Our Season of Experience
We’ve grown to love God’s cross-cultural ambassadors with a passion and concern unlike much else. Together, He has given us a BURDEN for our fellow brothers and sisters called to serve in the difficult-yet-rewarding life of cross-cultural service. We know the daily pressures they face, and we also know that if they don’t find regular rest and restoration, they will burn out and head home with a permanent limp.
Since before we moved overseas, the two of us would brainstorm and daydream ideas about one day creating a haven for cross-cultural workers to find rest. From the get-go, we knew this was the line of work we were devoted to.
But we weren’t exactly sure how this would work. All we knew was, for the first season in ministry, we were called to overseas, cross-cultural service. We packed up our bags and moved 6,000 miles away.
We now call the past four years as our “season of experience.” We went through:
• two major international moves (one was sudden and unexpected)
• two pregnancies
• one miscarriage
• a diagnosis of depression
• a major international trip to help said depression
• giving birth in a foreign hospital
• almost 30 house guests in one year
• spiritual warfare
• a home assignment to the U.S.
• a team and leadership change
• a change in job descriptions
• uncertainty about our child’s health
• a diagnosis of severe speech delay
• challenges with health insurance
• constantly saying goodbye to countless friends
And while that’s a lot, we know that’s not unusual in cross-cultural service. Many of our dear friends have gone through a similar wringer during their stints on the field. It’s as though the enemy knows the power they bring when they live in these places he’s reigned for so long.
We are grateful for the experiences God led us through this past decade, because we know He will use it for good. In fact, those events have been the impetus for bringing us to this work called “member care.”
