Mileage
We spent most of February packing, sending email, and
calling people to set up appointments for our big trips in March. And it all
paid off!
We just finished our 10 day “tour” of Alabama, Georgia, and
Tennessee. It was a great trip, and we’ve felt extremely encouraged as our
support team continues to grow. Here’s the highlights from the different
states:
ALABAMA
We were able to have 11 meetings during our 3 day trip. I
went to Samford University from 2005-07, so we were mostly meeting up with
people I knew from my time there. From our last trip, we were able to connect
with a church and speak at their Missions and Mercy meeting this time around.
One of the members was a MK in Spain, so she understood the need for MK
ministry. One of the blessings of the trip was reconnecting with someone I only
remotely knew from Samford. They attend the same church. We couldn’t remember
each other’s name, but I remembered she was a MK from Chile. We met with her
and her husband for dinner, and we immediately clicked as couples. It was so
sweet that our families related so well, yet it was sad that I missed the
opportunity to get to know her in college. Our trip to Birmingham was great
confirmation that God is the one leading us in ministry partnership development
(basically support raising). There were so many instances of how He put
specific people in our path that we would have never met with otherwise.
GEORGIA
We were able to spend time with my family between meeting
with people in Georgia. It was very refreshing to be at home in the middle of
all of our travels, and I feel it fueled me for the rest of the trip. We met
with a couple of families who understand that their money is really God’s money
to distribute as directed by Him. As a result of these surrendered families,
our support grew to just under 18%. I was also able to reconnect with teachers
from my former high school. It’s been 7 years since I graduated, so I failed to
realize at that they would be excited about our endeavor into missions. We were
greeted with great enthusiasm and prayer as we told them about our ministry to
youth. Yet another door God opened that I had forgotten!
TENESSEE
We finished up our trip by visiting friends in Chattanooga
and Nashville. While in Chattanooga, we were able to have dinner with 2
families that probably played the biggest role in supporting and encouraging my
faith when I was in high school. One of them was my Sunday School teacher for
over 5 years, and the other was my small group leader throughout high school.
It was a blessing for them to see how their investment into my life contributed
to us going into full time ministry.
In Nashville, we were able to connect with someone I knew
growing up in church, someone I went to India with in 2007, and some friends
from Oxford. We were in Nashville for less than 24 hours, but it was so nice to
be able to see so many people and tell them about our ministry.
After 10 days of travel, I’m glad to be home. We’re working
on our newsletter, setting up appointments for April, and preparing to go to
Costa Rica on the 26th to speak to the youth group for their
retreat. This trip confirmed that my time spent on facebook messaging and emailing,
which often seems so unproductive, was ultimately beneficial in us getting to
Costa Rica. We’re getting there, little by little… we find 18% to be extremely
encouraging because we’ve watched it grow from 1% to 2 all the way up to 18.
Yes, we have 82% left, but God is able to make that happen.
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