The race is finally coming to a close and although it’s sad Im really excited to tell you guys what I feel the lord leading me into next year.
America is often not the first place we think of when we hear the word “missions” It is usually associated with places thousands of miles away, with vastly different cultures and people than our own. However, there are innumerable outcasted, unreached, oppressed and needy people within the confines of our own country. We speak their language fluently and know their culture. Yet why does it seem we turn our heads in ignorance despite what scripture says. All year we have been maturing in christ from spiritual babies to young children who have began to pallet solid food. As we grow in our knowledge of him and of his love, he has revealed to us what it means to have radical faith and where the church in America has been lured to sleep with materialism and a lack of scriptural foundation. St. Francis of Assisi started a church revolution when he traded in his comfortable life to live on the streets in poverty and preach the word of god, not with eloquence and human wisdom, but with a demonstration of gods power in the way he lived. He counted himself with the apostles as “fools for christ” and gave a fresh breath of air into the verse “trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” What does it look like to live a life worthy of the calling we have received? A calling to be royal priests from a faraway kingdom. Sent by the king of light to declare his love to the fatherless, his freedom to those in chains, his refuge to those with no home and his hope to those who have lost it all at the hand of the wicked one who has domain over this dark land. We now reside on this earth as sojourners and exiles, and if we don’t remember that, this world will entice us with many places we can call “home”. But these “homes” are snares and they hold us still while the enemy comes around like a roaring lion so that he may devour us with no struggle or fight. James says pure and undefiled religion in the eyes of the Father is to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. I think we often turn a blind eye to the first part of that verse, “to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” The devil has fooled the multitudes to believe that their good father is dead and he has left them in the hands of the prince of darkness. He took their betrothed who loved them more than they knew and killed him before their eyes, making sure at all costs they never realize he is alive still and has blazed a path for them to come back to him in holy union. These people are lost and hurting, unaware of the truth. “Visit the orphans and widows in their affliction” That is the mission we are looking to dedicate ourselves to for the next year and hopefully the rest of our lives. As a couple of young zealous dreamers who have nothing to keep them back from leaving their homes, their comforts, and their prospects of a stable life behind them, we are answering the call to call to go search for the lost sheep. We plan on buying a van and driving around to the country’s darkest corners, to be the hands and feet of Jesus to anyone who will let us. The streets of the inner cities are the most drug ridden, homeless, demonic, and dangerous places in the country, but they are the most in need of the light. We want to learn what it is to walk in the valley of the shadow of death with no fear and full faith. So this coming fall, me, John Teter, and Ben will embark on this next leg of the adventure. If you are interested in supporting us in any way I will put a link below with all of the information you will need.
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/fundraising/0961a259-d93c-4c5f-9143-635db99e3576
Vision:
To travel across the states in a van visiting major cities, specifically the most impoverished areas where crime and homelessness are highest. Ministry will look different from place to place depending on where the spirit is leading, whether that means partnering up with local churches, doing street evangelism, or leading worship in homeless camps. The goal is to live on only what we need and push ourselves to live a minimalist lifestyle so as to be better equipped to reach our targeted demographic who have little to nothing of their own. We also want to learn what it means to live in radical dependence on the lord apart from the context of your typical American comforts. Any extra money will be used for those in need. The general timeframe for each city will be roughly 2 weeks but that is subject to change. Along the way we will stay in tents, sleep in the car, crash at friends (or strangers) homes and trust the lord will make a place for us to put our feet. We will also stop at major college campuses to pour into the young believers there and help activate them in their faith. Additionally, we plan on stopping to see the many beautiful wonders of nature found throughout America’s parks and roadsides. While this is definitely not the focus of the trip, we want to avoid burnout and also to take some time in between cities to fast and pray for direction. After many confirmations, we have come to believe that this is the lord’s will for our lives next year, and although it sounds both exhilarating and adventurous, we believe it is going to be the most significant year of trial and tribulation we have ever experienced. We will start down the East Coast after a period of fasting and prayer in Acadia National Park, Maine. Than over the next few months we plan to hit Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. We will take a break around late December to go spend time at home for Christmas, then a week or two into January we will hit the road again. We haven’t finalized our route for the second leg of the trip yet but a rough draft we made has us first going down south (TE, LA, TX) and then expanding to the cities out west (NM, AZ, CA, OR, WA) and then potentially taking some time to debrief and process in Montana/Wyoming area. After spending 2-3 weeks in the wilderness, we plan on going down through mormon country in Utah, then driving to Las Vegas, NV. Then we will go up through the midwest (CO, MO, MN, WI, IL, MI) and then head home. All of this is subject to change depending on where God is leading and how much time we spend in each place, but we are confident we will end up exactly where we need to be at the end of the day. We will be living and eating on a tight budget but we still will need support. Financial contributions are super appreciated, however we also need people willing to commit to praying for us over this next year. We will be entering into some of the darkest, heaviest, most demonic spiritual atmospheres in the country so it is necessary that we have people covering us in prayer and interceding for us regularly. If you are interested in having a role on our prayer team please contact us. If you feel the lord leading you to be apart of his financial provision, contact us. If you have any valuable wisdom or advice for us or if you don’t know who we are and just want to meet us, please reach out, we want to talk to you! This year will be a testing fire and if we come out of it alive, we will emerge transformed by a knowledge of the lords faithfulness that can only be grasped in the furnace with the son of man at your side. The lord has given us this vision for next year, but I assure you an investment in our immediate future is an investment in the rest of our lives
