Gratefulness. This is the word that comes to mind when I think of the season of life my family and I are in. We are grateful to God for speaking clearly to us. It has been thrilling to see God move so mightily in His will. We are trying to hold on to the roller coaster as he moves us more into His mission in Finland. He has been faithful, and we are beyond grateful. We are thankful for our church in the preparation of becoming missionaries. The church has aligned with us in this calling from the Lord to help us become the first “sent” out of the C3 church. We are honored and thankful for the platform and resources given through Brad and many others to help us think through it all.

I wanted to start this blog/vlog by updating where we are in the process. This blog will introduce a few things about what God has done (answered prayers).

What God has Done (Answered Prayers)

Where do I even start? As we began to envision what this process would look like, there were a few significant hurdles that could stint the process. These hurdles weren’t things that would necessarily stop us but would prolong the process.

The first major hurdle was my wife getting her American citizenship meeting. If you aren’t familiar with becoming a citizen in America, it isn’t easy. There are many loops to jump through, paperwork to be filled out, documents to be bought, waiting time, and money to be spent. Based on a specific timeline and data from other people who have been through the process, we projected that Heidi would have her citizenship meeting somewhere near the end of summer. It is typically a long, drawn-out process that takes time. We were prepared to wait patiently on this before we packed up and left.

Well, in God’s providence and the faithful prayers of others, she was contacted HALF A YEAR before the projected time! She has her meeting on January 10^th. This is HUGE and gives us great freedom to handle other things that would prolong our departure (selling cars, house, etc.) We do not have to be tied down, waiting for this meeting to happen because God has answered our prayers. Throughout this process, he has shown his faithfulness time and time again. This is a significant milestone to us being sent off, and God gets all the glory.

A second major hurdle that we faced was the connection of our Operation Mobilization (OM) account. The way we are going about this missionary journey isn’t typical. Through God’s providence, I was connected to United Community Church (UCC) to bring about the glory of God to the youth in Finland. Since the connection between the church and me is established, we have to find an organization that would send us. Most organizations require you to get some official training and other things before the official partnership is formed. This posed a problem for us, due to the departure this summer.

But God... rich in wisdom, provided a way for us to connect with OM. United Community Church’s pastor, Shaun Rossi, served on the board of OM Finland for several years. He was instrumental in establishing the organization, training missionaries, and being a significant component of the growth of this branch in Finland. Due to his relationship with the organization, we could work backward. OM has agreed to funnel the support we receive without getting into too many details as long as UCC fully employs us. I don’t have the words to describe the magnitude of what this means and how this doesn’t happen. Once again, we found ourselves at the mercy of God’s faithfulness. All glory to our creator who knows all we need before even asking or thinking about it!

There are plenty of marvelous ways in which God has demonstrated his might and power that can be written on in this process. He has done more than we could think of or describe. We are confirmed almost daily that this is His will, and we are just being faithful to obey. Like us, I hope you can give him glory for how He is connecting this puzzle. We are in awe and ready to make his name known. All praise be to Christ, our king!