Our Journey into Missions (Pt.1). Finding God.
I have to apologize again about not updating this blog after so many years. Since opening a Facebook account, we have found it much easier to make quick posts to Facebook than to sit down and write a post or story in a blog. Nevertheless, this is a good medium to inform our friends and acquaintances with longer stories or subject matter. In this post I want to share a little about our story which has led us to a life of vocational missions.
In this series of posts, I will go back to what initially sparked my interest in missions. And then share a bit about how we put ourselves in a position to do missions the way we do. I'll talk about some of our challenges along the way. And eventually bring the story to where we are now in the present.
Why write about this now? After 15 years of involvement in Nicaragua, and over 13 years living as full time missionaries, we have met so many young people and older folks who look at us and ask, "How did you get here?" All the while they are asking themselves, "Could I do that?" The answer to the second questions is usually "Yes." The answer to the first is more personal and specific to our lives. In our experience, almost every missionary or person in ministry has their own story, unique to themselves. And that is OK. The work of God in our lives is very personal and so should be the stories of our lives. Still, it is the stories of others that often times help us develop a plan, or to guide our prayers, and our preparation towards our goals. So with that, I'll begin our story...
My story as it relates to missions begins in 1981 in the High Desert of California. After joining the military in June of 1980 I was eventually shipped out to Edwards Air Force Base near Lancaster, California. It has been said that many find God in the desert, or often times in the 'desert experiences' of life. That was me in both cases. Edwards AFB is in the middle of a desert. It was a lonesome 35 minute drive to the nearest city and a 20 minute drive to a small town of Rosamond, CA. And it was here that my missionary journey began.
It has to be said that at this stage of my life I was pretty confused with the direction my life had gone. I had joined the Air Force as a way to bring some stability to my life after dropping out of college and not seeing a bright future ahead. At least in the military I could learn a trade and continue my education, or so I thought.
My arrival to Edwards AFB was in September of 1980 after three months of basic training and technical school. While I was going through my pre-Edwards Basic military training, my youngest brother, Thom, was introduced to Christianity through an uncle of ours. Thom was my best friend and as such, would write to me letters of this new experience he was going through. By the time I arrived at Edwards I had tons of questions about this Christian faith thing my brother was going through. And being as though in my own life I was searching for some answers, my questions were not just for my brother.
My orders were to work in the carpentry shop on the military base and as fate would have it I was paired up with a civilian who was a Christian. Sam was to be my mentor in the shop but he was not a guy who would preach to me while we worked together. On the contrary, I was the one asking Sam all the questions. As my brother would write letters with his new knowledge of the bible and of his faith in Jesus, I wanted to know if the story lined up. Sam would respond to all my questions with short, honest answers. He never took the opportunity to convert me to his way of thinking. He just humbly gave me the passage or verse from the bible to complete my questions.
Sam and I spent three months repairing windows on the military base. Edwards was an old base with many old buildings. It was also a test facility where aircraft went through flight tests after modifications to their design. That meant lots of sonic booms, and lots of broken windows from those booms. One day as we were working I asked Sam if I could visit his church. He said his church was nice, but he thought I was cut out more for a different kind of church. He said I should check it out first. If I didn't like it, he would invite me to his. The church was called the Desert Vineyard and it met in a warehouse building at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
When I visited that church I felt at home. 20 or 30 round tables filled the space with a stage on one end and free donuts and coffee on the other, I immediately thought "This is my kind of church." as a non-practicing catholic who had been away from a mass for 7 years, the relaxed gathering of the Vineyard was inviting. The music was folk style a la Niel Young to Christian lyrics and the place was filled with mostly young people in their 20's and 30's. And the coffee was good, too. Each service always ended with an invitation to know Jesus in a personal way. If we would take a step of faith to accept Him as Lord and acknowledge our sins, he would forgive us and offer eternal life. Hey, this sounded pretty good to me considering I felt my life was pretty misdirected at the time. I couldn't see a hope for myself before hearing this message of Jesus. But hearing the message after a number of visits to the Desert Vineyard I started believing there was a better way.
It took about two months of visiting the Vineyard regularly before I finally made the decision to follow Jesus. It was a Tuesday evening service and the assistant pastor Ron Cox was teaching. At the end of the service he made an invitation to the attendees to know Jesus as our personal Savior. I'd now heard this invitation numerous times and never felt moved to respond, but this evening was different. This time I could not stay in my seat. I got up and went forward to acknowledge Jesus as my Savior. Jesus said that if we will acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior he will acknowledge us before His father in heaven. That seemed like a pretty low bar to entry right there. I know I was a sinner and I knew most of my own failings. The offer was that Jesus was going to take my life and make it new. Although I seemed like a regular guy on the outside, I was a wreck inside and I needed some help to walk out my life. According to Ron Cox, Jesus was there not just to save my soul but to also help me live this life. I took the offer seriously.
That day in late January 1981 has been the pivotal day of my life. My entire life change beginning that day and I have been on a fantastic journey ever since. All of a sudden my life was given a purpose, even if I didn't know what lay ahead, it no longer seemed useless or as if I'd missed my chances in life. I was right where God wanted me and everything both up to that point and after was His doing to get my attention. Jesus said something about what does it gain a man if he gains the whole world only to lose his soul. I gained my soul that day and have been grateful ever since.
