Because…. we’re excited to share the details!

Ever feel like you have been in a season where everything keeps changing so rapidly you can't keep up with the changes? Now that we find ourselves back serving in Hawaii, we have the distinct feeling like there's more for us here that the Lord has in store. We never intended on being here longer than just a couple of weeks, as we had our eyes and hearts focused on France. Frankly, we never planned on being here after DTS back in 2017! But God had other plans, and how many of us know that His are ALWAYS way better than we could have dreamed?

We have honestly been overwhelmed with the response from people welcoming us back - we had no idea the impact that we had made before. The first week was a constant barrage of surprised and excited faces, and their response was always almost the same: “You’re back?! Wait, how long are you planning on being here?! We’ve missed you guys!” And each time, the words of one of our mentors rang through my mind… “Go where you are Celebrated, not Tolerated.” Here in Kona we have so many people around us that are genuinely excited about us as people and want to see the things we have vision for become a reality as much - if not more - than we do.

Let’s back track a bit. Why would we be able to do more of what God has placed on our hearts here, on an island in the middle of the Pacific, rather than from our former base in France?

Simply put, here in Kona, the base culture is GO. Go and preach the gospel. Go to other nations to serve, to teach, to empower the locals to share the good news. Go and do what God has placed on your hearts. Go in teams to love and support one another when times get dark in hard places. And they mean it, and they live it, and there is so. much. fruit. in salvations and changed lives to show for it. There is a real culture of faith and follow-through!

This isn’t the same in other bases, as we discovered (the hard way.) We had been promised the ability to travel, to preach, to do what God had placed on our hearts, but found ourselves stuck inside of a base culture that was fearful of the outside world and overly focused on the base itself, rather than on reaching the lost. We operated as best as we could in spite of the situation, and watched God move in the lives of those around us and in the community in powerful ways, but overall we could not move in much greater ways without dishonoring base leadership (which we will NOT do! and God does not bless rebellion!)

We want more. We take our commitment to the Lord seriously, and we take our commitment to you as our supporters seriously. We want to make an impact! We want to follow through with the dreams He has placed on our hearts!

And the best impact that we can make starts here, in Kona, for this season. Cheri has already been in conversation with multiple school leaders regarding sending outreach teams to France - very few people even within YWAM here are aware of the need for Jesus in France and the French-speaking world! She has turned into an advocate with nearly everyone we run into about the greater need to send missionaries to France to reach the lost. They are so, so lost and the need is so great - and our firsthand witness is already beginning to make an impact. We have already been networking with those on campus with hearts for France, and had the opportunity to speak at a France Missions Interest Night, encouraging more to GO!

What if by us choosing to “go low” and serve here, we could rapidly expand our impact to reach there? If our one family could make an impact in France, how much more could ten families? 20 families? What about the impact that their supporters and church prayer teams could make, joined with ours? These are the questions we are asking and the dreams we are praying!

Do we desperately want to be back in France, reaching the lost, praying for people, leading teams to reach Arab nations? YES! But are we willing to lay down our own desires for a season, to see the possible impact and lives changed for eternity MULTIPLIED exponentially by our season of intentionality here? It is a tear-filled Yes!

We are already involved in serving in multiple ways here on the base, as well as getting some much-needed family time and catch-up time with those around us. But we are planning ahead and looking to the near future for more opportunities to potentially serve and possibly bring teams with us (for example, the “Paris, Je T’aime” outreach this summer.) We will fill another whole email soon with the projects that Jeff has already been invited into, as well as future vision!

We still need your prayers!

We love you guys!!! And we pray for you often! As always - please let us know if you have any specific prayer requests, we would love to partner with you to see His Kingdom come in your life!

Jeff, Cheri and the kids (Daniel, Isaac, and Amelia)

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