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Wednesday, December 21, 2016

So this is Christmas....



        The tree is up, the gifts are wrapped, the cookies baked, fudge is made, and the work parties are almost done.  The Christmas cards were mailed, some even twice! This is Christmas, right?
@ botanical gardens

     As Eric and I opened day 20 on our advent calendar the song that came on the radio was "So this is Christmas". It made me nostalgic for those years as a kid where everything was so magical and so big. Where you counted every day till Christmas came. Now I can't believe it is already this weekend, I still think it is only the 12th of December. Somehow, in the business of what it means to 'be Christmas' I lost a week of time.
 
    This past night Eric and I took some time to enjoy 'Christmas". With believing this may be our last Christmas in the states for a while we have decided to try and hit every family Christmas, plus our own little family one. That being said it was such a blessing to take those 20 minutes yesterday and have that peace of enjoying Christmas. Whether it is curling up under a blanket and watching a classic (our favorite White Christmas), staring at the twinkling lights on tree, sipping hot cocoa after playing in the snow, or dancing to some Bing Crosby. What ever way you find the peace of the Holidays - take the time to enjoy it a little this week. Because soon, before we know it, it will be passed.

   So we wish you, our family, friends, partners, a very Merry Christmas! 


 

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving ! !!!!

We wanted to take a moment and wish all our family, friends, and partners a very happy thanksgiving. Eric and I are so blessed to have you in our lives.

We are thankful for so many things, most of all the blessing of serving a wonderful, glorious God.  It was so amazing and humbling to attend Eric's grandma's funeral yesterday. She truly lived a life that honored and glorified God. she ran a strong race, and in the end used her last moments (her funeral) to continue to share the good news. It is our prayer that we could have the opportunity to make the impact she has for the kingdom. we will miss her but rejoice that she is now with her Lord.


Friday, November 4, 2016

When the miracle doesn't come




This morning I slept in, which means I woke up too late to make it for my morning work out but early enough to gather a few precious moments resting in bed next to my husband. It was a peaceful morning after an emotional and stressful week. Between the deer that totaled our car, Eric's grandma in the hospital again, his three day journey to take care of his grandpa, and the overload of paperwork and meetings that happens for teachers at conference times, there was little time for quiet moments. Especially in a week this special. 


It isn't the good special, the type where you dress in your best and take pictures to look back on when you are old and remembering the life that gave you wrinkles. But it is special in it's own way, and I believe it always will be. Special in a way that it holds significance, enough to change our lives forever. 

As I pulled up facebook this morning, in my attempt to not think about this week - it let me know I had a memory on this very day, a year ago. It is funny how when you try to not think of something you mind tends to wander there more often, until something blatantly points out what your trying to avoid. When this happens you mind latches on, the excuse to think, reflect, ponder, to dive in deep to what you have been trying for a while to just only skim the top of. A year ago today I posted 

"Believing for a miracle" 

What I didn't realize was a miracle already happened that week. And many miracles would continue to come since that week. However, that specific miracle I was praying for, believing in, clinging to.. never came. What happens when the miracles we are believing for never come? 

A year ago we found out we were a month pregnant. What a beautiful miracle that is - life created and grown by God above. For only he can give life - we can't manufacturer a soul, we can't generate breath. But He can, and He does. It was a miracle I was preparing for my whole life but more recently had been praying for specifically. Around 2 months before this we decided to start the journey to serve as long term missionaries in Somerset. When we made that decision I started praying a very specific prayer. Not a demand or ultimatum, but a request that God would let us get pregnant and have a child before we left. I wanted our parents to be grandparents who got to hold their newborn grandchildren. So when we found out we were pregnant it was my answer to prayer. Which is why when the emergency nurse shared that they were worried about the extreme cramps I knew everything would be ok. 

God was giving me my miracle. 

We prayed, and worshiped, and shared our request and needs with family and friends for 4 days, all the while waiting for our miracle. But this wasn't what God had in store, Isaiah 55:8 the Lord says that 

"my ways are fay beyond anything you could imagine" 

Later a dear friend and amazing prayer warrior would confide that she felt God responding to her please that He wasn't going to move in the way we though because he had something so much more planned and this would be a big part of our story. At the time it was little comfort but today I understand what she means. 

