Our Ship is Changing Directions

When I was in Texas a couple of weeks ago, I promised I’d give a “Texas-sized” update when I got back in town, but, if you noticed, that hadn’t happened yet. So, without further ado, here’s an update of the events leading up to our trip to Texas and a synopsis of what occurred while we were there.

The Beginning
For several months before we went down to Texas, Casey had been dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety over work. He’s owned his own business for about five years now and is pretty familiar with the ups and downs of business ownership. But this year it was different. Oklahoma got a LOT of rain this year, which put a damper on a lot of the jobs his company was working on.

But, even with that, the amount of anxiety he was experiencing was more than what seemed reasonable. He had no peace. Even when we went on our vacation to Belize, he couldn’t get work off of his mind. His companies had always been a real source of joy for him, and business had always been one of his biggest passions. But at this point, they’d become a burden, and the joy was gone.

During these months, his prayer was “Lord, whatever is between me and where you want me to be next, take it away. Get me to the next step.” He always assumed the answer to this prayer would involve taking his business to the next level or helping things get easier at work. I was also praying during this time that the Lord would help Casey and lead us where he wanted us to go.

Seeking the Lord’s Direction
One night in July, Casey was praying fervently. He had reached a point where he really just felt in anguish. He could feel the weight of the anxiety on his hands and shoulders. As he cried out to God for direction, he was nearly in tears. He kept asking God to lead him where he wanted him to go. The next moment, he heard a voice inside him say, “Why don't you go work for Gospel for Asia.” (Gospel for Asia is a missions organization that Casey and I have supported for about five years.) In the very instant that voice spoke in his heart, the heavy weight of anxiety on his shoulders and hands lifted. An overwhelming feeling of peace came over him.

Since he’d been dealing with this anxiety for months, the sudden removal of it got his attention. The weight on his hands and shoulders was completely gone. He thought, “Wow, that was weird!”

A Strange New Thought
Although we were financial supporters of the ministry, Casey had never considered working for Gospel for Asia. He’d always assumed the way we would reach the lost would be through tithing and praying. But, as he walked by a mirror in our house, he looked at his reflection and thought, “I’m looking at a missionary for Gospel for Asia.” Again he thought, “Weird!”

After those prayers, Casey came to bed and said that he had just had a really strange thought and wanted to tell me about it. He told me everything I’ve just written, and then a funny smile came across my face and I told him my story.

About three weeks before this night, I’d been praying for Casey and seeking the Lord about what his direction was for us. As I talked to the Lord, the thought came to my mind that maybe we were supposed to go and work for Gospel for Asia. As I chewed on that thought, I began to ponder everything that would involve. I knew we’d have to move from Oklahoma, raise financial support, sell Casey’s businesses and overcome many other obstacles. I said to the Lord, “I’m not going to bring it up to Casey. If you want to talk to him about it, you’ll have to bring it up yourself.”

I'd forgotten about the idea until Casey came to bed that night telling me what he’d just experienced. When I told him about my experience from a few weeks before, we were a bit in awe and both thought it was something we needed to look into further.

The Application Process
The next day, Casey called Gospel for Asia and spoke to the person in charge of staff recruitment. He asked her many questions, and he and I struggled together to muster the courage to take the next step.

Finally, after prayer and fasting, we decided to fill out the applications. This involved giving our personal testimonies, stating why we wanted to work for GFA and listing professional and ministry references.

After reviewing our applications, Gospel for Asia invited us to come down to their headquarters in Carrollton, Texas for a week of interviews.

During this period, the Lord opened many doors for us. One of those was the way Casey’s business partner responded when Casey approached him with what was on his mind. As you can imagine, Casey was nervous to tell his business partner of five years and two companies that he was considering giving up ownership and going into full-time ministry. When he sat down to talk with Randy, his fears were relieved. Randy was 100% supportive. He told Casey, “If that’s where God wants you, that’s where you need to be.”

The interesting thing about when Casey told his business partner was that Randy later said that if Casey had come to him at any other time, he didn’t know how he would have responded. But after the four or so months of rain, Randy had done a lot of prayer and seeking the Lord of his own. So his heart was very receptive to follow the Lord’s leading.

With the green light from Randy, I then met with my boss to tell him of our plans and see if I could take a week off for interviews in Texas. Again, we were met with an open door. He willingly gave me the time off and, like Randy, said we needed to do what God wanted us to do.

