The Background (a brief re-cap of our story):
In 1990, I (Greg) received the missionary call to serve overseas. The following year I married a lovely young lady who had a similar calling and, being young and zealous, we were ready to take on the world. Throughout the summer of 1991 we researched and explored our options - a vast myriad of missions agencies, churches, etc only to come to the conclusion that it wasn't yet time for us to leave. Every door we tried to open was locked. So we bided our time and worked where the Lord had planted us - campus ministry at our alma mater, Appalachian State University, and various other jobs. The long season of waiting lasted until 2002 when the Lord finally confirmed that we were ready to be released into overseas ministry. In the summer of 2003 we left for Nicaragua, not as a pair but as a family of five (we'd been quite busy during those eleven years!) - making a commitment to two years to teach English at a Christian school and hosting short-term missions groups.
The two years stretched into three and after our commitment ended in Nicaragua we were invited to serve at a Bible Institute in northern Mexico. So once again we packed everything up and changed jobs, nations and climates. Our ministry in Mexico has been much deeper and broader than Nicaragua. This is because Nicaragua was more like a "missions boot camp" for us - learning the language, culture and surviving various things that the enemy (and at times God) threw at us. In Mexico we worked as student deans at the Bible Institute, ran a language school, helped with a church plant in a poor neighborhood and, like in Nicaragua, hosted short-term missions groups.
So...now what?
In 2009 Jan and I both began to sense that a change was coming to our ministry. Not that we were going to change locations, but more along the lines of our responsabilities. Throughout our ministry together we have always had more grace for ministry to college-age people than any other group. This is the age group of the Bible Institute students and, though we have had a very fruitful season at that institution, we believed that the Lord had something more. So we committed to a season of prayer and exploration and waiting to see what the next step would be.
In the fall of 2009 we started a home group for 20-somethings which became known as "Waffle Fest." This was an English-speaking Bible study and dinner group and, though fruitful, we knew that still there was something more. At the end of 2010 a more distinct vision began coming into focus. This vision marks a significant change in our ministry from what we have been doing here since 2006. This new vision is to start a "missions-discipleship project" which will host a group of English-speaking foreigners for the purpose of going beyond the typical short-term missions trip. The project is based on the Gap Year concept which is popular in the UK . The participants would commit to increments of three months - the ideal stint is six months to a year - and would live and serve alongside us here in Mexico. The idea behind this new vision is to train and disciple 20-somethings who are considering a call into missions and want something between the short-term 10-day trip and a long-term commitment overseas. The typical day will involve Biblical and theological instruction, language learning, cultural adaptation, and hands-on ministry and service - not in a sterile classroom setting but on the broad, dusty panorama that is Mexico.
We are currently hosting Spencer, a 21-year old Canadian, and are are expecting more to join us in the fall when the project will "officially" begin. In the next few days I plan on further elaborating on this missions-discipleship project - putting further nuance and definition to this exciting new direction God has laid out before us.
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