Our pregnancy was atopic and at 5 weeks we lost our son. It was the most heart breaking moment and choice of my life. I remember being in that hospital room holding my husbands hands as we both cried for the loss we were enduring. But even in that moment, when our world was crashing we were not alone in that room. Our God was right there with us. Even if I didn't want to feel it or accept it, if it was hard to understand. He was there holding us tight, wiping our tears. It was hard to reconcile the God that allowed our son to leave us was the same God that was comforting us. He didn't cause it, didn't gleefully take him, didn't carry us only to drop us higher than where we were. His character doesn't allow that. But he does allow things to come in and change us, shape us, and sometimes toss us upside down. But I learned that just because the miracle doesn't come doesn't mean God left. He has promised his faithfulness and promised to never leave us. Duet 31:8 

"He will never leave us, forsake us, or fail us" 

Oh, but in moments like that, in moments in your life when everything you hope for, prayed for, worked for, crashes it doesn't feel that way. Maybe yours isn't losing a child - maybe it is a parent, spouse, job, your health, your independence.. in these times it can feel like God has failed us. 

I was given so many words of encouragement and love and some well meaning trite sayings in hopes to make the pain lessen. But one person gave me permission to grieve and to question God. Not question who He is or His authority but why this happened the way it did. But let me tell you, I did question who He was and how HE could. I had that time where I had to have my heart and head agree and until they did I had to choose which one I was going to listen to. I knew all the Sunday school lessons but did I still believe them when faced with my own loss. Could my relationship with the one who gives life, be the same as it is with the one who takes life away. A.W Tozer mentioned that God's qualities are not like ours, they don't waiver or contradict. They are his character and infinite. Who He is can never contradict who He is. God can never fail us, God can never be anything but good. He is good in his grace and He is good in his sovereignty.

This is where the second miracle came in that week. It was like God saved my heart all over again. Because when ever God allows something to break in your life it is so that He can build you to be more like him. He held me and gave me peace as he allowed me to mourn and yell and wallow. then he gently and lovingly, day by day put my pieces back together. Do you know what. He made the pieces stronger, He filled gaps with more love and grace, he put in more understand of who he was.. that He is God and He is good even when life isn't. He showed me his comfort and his peace and how to stand on those when I couldn't stand on my own. 

On the really bad days, when I would sneak out of bed at 1 in the morning to cry in what would have been his nursery, God was there giving me waves of peace that I couldn't understand. When I would hear of a pregnancy or see a rounded belly, He would remind me that He is what keeps me sustained and He fulfills the desires of my heart. When the longing for a child continued months after the miscarriage and nothing was happening, he reminded me of his timing and plan. that he is still completing the good thing that He had started. 

A year later and I still have struggled with wanting what I was so close to having, to remembering in moments of sadness. There are still pieces of me that God is healing. A year later I am a lot stronger than I was. 


A year later I see the miracles that happened that day. Not the miracles I was praying for, or would have chosen if it were up to me. But miracles that God has put in my life to make me, and my husband, the people we are today. I didn't plan on writing this when I woke up this morning. Didn't plan on it being this long and I never planned on sharing what is written below. But I believe God allows things in our lives so we can encourage and uplift others. That we can show the world His goodness and grace. 


In the hospital room, the night before we lost our son, Eric and I had a time of prayer and devotional together. His word took us to Hannah and how she wept and prayed for her son. That night, together at the feet of our Lord, we wept and prayed for what we believed to be our little boy. We dedicated him to the Lord and asked God to save him. We named him Samuel Josiah Mayer, which means

God has heard him and has saved him. 


I want to say thank you to our friend and family, those who have prayed with us and for us. It is a blessing to be so loved. Thank you if you have read all the way to here, through my ramblings and memories. I hope and pray that it has truly encouraged you. One final though and then I will let you leave. At 1 in the morning, a few days after we were home, I was rocking and crying and God gave me the serenity to write. I have only ever shared it with Eric but I feel the need to put it here. I feel it is not just for me and Samuel, but for all mothers who have lost, for those too broken to put in words what they are thinking. Those too afraid to try again or to hope. The ones who put up a false front and pretend it doesn't hurt because it is not allowed to, because the world says it doesn't count. This is that last step in healing and moving forward, not forgetting, but continuing. One day we know we will see out little boy, hold him for the first time - all at the feet of the God who loved us all through it. 

