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When God Called We Ran The Other Way
If you are like me, you are a rebel at heart.
When the Lord first called my wife and me to ministry, we were like Jonah.
We ran the other way!
We were not interested in going into full-time ministry.
I felt the Lord was drawing me to full-time ministry, but the Lord hadn't told Vicki that yet.
When I told her I felt called to ministry, she said,
“You can forget that. I am not about to go and wait for you with four kids while you go to seminary.”
I said, “Lord, You must change her heart if this is what You want us to do. She is not interested.”
The next day, I was offered a job with a company in East Texas.
We always wanted to live in the country.
Without praying, we purchased two acres of land and put a home on it.
I knew I had made a mistake on the first day at the new job.
This guy was and is the worst person I have ever worked for.
I lasted for about a month, then I got my old job back.
I had to drive two hours a day to and from work.
Besides the terrible job, everything else fell apart.
Our kids were getting sick.
Flat tires.
I cracked the engine block on my car.
Unanswered prayers for two years.
We lost everything and were ruined financially.
The final straw was when our youngest daughter Ashley caught rotavirus.
She ended up in the hospital, dehydrated with an IV in her foot.
We knew at that moment that we had missed the Lord.
It was like a super hard jerk on our chain.
We knew we missed the Lord!
We discussed it and then decided to go forward at our church the following Sunday and surrender to Lord and to ministry.
Vicki was holding tight-fisted to the back of the pew.
She did not want to surrender, but we walked the aisle that day.
We were broken, broke, and without a dime for seminary.
From that point on when we prayed, we sometimes got the answer in minutes.
We had no money for seminary, so we prayed for God's provision.
Our church paid for my first semester.
I applied and received a full scholarship that paid for my remaining seminary education.
From multiple experiences in ministry, we have learned to pray for the Lord's direction.
There have been a lot of good ideas along the way, but there are too many to count.
However, when it comes to moving in ministry, we ask for permission before we move.
The Lord has taught us that obedience is what He expects from us.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Sometimes, understanding His will can be challenging.
But He has been so faithful.
It did not make sense when I stepped down from a full-time church position in 2014.
But the Lord made it clear that if I did not, I would be disobeying Him.
At that point, I said, “Okay!”
I resigned, and the rest is history.
He has blessed and provided in supernatural ways.
What a joy to step out in faith and watch God work and move!
We have never regretted it.
Now, we are at that point again of trusting Him.
We have served the Church in the United States for more than 35 years.
The Lord is saying, “See, I am working internationally. Join Me in this work.”
It is obvious where the Lord is working, and He is holding the door wide open for us to walk through.
There appears to be an obstacle in our way: our funding for this ministry.
To walk through these open doors, we need God to move the mountain that is in the way of the door.
We know that the Lord will move it, and we are standing, watching, and waiting for Him to do so.
Please keep us in your prayers.
The Lord is taking us down a new path, a new adventure in faith with Him.
We believe wholeheartedly that we are fully in His will for our lives.
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