Following the call of God...

It is with great excitement that we share with you all that has been happening in our lives over the last year! During the course of our lives together, we have been blessed with many things, including health, and an amazing job for Jayson that has allowed Lindsay to stay home and raise our children, and a church where we could grow as well as use our gifts to serve others. We have felt God's grace over and over in so many ways, and we daily thank Him for providing so richly for us. But over the past couple of years, God has placed a burden upon me (Jayson) to serve Him in full-time ministry. We prayed for clarity and direction, but never felt like any one opportunity was where He wanted us.

Last April, Lindsay had an opportunity to travel with a work team from her brother's church, Mosaic, and serve in the Dominican Republic. She had served there numerous times in high school and college, and was eager to go back, never knowing that this trip would soon begin to change our lives. In the weeks that led up to her trip, we talked about our call to ministry, and I shared with her that I felt that maybe this was the place for us to consider. Although that may seem plausible in this context, it seemed crazy to us at the time. At this point, I had never been out of the country for anything, nor did I desire to do so, but God was already working on us. The call come from Lindsay during that week that, indeed, she did feel as though this was the place we were called to serve.

Shortly after she returned, we planned a return trip to explore and experience Jarabacoa together, the city where she had visited. That trip was difficult in a lot of ways. The water is unclean, the power goes out every day, and seemingly everyone there struggles just to put food on the table. Your first experience in a third world country can be overwhelming, and this certainly was for me. I had a hard time imagining my kids being raised in such a place, in such conditions, and giving up the opportunities that we take for granted here in the US. What would I do for work there? How would we survive? To add to the shock, Lindsay also needed medical care while we were there. Having worked in hospitals for the last 10 years, it was tough to see what the best care in Jarabacoa offered us. We went home not convinced that we were really called to the DR.

But when we seek God's will, and really mean it, He will make it clear what He wants. Through circumstances that could only have been divinely arranged, we were brought into contact with the Director of an organization called Students International, which is located in Jarabacoa. On October 23rd, Lindsay and I and the kids met with Lowell Troyer for dinner in Chicago, and 4 hours later, we got into our car, both of us assured that God was calling us not only to the DR, but to serve with Students International. SI serves the poor in Jarabacoa, and the surrounding communities, in needs based ministries such as social work, microfinance, pre-schools, medical, dental, construction, physical and occupational therapy, as well as serveral others. In addition, they also exist to bring students from the US together with these ministry sites, allowing them to serve the poor and experience God, all in a cross-cultural environment. SI in the DR hosts 700 students per year in either short-term trips or semester-study-abroad programs. The ministry is committed to changing the lives of students by allowing them to serve others and to draw closer to God, as well as sharing the good news of the gospel through service to the poor.

Our entire family, including Lindsay's parents, made a return trip to Jarabacoa this past January, mainly to finalize my role with the organization and for all of us to experience SI first hand. We were amazed at how God worked on Lindsay's parents during that week, helping them to see our vision for ministry there. We were also blown away by our children and how well they handled the entire experience. Simply put, Lindsay and I have 3 awesome kids. Our kids talked to people, hugged people, cared for them, played with them, and sat in classes where they were the only ones not speaking Spanish. And at the end of the week, they all asked how soon we could move. God had answered my biggest concern, which was for my kids. He not only showed us that they could handle it, but that they would actually be missionaries as well, sharing God's love to the people of Jarabacoa, right alongside of us. In addition to that, the kids will be able to attend a Christian school in Jarabacoa, called Doulos Discovery School, which is where Lindsay served back in April when she visited. We feel so blessed to have an oasis in that community for our kids. Our kids have flourished in the private Christian school they attend here in the states, and we look forward to them being able to continue that education, centered on God's work, in a different location and culture.

We are truly grateful to God to have such a multitude of families that we consider friends and can share our story with. Our sincere hope is that you would join us in our passionate pursuit of God's will, and that you would be willing to stand alonside us as we take this giant leap of faith. We would love to hear from any and all of you as you consider our journey.