Mission Update – May 2021

This post is to give you an update on our missionary journey since we’ve left home…which is basically the entire month of May. We have obviously been having a lot of fun, but what have we been doing for Jesus? Read on to find out.
If you aren’t aware of the mission behind our traveling journey, you can do a little reading about it here. If you don’t want to read about it, it can basically be summed up like this: We have left our comfortable, rural home and lifestyle to find people who need Jesus in the USA. We’re traveling throughout multiple states, often tourist locations, to connect with others on a deeper level. What began as a vacation in January 2021, has turned into a mission to spread Jesus’ fame to the nations.

So what has been happening since we left home? Alot!

To begin, the first thing we noticed when we arrived in Champions Gate (Davenport, Fl), is a TON of people. The tourists are coming and going quickly. They are absorbed with their vacation destination (usually Disney) and aren’t really interested in sparking up deep conversations. It’s extremely fast-paced here.
Another thing we noticed is the HUGE parties that take place in this Club/subdivision. People are packing 20+ people in each house and party all day and night. There are seldomly sober people, much less people who are wanting to talk to strangers. This was a huge difference from the beach location we were at in January/February of this year. It took us about two weeks before we realized that our strategy in this area needed to change.

Another thing we discovered in this area, is there are very few locals. The businesses here are booming, and there are help wanted signs everywhere. It seems there is a huge shortage of workers because much of the housing is for vacationers. Because of this, the locals in the area are lonely. They work constantly, and don’t have relationships outside of their own homes.
Insert new strategy: We started to make friends with a couple of waitresses at the clubhouse. One is even coming to dinner tonight! She has asked us to pray for her this week, and has been a real joy to become friends with. This girl is from Michigan herself, and we have a great connection.

We’ve also met and spent time with another man who lives in the subdivision. Aaron has invited him to dinner and we’ve laughed over stories. We’ve shared the complete gospel with him. He’s actively searching and we are hoping to make a huge impact on his life in each way we can.

Church was another hurdle we had to overcome in this area. The first church we attended was an excellent learning opportunity and conversation topic for us and our children. Our teenagers were inspired by the hopelessness we encountered, and even connected with their Michigan friends in new ways- Miranda made a video and shared it with her friends. It touched some hearts big time. She wrote an article about it Here.

Last week we visited a little church and we loved it. Real people who love Jesus and want to share the gospel. Because the locals in this area are so few, the church gets mostly ‘wanderers’ or short-term attendees. Through this, they preach a solid gospel each week. It’s called expository preaching (I learned a new thing!), where they literally read through scripture each week and explain the details as the sermon. It’s very refreshing. The current book is John. They will spend X amount of months until they have finished it. The church has a small, home-led youth group (which our teens attended), and try to minister in the local community as much as possible. We’ve connected with the pastor and his family and hope to spend more time with them to encourage them and offer friendship. Remember, the people here are truly lonely, so friendship is a ministry in itself!

Another way we’ve been ministering is to our own family. When we first arrived in Davenport, we became discouraged at the inability to reach more people each day. We were praying for breakthroughs in our ministry strategy when we realized there were ‘holes in our armor’. Aaron and I both felt that God was teaching us at this location to slow down. He was teaching us new work schedule habits, new prayer strategies, and to listen to our children while training them in new ways. Even diet changes and schedule changes have been necessary since we arrived, and because of His Grace to slow us down, we can address them.

When we were preparing to leave for our journey, we became intensely busy. But that busy lifestyle isn’t sustainable. Lack of sleep, ignoring school, and working on projects into the wee hours of the night aren’t the way the Lord wants us to live. God wanted us to slow down. He wants us to learn how to sit still. He is teaching us to listen.

It’s HARD to slow down when you’ve been amped up for so long! My personality is to crank through every idea in my head! I think it’s a blessing that God has given me that ability, but right now he is teaching me new, slower things. I believe for us to be as useful as we can be, we must be listening intently to his voice. In this season, he is teaching us to slow down.

What’s the plan moving forward?
We are in Davenport until June 15. We will continue to minister to the locals around us. We want to do some community work if possible in this area, and also to encourage the church we are connecting with. Our priority is to change hearts to follow Jesus, and to disciple believers we come in contact with.
We are finishing up the school year over the next month, so we will be taking time to do that. We are incredibly thankful that God has brought us here. Although it wasn’t what we were expecting, we are thankful to be in the center of his plan.

In June we travel to see family for a couple of days, then to Fort Meyers, fl from June 17-July 22. It will be an entirely different atmosphere and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for our family ministry. Please be in prayer for us as we continue to learn and minister where we are but please also pray for our next location. Please pray that we can connect with a church and that the fields will be ripe for a great harvest.