Be Bold, Be Strong...but only if it's comfortable?

I suspect we are like almost every other missionary when it comes to raising support. Asking for prayer support is easier and in some way noble.  After all, admitting we need God's help and asking you to petition our Father for that help makes us humble and vulnerable. Exactly what we want our missionaries to be.  Right? We both at times, different times thankfully, have a fear that grips us right to our core. So we know we need prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Asking for money is personal and causes Jane and I to ask with all possible sincerity, "Are we worthy?" I guess we think so or we wouldn't be asking. Yet it still bothers us. Why? Pride, rejection, not sure. Probably both. Mostly, it seems like we are using people for what they can give you. Every time we think we have handed this over to God something happens that lets us know we are still struggling. Worrying about how this or that looks. Not wanting to text good friends to get their address. Having someone you should contact come to you during prayer and then later rationalize why you shouldn't send them a letter.  Blah, blah blah!

Our good friend commented, "This raising money thing has got to be the biggest roadblock." Instantly we thought yes. On further reflection it is much more like Moses' first step through the Red Sea. Not a roadblock but a cautious beginning. One of our desires is to be bold and to be strong "for the Lord thy God is with you". Yeah, the way we act is to be bold when it is comfortable, be strong when you are sure you got the win. You get the picture. How do we break out of this rut? Pretty sure it is to; listen, die to self and be obedient. Pray that we would become much more competent in all three of those areas.

Why Now?

We have been talking about what to do when we retired for almost a decade. We weren't dissatisfied in our current work, more like Jeff's need to have a picture of what was next. There was a wide range of options. Not that we  have so many skills, rather we were pretty open to at least talk about almost anything.  It always was centered on some sort of ministry somewhere. There was really very little agreement on what it would look like.

A few years ago we were at a wedding talking with a friend who had attended and worked at Rift Valley and the subject of what we wanted to do next came up. She was so positive about RVA and our fit there, it just took hold of Jeff's heart.

Jane didn't feel the same way! Basically she didn't want to talk about it because it was not anywhere near her radar. Through some uncommon wisdom, Jeff didn't push. Gradually different ideas and desires turned into one. It was really cool. Last winter we were walking in Lakeshore and Jane realized that the time to go was near. Our parents were gone, no kids within 3 hours of home and relatively good health. (Jeff does get a new hip in Dec.)  Had God been preparing us to go? It sure seemed so.

Jeff went to Haiti on a short term mission trip in early January and came back with the overwhelming feeling of it's time. Our barriers to working overseas are lower and fewer than most others. Don't get us wrong, our jobs here are super important and we have known that they were our ministry for all of our adult lives. It's just time for us to work on a new chapter.

It has been very unifying to have different desires and thoughts merge into one call where we get to work side by side. This process has already drawn us closer together. Working side by side in ministry has been a desire for many years. We feel blessed to have been given this gift.

Why Kenya?

The questions of: Why Africa? Why Kenya? comes up all the time. As children both Jane and I were bothered by the fact that there are many in the world that have never heard of our savior Jesus Christ.  This seed took hold in our hearts.  But Africa?  Going there (especially for Jane) was for someone else. It took a lot of work by the Holy Spirit to make this even a consideration.

As adults we find it unreal that there are still over 970 unreached people groups in Africa. AIM's mission is to find ways to reach these groups. While this is difficult and takes a lot of time and effort, we believe wholeheartedly in this mission. While we will not be out in the bush showing the Jesus film or anything like that, we are making it possible for others to take on that task.

When we were in Atlanta, we were so inspired by the families going to Africa. These families are leaving everything behind to help complete AIM's mission. By working at RVA we can provide direct support to those on the front lines. Our goal is to make the lives of every family we come in contact with easier. Please pray that we won't lose sight of this goal and get caught up in ourselves.