When are We Moving

I have to say, this is the question that we are asked more often than any other…”When will you guys move down to Haiti?”  I’m not sure if the implication is something like, “I can’t wait until you guys are out of the country” or if people are just curious as to when we are leaving and are excited about this step for us in ministry (I will just assume the latter).  But every time we are asked this question, the answer is always essentially the same…”We don’t know.”  Now, we usually say other things to go along with this answer.  We say, “We hope to get down there more often starting in January,” or we say, “We are still in the process of doing everything we need to do here.”  But really, we just do not know yet.

It is a pretty difficult thing not knowing.  I don’t know about you, but I am a big time planner.  I love to know what is going to happen next and when it is going to happen, and in my life I plan things and I like it when the plan comes to fruition.  But here is the deal, there is no way for us to know when we are going to move to Haiti permanently.  I believe that it will be sooner than later, and I believe that GOD has a plan for us big time…I just wish He would let me in on it.  But here are some things that affect our timing of when we will move down:

• We have to purchase land, build an orphanage, and build a house for ourselves.  This is huge, and will cost upwards of $400,000 – $500,000.  As of now, Christianville is allowing us to stay on their campus when we go down, but that is not the same as having a home to live in there.
• We are in the process of adopting children from Ethiopia and we do not even know when that is going to happen.  We cannot wait for our children to come home, but it is another aspect of our lives that we just don’t know yet.
• We have to raise money through All Things New to provide a salary for ourselves and for the other people that we need to make this ministry happen well.  Jess has already stopped teaching so that she can focus on All Things New and come January 1, I will no longer be on staff at RiverTown…This is a huge (and unknown) step of faith.
• We have to figure out what to do with our home and other possessions here.

There are a few other things as well, but I thought those 4 reasons would suffice for now.  All of that to say, we just don’t know when this is going to happen.  You see, we serve a huge GOD.  I use the word “huge” just because there is no real word that could come close to describing who GOD is and what He can do.  We have absolutely no experience with what it means to be infinite in any way, and GOD is infinite in every way.  So, let me tell you the reason for this post…

Living a life based on faith is extremely difficult!

I am writing this knowing full well that each of you know this and probably live it and understand it way better than I do.  I am also writing this understanding full well that for me to tell anyone else how to live a life based on faith would just be hypocritical because I have no idea how to do it.  I am trying to learn.  And as I learn 1 second at a time, GOD shows me some wonderful and incredible things about what He can do.  He brings people to our path that help us in ways we have never thought of, He teaches us about Himself constantly, He gives us a passion for His Word, and most importantly He teaches us that we are weak – but it is ok.  He will become our strength, He will succeed for us, and no matter what, He will never leave us!

So, please continue to ask us when we are leaving because one day soon we will have an answer for you.  But in the mean time, please pray that GOD would continue to teach us what it means to live our lives based on faith in Him rather than based on our own strength and planning.  And in the mean time, I would challenge you with this…

Do something that you never thought was possible and let GOD lead you.

Don’t live tomorrow based on the plan that you have for your life, but on the plan that GOD has for your life.  Don’t wake up everyday and just do the same thing you did yesterday just because you planned it that way or because that is what you think you are supposed to do.  Wake up each day and ask GOD what He wants from you for today, tomorrow, and the rest of your life.  Who knows, He may call you to leave your job, move to another country, witness to your boss, or even give up everything that you have just so the Gospel could be taken to the world – I have no idea.  What I do know is that GOD wants more than a bunch of people who wake up and take their kids to school, then to soccer practice, come home and do homework and watch TV, and then wake up and do it all over again the next day.  GOD wants us to live our life based on faith in Him and He will take us to some crazy and incredible places.