Your Sphere of Influence

"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours." John 17:6-9

How powerful are these words from Jesus as he prays to the Father. These words spoke to me in such a different way when I read them today. How interesting that Jesus says he is not praying for the WORLD but for THOSE God has given him. What a vivid reminder that it is GOD who gives us people in our spheres of influences to share the Good News of Him with and to disciple. It is the duty of EVERY Christian to share Christ and make disciples of the people God has given them influence over. And how incredible that God so beautifully matches these people with the gifts and talents He's given us.

Our individual spheres of influences take so many different forms. For me, God has put specific people into my life as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, pastor's wife, and teacher. Take my sphere of influence as a teacher in a public school for instance; God has put many people into my "world" there-my students, their parents, community leaders, and my fellow collegues-whether they are teachers, media specialists, or custodial staff, the parents, etc. Or another part of my sphere of influence-being the wife of a Student Pastor-the youth, college students, and even kids. And one day in the near future my sphere of influence will expand globally as we move to South Sudan and make disciples of the precious people there!

So it is really FANTASTIC how God has a purpose specific to each of our lives. If we only surrender to Him COMPLETELY: We must truly do as Romans 12:1 says "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." God does have our best in mind!

Our Journey of Obedience

It's so incredible to me how our journey to Africa has unfolded! We can attribute it to nothing but the mighty hand of God. He has led our steps every moment of the way. Thank you, Jesus for never failing nor forsaking us.

We are SUPER excited about the next stages in our journey to meet our Echelon team in Uganda and then South Sudan. We have a more definite timeline now since we have been officially job matched with our team. We await the meeting of the IMB (International Mission Board) trustees in March. Please pray that God will grant us favor in this final stage of the whole applicatin process that we need with our sending agency. Our appointment service will be May 23rd where we'll be commissioned.

Pray for wisdom for us as we are intentional about our final year in America-with our families, ministry, jobs, and everything that has to be done to prepare to go. The reality is truly sinking in now and it is of course somewhat bittersweet as we will be preparing to say goodbye to those whom we love so dearly. Please pray God will give us His continued peace that surpasses all understanding.

It is our prayer that when people commend us for our sacrifice that we are able to testify that it is NOT us. God has called us and we are just trying to be faithful and obey. We are NOT super Christians or extra holy or ANYTHING like that. We love God, He has called us to Africa, and if we truly love and trust Him we will follow. We realize that by worldly standards we are foolish in the eyes of the culture-we have great jobs with promising futures, we are surrounded by an incredible family who showers love on us, a community of friends who are so faithful, and a church family who has genuinely supported us and sacrifically loved us over the years. We feel so blessed and humbled that God has surrounded us with you as our cloud of witnesses over the past several years.

Yet as believers we are not called to stay where we are comfortable. We must be ready at all times to follow in obedience to where God is leading next. For us, He is calling us to the unreached, unengaged people groups of South Sudan. Who are we to tell God no? We are trusting that He has our best in mind. We know the TRUTH- that it is only Jesus who can save souls and the way to eternal life.  It is His command that we go and tell this GOOD NEWS to those who have never heard-for us this means the beautiful people of Uganda and South Sudan.  So we step out on faith, trusting and believing with all of our hearts that God will hide us in the shelter of His wings and fill us with His Holy Spirit as we journey to Africa!

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Hebrews 11:6