The Interviews
On August 11, 2007, we headed down to Texas. We weren’t scheduled to meet with anyone from Gospel for Asia until Sunday evening, but we went down early to attend a friend’s wedding reception in McKinney, Texas.

After the reception, Casey and I stayed in a hotel in Carrollton. Since the next day was Sunday, we decided we’d attend a local church.

We picked Valley View Christian Church in Dallas off the internet. We googled the church’s name and Gospel for Asia to see if there was any connection between the two. We thought it would be fun to meet up with someone from the organization for lunch. We couldn’t find any connection, but decided to attend anyway.

A Friend in an Unexpected Place
The church was about 500 people and was located in North Dallas, a little ways from Carrollton. As we walked in the doors, Casey immediately began heading toward the opposite side of the church that we’d come in on. He even “snubbed” a few ushers on his way. He was a man on a mission. It was kind of odd, since he’s usually not so particular, and there were a number of empty seats closer by.

Eventually, we were seated toward the middle of the church on a pew next to a woman in her 60s. After the service, the woman greeted us and asked if we were visitors or regular attendees. I told her we were just in town for some job interviews. She then took out a little notebook and asked for our names so that she could pray for us and our interviews. As she was writing our names, I elaborated that we were applying to work at a missions organization called Gospel for Asia. She immediately looked up at me with wide eyes and said, “I’ve worked at Gospel for Asia for 11 years.”

GFA only has about 80 employees, and there are thousands of churches in the area, and there were 50 different pews we could’ve sat in, but we sat next to the one woman in the church who works for GFA. As Betty began to tell us about her work at Gospel for Asia, her eyes welled up with tears. She is passionate about the ministry and reaching Asia’s lost. Betty was convinced that God had sat us down next to her for a reason, and we thought it looked that way too. She invited us to go to lunch with her and we did.

At lunch, Betty told us more about how she came to work at GFA. It was evident that she loved the Lord and cared deeply for the unreached people groups of the world. After lunch, she invited us to her home to freshen up before we met up with the family whose home we would stay in.

The days that followed involved five intensive interviews with GFA leadership that each lasted about two hours. Almost none of the questions were about our professional skills or training, but instead they were all about our spiritual life and God’s calling on our lives for the ministry. It was both emotionally draining and spiritually challenging.

But through the interviews, Casey and I saw that these were people who’d come from all walks of life for a common purpose. To carry out the Great Commission. Their hearts’ desire was to be obedient to the Lord’s call to reach the nations. Several times, Casey and I commented to each other that they were a group of people who truly seemed to be aware that this earthly kingdom will soon pass away and a heavenly one will replace it.

The Lord’s Calling
The Lord continued to confirm his calling in our lives with each new person we met and each new experience. We felt convicted that if Gospel for Asia asked us to come on staff, we needed to accept. How could we turn down the opportunity to impact this generation for eternity? Every day, Gospel for Asia missionaries plant churches in places that were previously unreached with the Gospel! Those churches represent souls who’ve been rescued from hopelessness and despair and set free to worship a God who loves them.

A New Direction
After all our interviews and much prayer, we were invited to come on as staff at Gospel for Asia. And we accepted.

Our role will be working at the Carrollton headquarters supporting the native missionaries on the field. The GFA home team staff is the connection between the native missionaries serving on the field and the Western church.

Since 100% of the money sent for the mission field goes to the mission field, all GFA home team staff must raise their own support. Over the coming weeks and months, Casey and I will begin support raising, transitioning out of his companies and selling our home.

The Lord is Full of Surprises
If you’d told me even two months ago that someday soon Casey and I would be moving to Texas to work for a missions organization, I would’ve said that you had me confused with someone else, but the Lord is a powerful mover and shaker. He’s the one who has lit this fire in our hearts, and he is the one who will make a way for us to follow his leading.

We greatly appreciate your prayers and support as we follow the Lord’s call to reach Asia’s lost. We will be sending out our first prayer letters in the next week or so, and many of you will probably be on that list. But if you don’t receive something, it may be that we didn’t have your address. To give us your updated contact information, you can e-mail me at sum_short at hotmail dot com.

*UPDATE - 11/13/09* Shortly after returning home from our interviews, we found out that I was pregnant! While our support increased so did my waist line. In May 2008, we added Colton to our family. When he was just 9 weeks old, we moved to Texas to begin our work with Gospel for Asia.

Casey works in GFA's web marketing department, and I stay home with our son. I also help out from home with various ministry projects as they come up.

Support our family's work at Gospel for Asia - Designation # 6211.