As we chatted about my family’s decision to become missionaries, the man asked, “How do you get the nerve to do something like this?” That’s a good question.

The cause of foreign missions has been growing in our hearts for a long time. As a pastor, Jason often invited missionaries to speak. We have good friends who are missionaries. We financially support a couple of missionaries monthly, and I read Adventist Frontiers magazine from cover to cover every month. Still, for a long time we didn’t sense God calling us to be foreign missionaries. And since Jason is a pastor, not a teacher or medical professional, where would we even be useful?

Last year, I saw a call for a pastor to Scotland in the “5 Most Wanted” column at the back of Adventist Frontiers, and I wondered if it might be a possibility for us. Each subsequent month when I saw it still there, I would casually mention it to Jason, and just as casually he would say something like, “Interesting.” Crickets. Nothing. So I prayed about it. According to my prayer journal, it was October 23, 2018 when I began praying that God would give me peace about the AFM call or give Jason the desire to talk to AFM about it. On December 14, after having his devotions, Jason turned to me and said, “I think it’s time for us to start knocking on doors.”

Although God didn’t lead us to Scotland, we discovered that Jason’s background makes him a great fit for the new training center at the Gogodala Project. Not only that, but through providential leadings, answered prayers and even a dream, God has made it very clear that He is calling us there. Lately we’ve been taking some big steps and finding that there’s nothing like the thrill of holding God’s hand as we step into the unknown. God has come through every time!

In an effort to reach our funding goal as quickly as possible, we have decided to leave Jason’s job as a pastor and, with our three children in tow, begin raising support full-time. This is a bit frightening, since we have always relied on our employment to supply our needs rather than directly depending on God to move upon people’s hearts! Now we are looking for others who have a heart for God’s children in forgotten places and will partner with us to bring light to the Gogodala tribe in Papua New Guinea.

Although we have dearly loved our church families here in the States, we are convinced that following God’s call to the foreign field is the best and quickest way to hasten the coming of Jesus. We want to help bring an end to the sickness and sorrow that prevails in our world.

Please pray that God will continue to deepen our burden for souls and keep us close to Him. We have much to do before we go to PNG, and we don’t want any lack of faith or spiritual deafness on our part to keep us from launching as soon as possible. God is at work, and we are excited to see what He will do next!

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