A Lesson in Faith

"Faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. " - Hebrews 11:1

                Faith is something many people struggle to define. A youth pastor friend of mine said that "Faith was what we do form the time we hear God speak until the next time we hear Him speak." God has called Tascha and I to go to Africa. We stepped out on faith by exploring various mission organizations and God partnered us with World Gospel Mission (www.wgm.org). I have had to take off of work twice in order to go to Indiana for our interview and training and both times I have been able to. Tascha and I have some classes to take in preparation for the field and God has provided in that area as well. And this past week I explained to my boss that I was going to have to miss a week here and there this summer for Tascha and I to speak at a few camps. I had been very weary of discussing this matter with him because it is almost impossible to take vacation during the summer because it is our busiest time. But I knew that God had called Tascha and I to go to Kenya and that He would make a way. My boss heard me out and we worked it out so that I would be able to miss the weeks needed this summer!

                God has been so good to Tascha and I! No, we are not perfect, but God chose us to go to Kenya to serve the sick, the brokenhearted, the hungry, and the hurting. He equips those He calls and is faithful in His calling. I may not know how we are going to get to Kenya, or even an exact date, but I do know who we are going with, and through Him, we can do all things!

An Introduction

            It was October 2008 and Fall Break was here! The Well, an interdenominational campus ministry that Tascha and I were a part of at East Tennessee State University, was going to John's Island, South Carolina to work with Habitat for Humanity. We both love to serve, so we signed up and spent our Fall Break with our friends at the Well building a house for a family outside of Charleston.

            I will always remember that trip. Not only for getting to serve, leading worship on the beach, or witnessing my brother-in-law's baptism in the ocean, but because it was the beginning of something amazing! You see, that mission trip was the first one Tascha and I did together. We had both been on various trips prior, but none together.

            Over the past few years, we have been on and led various trips together. However, this past summer, we reached another milestone in our marriage: our first international mission trip. When we got married (August 2010), I promised Tasch I would take her to Africa (I went to Kenya while we were dating), but I didn't know when that would happen, or even if it would happen. Well, God has a sense of humor. In January 2012, we were given the opportunity to go to Uganda to work with orphans through Sozo Children (www.sozochildren.org). I was very excited, but was also somewhat anxious and nervous. But we serve an awesome God! Tascha and I were in the zone while serving in Uganda! I remember thinking to myself, "Man, this is what I was made to do. This is what she was made to do. This is what we were created to do together!" It was on this trip that God called us to full time missions.

            Once we got back to Alabama (where we lived at the time), we began to pray and seek the Lords guidance. We applied to World Gospel Mission (who I went to Kenya through in 2008), went to Marion, Indiana for our interview, and were accepted in December 2012 to the  missionary disciple (MD) program and were assigned to Kenya! We are excited to see what God is going to do in us and through us in this new chapter of our lives!