The rest of my life, and the rest of this story falls on this side of the grace given to me on that day.
In this series of posts, I will go back to what initially sparked my interest in missions. And then share a bit about how we put ourselves in a position to do missions the way we do. I'll talk about some of our challenges along the way. And eventually bring the story to where we are now in the present.
Why write about this now? After 15 years of involvement in Nicaragua, and over 13 years living as full time missionaries, we have met so many young people and older folks who look at us and ask, "How did you get here?" All the while they are asking themselves, "Could I do that?" The answer to the second questions is usually "Yes." The answer to the first is more personal and specific to our lives. In our experience, almost every missionary or person in ministry has their own story, unique to themselves. And that is OK. The work of God in our lives is very personal and so should be the stories of our lives. Still, it is the stories of others that often times help us develop a plan, or to guide our prayers, and our preparation towards our goals. So with that, I'll begin our story...
My story as it relates to missions begins in 1981 in the High Desert of California. After joining the military in June of 1980 I was eventually shipped out to Edwards Air Force Base near Lancaster, California. It has been said that many find God in the desert, or often times in the 'desert experiences' of life. That was me in both cases. Edwards AFB is in the middle of a desert. It was a lonesome 35 minute drive to the nearest city and a 20 minute drive to a small town of Rosamond, CA. And it was here that my missionary journey began.
It has to be said that at this stage of my life I was pretty confused with the direction my life had gone. I had joined the Air Force as a way to bring some stability to my life after dropping out of college and not seeing a bright future ahead. At least in the military I could learn a trade and continue my education, or so I thought.
My arrival to Edwards AFB was in September of 1980 after three months of basic training and technical school. While I was going through my pre-Edwards Basic military training, my youngest brother, Thom, was introduced to Christianity through an uncle of ours. Thom was my best friend and as such, would write to me letters of this new experience he was going through. By the time I arrived at Edwards I had tons of questions about this Christian faith thing my brother was going through. And being as though in my own life I was searching for some answers, my questions were not just for my brother.
My orders were to work in the carpentry shop on the military base and as fate would have it I was paired up with a civilian who was a Christian. Sam was to be my mentor in the shop but he was not a guy who would preach to me while we worked together. On the contrary, I was the one asking Sam all the questions. As my brother would write letters with his new knowledge of the bible and of his faith in Jesus, I wanted to know if the story lined up. Sam would respond to all my questions with short, honest answers. He never took the opportunity to convert me to his way of thinking. He just humbly gave me the passage or verse from the bible to complete my questions.
Sam and I spent three months repairing windows on the military base. Edwards was an old base with many old buildings. It was also a test facility where aircraft went through flight tests after modifications to their design. That meant lots of sonic booms, and lots of broken windows from those booms. One day as we were working I asked Sam if I could visit his church. He said his church was nice, but he thought I was cut out more for a different kind of church. He said I should check it out first. If I didn't like it, he would invite me to his. The church was called the Desert Vineyard and it met in a warehouse building at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
When I visited that church I felt at home. 20 or 30 round tables filled the space with a stage on one end and free donuts and coffee on the other, I immediately thought "This is my kind of church." as a non-practicing catholic who had been away from a mass for 7 years, the relaxed gathering of the Vineyard was inviting. The music was folk style a la Niel Young to Christian lyrics and the place was filled with mostly young people in their 20's and 30's. And the coffee was good, too. Each service always ended with an invitation to know Jesus in a personal way. If we would take a step of faith to accept Him as Lord and acknowledge our sins, he would forgive us and offer eternal life. Hey, this sounded pretty good to me considering I felt my life was pretty misdirected at the time. I couldn't see a hope for myself before hearing this message of Jesus. But hearing the message after a number of visits to the Desert Vineyard I started believing there was a better way.
It took about two months of visiting the Vineyard regularly before I finally made the decision to follow Jesus. It was a Tuesday evening service and the assistant pastor Ron Cox was teaching. At the end of the service he made an invitation to the attendees to know Jesus as our personal Savior. I'd now heard this invitation numerous times and never felt moved to respond, but this evening was different. This time I could not stay in my seat. I got up and went forward to acknowledge Jesus as my Savior. Jesus said that if we will acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior he will acknowledge us before His father in heaven. That seemed like a pretty low bar to entry right there. I know I was a sinner and I knew most of my own failings. The offer was that Jesus was going to take my life and make it new. Although I seemed like a regular guy on the outside, I was a wreck inside and I needed some help to walk out my life. According to Ron Cox, Jesus was there not just to save my soul but to also help me live this life. I took the offer seriously.
That day in late January 1981 has been the pivotal day of my life. My entire life change beginning that day and I have been on a fantastic journey ever since. All of a sudden my life was given a purpose, even if I didn't know what lay ahead, it no longer seemed useless or as if I'd missed my chances in life. I was right where God wanted me and everything both up to that point and after was His doing to get my attention. Jesus said something about what does it gain a man if he gains the whole world only to lose his soul. I gained my soul that day and have been grateful ever since.
The rest of my life, and the rest of this story falls on this side of the grace given to me on that day.
Comments
Post a Comment