A God-Sized Orchestration

'Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high' -King David

These words kind of help put words to what we are feeling and thinking right now. God is so amazing, so good! He sits on His throne but is so approachable and very concerned to the point of action so that His love will be felt and known on this earth.

Through a series of events God has been doing a little reshaping of what we feel being our first step of ministry. What has gotten us to this point has been the driving passion to do orphanage type work. To give the hope of Jesus where there is none, provide family where there is none, and to strengthen families where we can - this is just how God has made us. The idea was always in our minds that as part of this orphanage would be a church. Either one that we'd start ourselves or one that we would partner with. The church would flow out of the orphanage. However, we had been feeling stuck in knowing how to pursue beginning our work with an orphanage. Then, through a series of events, God spoke to us about the church being the first part and the orphanage coming from that.

Renee and I (Gracie was with her 2 sets of Grandparents) were given the opportunity to be flown into California for a 4 day 'Discovery Center'. A group of people who help others discern if planting churches is the best fit for them. They potentially also give funding to the candidates.

We felt God saying, 'Go for it!' So we went! California for a month. Drive/fly to Guadalajara - here for 2 weeks, hop on a plane back to California for 4 days; hop back on a plane back to Guadalajara! Wild, Crazy - but totally good!

We had a great time at the Discovery Center. We learned more about our strengths as individuals and how to honor and enjoy our differences. One of the main things we kept thinking on was that God really wanted us to be us. Not try to be somebody else, but to really let who we are come forth. God didn't create us to be like other people, he created us to be uniquely who we are. It is such a freeing thing.

So, the day of truth came, the staff had decided if we were a good fit or not. They used a stop light for a picture of what they were talking about: Red light - not recommended, Yellow - Recommended, but with some things needing to be done first, and Green - Go for it! We were given a Yellow. Our conditions given in order to be fully ready to go were: finish language school and attend a Church Planting Conference or training event. Wow! They really believe in what God is doing through us.  

Now, for the juicy God stuff.  We met a couple named Rusty and Anna, part of the staff there for the week but usually live and work out of Charlotte, NC.  We met them the first day and instantly liked them.  They have a strong Latino church in Charlotte, where people from 20 Latin American countries worship.  They are also working in various Latin American countries.  Needless to say, we clicked pretty well.  The next-to-last morning there, Renee woke up with the single thought "Rusty is your next step."  She didn't mention anything to her husband :), but went to eat breakfast in the hotel lobby and bumped in to Gilbert (our pastor from RFBC who was there as staff) who asked us if Guatemala had come up in our conversation and I said no, but told him my first thoughts of the day.  He said, "I agree."  Goosebumps.  To make a long story short....well, a long story shorter...we met with Rusty, Anna and Gilbert after the Discovery Center.  There, they offered us the opportunity to do an internship-type work with them in Charlotte for 4-6 months.  To learn from them and their 15 years of experience in this area - the area that God is strongly leading us toward - being Jesus to the whole person: physical and spiritual.  We would also be able to use our Spanish daily!  They also invited us on a trip to Guatemala to see the work that they are doing there.  As it turns out, it "happens" to fall during our break in school.  We drove away with tears of joy in our eyes.  God is so good.  He has a perfect plan.  For everyone.  

So, now we are headed to Guatemala City in less than a week.  October 9th-15th.  Needless to say, we're really excited (well, Gracie doesn't know it yet, but if there is people, she's in!).  We can't promise that Guatemala is where God is calling us, but we feel this is a definite possibility at this point.  We feel that this trip will clarify a lot for us.  We invite you to partner with us by praying for us during this time.  We don't want to miss what God is going to do.   

Before we knew anything about Language School or Guatemala God spoke to us very clearly that he would provide for our needs.  Something he has already done through many generous people without us having to ask. Thank you generous people! We are quickly realizing as God continues his leading that we will now need to ask people - people who believe in what God is doing through us for this provision promised by God. Please pray with us as we figure out how best to do that.

We will say by for now but look forward to sharing with you all what God does in Guatemala and beyond and where we feel we must follow. How fun it is to be the friend of God.

Love - Jake, Renee & Gracie

If you want more info, please feel free to e-mail us at jakenrenee@gmail.com.  We would love to hear from you.