Realigning Our Plans to His Will

Andrew and I had a plan for 2014.  Our plan included enjoying life in Grand Rapids, remodeling our bathroom, getting a puppy, and working full time at CQL and on 5 South, respectively.  That was the plan.

Until we fasted with our church.  Until we heard a particular missionary speak.  Until Andrew read a few blog posts.  Until Andrew came home in early February and said he was feeling called to go to Carlisle, England and volunteer his time at Operation Mobilisation. 

And since then, we’ve been praying and asking our Father, “What is Your plan for 2014?” 

And it seems that God is calling us to go to England.  Here's what we know:

Why Carlisle, England?

Andrew’s final Interim at Calvin, he went to Carlisle with a group of Calvin students and worked at Operation Mobilisation, a large missions organization, headquartered in England.  He has thought, since returning two years ago, that he would likely return someday.  It’s remained on the back burner for a couple of years, but we feel God is saying now is the time to go back.

When will we leave?

Andrew will leave for Carlisle, England late August.  I will join him 4 weeks later.  Why are we traveling at different times?  Because I can keep my job if I am gone a maximum of 12 weeks. We want Andrew to be in Carlisle longer than 12 weeks, but we also don’t want to be apart for too long.  Four weeks seems to be a good compromise.

What will we be doing?

Andrew will be doing IT/programming work for Operation Mobilisation and will volunteer 3 months of his time there.  It’s a little less certain what I will be doing, but it will most likely be volunteer work for OM of some kind.  We’ll definitely get me plugged in somewhere.

How long will we be gone?

We’ll leave England Thanksgiving week and fly to Bangkok where we will visit with Greg and Mary of The MacLeod Thaimes for two weeks.  We’ll return home the second week in December.

What will happen with our house while we're gone?
We have a couple of Calvin College seniors who will be renting our basement.  They will look after the house and water our plants for us while we're gone.  

How can you help?

We sincerely covet your prayers.  There is significant planning that still needs to happen and many questions that need to be answered.  We ask you to pray that we can realign our plans to follow God’s will; that He would guide us as we prepare for this trip; that He would increase our trust in Him; that He would be preparing a place for us in Carlisle; that we would grow to know Him more deeply through planning and going on this trip; that we would listen well to Him.  Our plan is to go for 3 months, and then to return.  But two months ago, our plan wasn’t to go at all.  And if we’re being honest, we kind of hope God’s call is only for 3 months; but if His call is for longer, we pray that God would make that clear to us and that we would have the courage, humility, and grace to follow whatever He asks of us.  We know that He will provide what we need to do whatever He asks of us.  The best thing you can do for us is to pray.  However, if God calls you to support us financially, please let us know.  To make this trip happen, we will be both taking unpaid leaves of absence from work, and this will stretch us financially, and requires we do some fundraising.  Our goal is to raise $7,000.  We are praying for deeper reliance on God; that He would provide what we need and that we wouldn’t worry about finances, but simply trust Him. 

We’ll be keeping this blog throughout our time preparing and traveling.  We invite you to join with us on this journey – we’re a little anxious, but mostly just excited for what God has in store for us as we go with Him on this adventure.