness and security in His character. I can now testify that following J isn't about what makes sense, following J goes way beyond our senses!
