Tuesday, March 19, 2013
I read this letter to Mt Calvary tonight...
I read this letter to Mt Calvary tonight...
Dear friends and family of Mt Calvary,
We have called a meeting today to discuss our upcoming pastoral vote, but I have an announcement to make before that happens. We will still be discussing the election, but the information I am about to give you will directly influence what happens with this vote.
My family and I have some sad but exciting news to share with you. This last week, Jen and I were in Springfield, Missouri for some meetings with Assemblies of God World Missions. On Friday, we received full-time appointment as missionaries to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. As I'm sure you are quickly realizing, this means that tonight I am announcing my resignation as Lead Pastor of Mt Calvary, effective April 14, 2013.
This has been a long and difficult journey as my family and I have followed God's leading in this direction. The Lord began to speak to us about this several years ago, but I guess we are slow learners, and it has taken us a while to truly understand what God was asking of us. The steps that have lead us to today have taken several months, and we want you to know that we did not arrive at this decision quickly or easily. Jen and I have talked, prayed, cried and then talked and prayed and cried some more. We have come to the conclusion that God has this move in His plan for our lives.
We have always seen ourselves as the pastors that would lead a church that was very supportive of missions, and took several trips to help missionaries. We never imagined that God would someday call us to the Mission Field ourselves. Even though the wheels of this process have been turning for a while, this has truly caught us by surprise.
We will be working with the organization Latin America Child Care. We will help run a system of 14 schools in Honduras that offer food, clothing, and a quality, Christ-centered education to kids in very poor areas. We will have the opportunity to literally be the hands and feet of Christ, as God's love is shown to kids who are many times ignored or abused. We honestly feel that God has spent our entire lives preparing us for this ministry, and we are. Excited to be a part of it.
We are also very sad to be leaving Mt Calvary. This church has been our home for nearly 8 years now. We have grown to love you as our family. We would not leave this church family if it were not for this intense leading of the Holy Spirit that we have been feeling. We know that God has incredible plans for Mt Calvary's future! A church never belongs to a pastor, it belongs to Christ. The church is His Body. And because it is His church, we are confident that God will take very good care of our friends and family at Mt Calvary.
Let me be very practical about what this means for Mt Calvary: This means that there will need to be an election to choose a new pastor for Mt Calvary. Our District Superintendent, Dennis Rivera will speak to you in a few minutes to help answer any questions about how this process typically works.
As for myself and my family; after our last Sunday with you on April 14, we will be traveling from church to church as we raise support for our ministry in Honduras. We have a large monthly budget to raise, and the only way it comes in is as individuals and local churches choose to partner with us and support us monthly. It will take us around a year to raise our support, so for the next year we will be traveling around and recruiting people to partner with us in our ministry. After our budget is raised, we will spend 1 year in Costa Rica for language school before we move to Tegucigalpa.
We are both sad and excited to announce this to you tonight. We understand your sadness or confusion, but we hope that you also be able to celebrate with us as we follow God's leading for our family.
Thank you.
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