Why foreign missions?

There is something incredibly exciting to us about bringing the Gospel to people who have no witness among them. It’s not enough, even in this present day, for every church to evangelize their neighborhood and city. There are entire ethnic groups, thousands of them, without any believers among them. They are cut off, physically or maybe just culturally, from access to the Good News. It requires Christians to cross into their culture, maybe learning their language, in order to present the Gospel to them. That’s why foreign missions is really better called “cross-cultural missions” in today’s globalized world. There are cities in the U.S. and in Western Europe where “cross-cultural” missions can be practiced without buying an expensive plane ticket and travelling to an exotic place. The nations are coming to us in many ways. But the vast majority of unreached peoples are in foreign lands, difficult and often expensive places to access, where the Gospel will be planted through a life given sacrificially and not just a Saturday mission project before the college football game.

God has given the church the privilege of participating in the reconciliation of the nations to Himself (2 Cor. 5:17-21). The throne of the Lamb will be a very colorful place:

Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth. Revelation 5:9

The Lamb will be worshipped, and God will be glorified throughout the whole earth. The method of accomplishing this is the preaching of the Gospel, everywhere, to all people.

How could you take your children to a developing country to live?

Is that worse for the souls of our children than the affluent suburbs of America? Abundant wealth and comfort can be deadly to the soul, and are ultimately far more dangerous than malaria or civil war. It could be argued that the foreign mission field is the best place for children to grow up. We certainly think so. And we believe God is sovereign, even over the safety and well-being of our children. They don’t get so much as an ant bite outside of His supreme rule.

There are plenty of lost people in America, why not just stay here and minister to them?

That’s a worthy and necessary ministry, but not our calling or strongest desire. There are thousands of ethnic groups who have no church, no Bible, and no witness in their language. They live in places where Christ has not been named (Romans 15:20). Like the Apostle Paul, our ambition is to preach in those places.

Can we come visit you?

Yes! We love volunteers and would happily host you in our town in Chad. There is always a job to be done, whether it’s praying in neighborhoods and villages; using your vocational skills (for example: doctors, nurses, English and computer teaching, health education, giving pedicures, you name it!); encouraging our family in various ways, evangelizing through interpreters by sharing Scripture and Bible stories, etc. God’s creativity is the limit in how you can be used in this ministry of bringing the hope of Jesus to the lost.

Better yet: join our team! We desire to faithfully fulfill this ministry in community. We need you! Will you ask God if He is calling you to long-term service on mission with Him to share the joy of Christ with those who have never heard?

What are your greatest needs?

  • Your prayers
    We covet your prayers. If you can do nothing else, please pray for us. Pray for the adjustments of everyone in our family, our health, wisdom, discernment, etc…
  • Your financial partnership
    The generous support of our financial supporters enables us to do this work. We are grateful for those who have invested in eternity, and we look forward to seeing the results of those investments, if not now then in the age to come.
  • Teammates
    We desire to work as a team, with other like-minded families and singles. Would you consider joining us?
  • God’s grace for each day
    Above all, we need and anticipate God’s grace for each day. Our faith in this “future grace” motivates us to persevere.

Are you afraid?

Most of the time, no. We trust the Father for protection, and wholeheartedly believe that we are in his loving care. We aren’t naïve – we have counted the cost and found serving and knowing Christ to be far superior to loving comfort and having the illusion of safety. At times we wrestle with doubts and fears, but we confess them to the Lord and he gives us the grace to persevere. And we have seen time and again the doubts and fear turn to faith as God sustains and strengthens us.

Will you live exactly like the average Chadian person?

Yes and No.
Yes, we intend to live like Chadians in that we will not be exporting our American standard of living including central air conditioning and carpeted floors into a neighborhood that consists of brick huts and no electricity. We are aware we cannot blend in, but we do want to our home and yard to be a culturally appropriate hospitable place where people can experience the love of Christ, receive any services we can offer (prayer, medicine, advice, etc.) and also hear the message of the gospel. We aim to be sensitive to the cultural ideas of modesty in our clothing (especially Kimberly, who will dress like the women). We want to live simply enough that Chadians feel comfortable with us living among them. We do we want to tempt people to covet or think if they follow Jesus they’ll become rich.
No. We will not live like the people in some ways. Certain aspects of the Chadian standard of living may hinder our ministry, our children’s education, or compromise our health. For instance, we plan to use solar panels because we need our computers to stay connected with our supporters (you!) and conveniences like lights will give us extended time to work in the evening. In some ways, we will live as Americans, for example, filtering our water, using a Western-style toilet (as opposed to a hole in the ground) and bringing good OTC medicines that aren’t available in Chad. Certainly, we will be living more simply than most American families and we are excited about this opportunity! With each decision as to what to pack, we will ask ourselves: Will this help us to be effective in a long-term ministry? We pray the Lord would give us much wisdom in this area.