Climbing the Mountain: Impossible or Inevitable?
What lies ahead for the church of Jesus Christ is a GREAT mountain that at first glance seems impossible to summit. Forty-two percent of the world's population is currently unreached with the Gospel. Upon further examination, however, we begin to see how God is working to draw the nations to Himself and it is VERY exciting!!
William Carrey, the father of the modern mission movement had a motto that is worth repeating! He said, "Expect great things from God! Attempt great things for God!" Ask yourself those two great questions. 1- What great thing am I expecting from God? 2- What great thing am I attempting for God? I will share my answers below.
As most of you have heard by now, I have decided to make a mid-life career shift into missions work full-time. I recently learned the work I will be doing has a name. I am a "non-residential missionary". Simply put, I don't match the traditional picture of a missionary leaving their culture to go away and pioneer a work in a far-off land (unless you consider Columbia, SC a far-off land). Instead, I will be working to mobilize the US church to plant multiplying churches among unreached peoples.
My great expectation from God is that He will accomplish the work of reaching all unreached people groups in my lifetime (and I only have another 40-50 years if I am lucky). I desire to attempt great things for God as well through the mobilization efforts of Crossover Global!
One of the challenges non-residential missionaries like me face is support raising. It is much more glamourous to support a missionary who is doing pioneering work like that of my brothers in Azerbaijan and its surrounding regions. There are nearly 9 million Azerbaijanis in that people group who are completely unreached. They, like so many others, desperately need church planters planting multiplying churches. The US church is ripe with laborers and resources for such a work. My calling is to mobilize us, the US church, to the important work of reaching the unreached in places like Azerbaijan!
Please pray about partnering with us financially in this vital work! We have already raised nearly 40% of our first years need. This is such an encouragement and a clear confirmation that God has called us. I am so grateful to those who have already partnered with us. Thank you! We also desperately need your continued prayer support. Here are a few specifics you can be praying for:
Pray that God will continue to stir our hearts for the nations and for unreached peoples around the world
Pray that the enemy would be defeated in our lives as we pursue God
Pray that our marriage would grow stronger as we lean on the Lord
Pray that Dana will find life-sustaining, meaningful work quickly
Pray about our timing decision (when should we actually move)
Pray that our support will be fully raised in His time
We need to raise that additional 60% of our annual support before we can feasibly begin our work. We encourage you to pray about a monthly financial gift in any amount. While we are so grateful for any contributions including one-time gifts, monthly pledges do help us in tracking our overall support. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us with your questions. You can give by clicking the link below.
The mountain that lies ahead is NOT impossible! In fact, it is inevitable! God will complete the work He has begun! His name will be famous among all the peoples of the world! I believe it will happen as surely as I sit here typing this! I also believe He can do it in our lifetime!! Let's get climbing!
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