Stepping out the door

Dear friends,

If you've read the previous post, you now know of the surprising road God has taken us down over the past several months. As we detailed in that post, we are currently in a conversation with World Harvest Mission concerning the potential of going onto the mission field in either Ireland or England.

Over the past two weeks, God has begun to widen the path before us. Many of our friends have encouraged us, and our conversations with the teams in Ireland (particularly) and England have progressed. As this happens and God leads us step by step, it’s important to us that each of you share in this journey of faith with us.

This week, we have been in contact with the field director for World Harvest in Ireland, Eric Brauer. After talking with Eric for 1½ hours (on his dime), we are more excited than ever about the possibilities there! That being the case, we continue to believe that God would have us pursue this direction in ministry.

World Harvest currently has two teams in Ireland, the Missionary Apprenticeship Program team and the Church Resource team, both of which we are considering (and both of which, by God’s grace, are considering us). The strategy of World Harvest in Ireland is to work through these teams and other developing teams to raise up indigenous leadership, disciple them in the Gospel, and then mentor those who are called through the process of planting Irish churches.

As it stands right now, we could fit on either of these teams. By saying that we could fit, we mean that our passions for mentoring/discipleship, our convictions concerning the centrality of the Gospel, and our relational personalities, along with a couple of other elements, would fit well in helping these teams to accomplish their goals. Additionally, we should mention that World Harvest’s core values strongly resonate with us.

At the direction of World Harvest’s recruiter and leaders of both teams, the next step for us is to plan a visit to Ireland in February. The team leaders are working to coordinate the best possible dates for our travel, but as it appears right now, we (along with Emma and Eli) are planning to spend a week in Dublin in mid-February. This “exploratory trip,” as it is called, is the next step in the courting relationship between us and the teams. If, as a result of this trip, we are invited to join either team and are convinced God is calling us to this work, we would be free to apply to World Harvest and begin their assessment process.

We are still in conversation with England, but are uncertain at this time whether our exploratory trip might include a visit there as well.

As we proceed down this path, we desire (very humbly) for you to pray for us and for Community. We long for this process to be an encouragement to our church family and an impetus for all of us to see God in a fresh light, believe the Gospel, and walk closely with our heavenly father.

Of course, a trip to Ireland isn’t free (surprise), so we also covet your prayers that God will provide the $4,000-$6,000 we’ll need to make this trip happen.

We’re grateful for your place in our lives and your share in and support of us in ministry. Please email, call or come by and see us if you have questions or want to know more; we’re chomping at the bit to share the story.

For His glory,

Steve and Laura