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Clearer Vision & A Revived Hope
In November we were given the opportunity to take a four day retreat where we teamed up with some life coaches to help clarify our role on the mission field. Before the retreat we had already begun to feel the 'winds of change,' but were unsure what/how/where/why. During the retreat we were able to hash out what our goals, priorities, needs and wants are, and more clearly define our ministry. We walked away with so many amazing things, but the three main ones were:
1) We aim to be a catalyst for transformation in our host country, leaving a legacy that has empowered nationals and changed lives through the love, grace, hope and freedom found in a relationship with Jesus. (we always knew this, but were able to clarify it at the retreat)
2) We are missionaries who equip - we help put legs on the visionary's vision. We're 'project managers' of sorts who come alongside fellow missionaries and/or organizations with a similar mission to help fill the gaps, wrangle the details and strategize to make the vision turn into reality.
3) We're going to need a bigger map. With the type of role we operate in, we'll be working ourselves out of a job. This is a good thing- but it means we are a nomadic tribe. We'll go wherever God calls us to help and serve!
We are not about us or our solutions- we are all about those we serve. We believe in order to be most effective, we must first learn the culture of our host country. We are also firm believers in the power of relationship and the power of 'the one'. Relationship building and hospitality are high on our proverbial list. We live authentically, serve intentionally, love abundantly and give generously. We believe doing all those things will be a great window into showing the love of Christ to anyone we encounter along the way.
When we left Tanzania for furlough, we knew we would not be at the school this year because of the timing of our trip, but it's become evident that God has other plans in mind for the future. Not only has our time at the school come to an end, but our time in Tanzania as well. As hard as it is for us to accept that we need to say good-bye to some of our dearest friends and a country we've fallen madly in love with, we know that it's in our best interest to follow God's lead.
We've fully surrendered our plans to him and he's shown us, quite clearly, that our next home will be Australia. We've been chatting with the Patersons, based in the Gold Coast, for a few months now, and we have had confirmation after confirmation that we need to go and partner with them in their ministries.
The couple is in their early 50's, natives to Australia and focuses on business as missions. Basically that means they don't live off support from individuals/churches (like we do), but are 'tent makers' and create their own income while doing missions. Meeting this couple is nothing short of divine, as we have always desired to be 'tent maker missionaries' but have never had any knowledge or idea of how to go about doing so.
We haven't met them in person yet, but we are confident it's going to be a good fit. They were seeking an intern, and told us upon inquiry: they "would try to tailor the internship to the individual, believing God puts gifts, talents and passions within each of us for a reason and it's far better to go with our Maker's design than ignore it or try something else." Who wouldn't want to partner with a couple like that?!
So we aren't entirely sure of our role there yet, but a couple of their main projects are based out of Papua New Guinea, where the husband grew up as a missionary kid. In PNG they've been asked by some of the village leaders to help with cash crops. The country is very poor, and being a developing nation that's an island, it's got very little resources. They have a desire to learn how to create an income for themselves. The Patersons have begun farming vanilla on some land given to them in one of the villages, found a buyer and even had the product certified organic. They're still working on some kinks in the moisture content, but the project is looking promising. Our role in this project is not certain, but we would most likely be helping with research and development, finding more buyers, testing other crops, etc. They've also been asked to build schools in PNG, which we could help with as well. They have their hand in a few other things as well, like marketplace ministries, partnership with YWAM, aviation ministries, business/leadership seminars, etc. We're excited to partner with them because their mission lines up with ours (to empower the nationals and leave a legacy), they will be great mentors in the business as missions field, and they are just such kind people with a heart for serving the nationals in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
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