Dear Child- 

It is so hard, I was your mom for such short a time with both of us on this earth. I never got to count your fingers or hold your toes. I never got to kiss your face or tickle your tummy. All precious moments I'll have with your siblings. It's hard because I didn't have enough time to get used to being a mom before it ended and you left us alone. It's weird sometimes to think that I am a mother, that's because of you, even though you're in heaven. I'll always remember you... years down the road. Wonder what it would be like if you had a chance to grow. Who would you be? Who would you love? Would you have my sense of humor or your dad's energy? Would you get in trouble? Would you love playing outside in the trees?


Sometimes I have to remember I don't need to wait to be a mom, I just need to wait to hold you in my arms. To let you go.. at anytime, honestly I'd love more time with you now. .

It's so weird I can't explain how I can miss someone I didn't even know was there. But I do and I feel it, I feel you not there. 

I am happy your with God and cradled there, but I mourn for all the missed memories here. 

It's so hard to think that though we are parents no one will see the love that is there, that qualifies our hearts to break and our eyes to tear. There's no plaque, no grave, no picture on the wall.. nothing marking the day you fell. Only the scars deep in our hearts and the love that we shared in our circle of three me, you, and your wonderful daddy.

So I cry as I rock in this empty rocking chair and ask God why you couldn't be here. Was it me, my fault, did I do something wrong? and how I could miss someone so much that I never got to see or hug or touch.

So my child, my baby I'll trust and I'll wait. For one day I'll get to see you by those pearly gates. Until that time I trust in our Lord's care and will always whisper my love in a prayer. For no matter how short a time you spent with me I promise your mother I will always be.

God please hold my child tonight because I can't reach him from where I sit, down here in this empty rocking chair. 

I could lie and rationalize... push all these feelings aside and go on as if nothing changed inside. I could say it as so short, that I didn't even know, I could say it was tissue that wouldn't even grow. I could push all my feelings and go on with the day. I could say the right things and hope it stays that way.

But I'd be lying to say he was never a life, that he didn't count because he didn't implant right. Cause the whisper is there in my heart, the truth that I'm missing so much ...No snuggles or tickles, no kisses goodnight. No teething, no walking, no singing or fights. No rocking to sleep with him in my arms. He had a purpose like we all do but that just won't be known.

I love you my baby. I love you my son. I love you for making us parents. I love you for being you. For all that would have been, for all that it was. 

Goodnight my baby, goodnight. 
















Saturday, October 29, 2016

Mission Conferences and New Friends





"Let us encourage one another..." 

Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing.1 Thes 5:11

This past month we had the blessing to attend Shell Lake Full Gospel Mission Conference. While there with Pastor Kelton we were able to receive the encouragement and uplifting that our souls needed. We stayed from Sunday till Tuesday in Shell Lake thanks to their hospitality in hosting us. 


It was so amazing to see missionaries who started where we are and now, 30 years later, are still serving God. We, rightfully so,  felt like babes in a room of giants. We saw God provide for large needs in a matter of minutes and it was a lesson to learn in His provision.  It was neat to learn all the different ministries that are in the world causing change in the life of people all over the world.  The focus of the conference was that "We are more than conqueres in Christ" how true of an encouragement .  


While at the conference Eric attended a steak feed with the guys and I got to have afternoon tea with the ladies. 
It was wonderful to be prayed over and have our ministry be lifted up in prayer as well. 

Men's steak feed: 



 Ladie's tea 
                          

The best part of this month is that we got to host Pastor Kelton for a night. He brought with him Stan and Sarah. They have a church planting ministry within the gypsie population in England and Eastern Europe .  We loved having them stay with us and then getting to know them more at the conference .  We thank God for the friendship he has started that will continue on to our tine in England. 

While they were here we just had to show them the green and gold. 



We also found out that we will get to see Pastor Kelton again this last weekend in October .  He will be with us for one night and then join us at church the next morning. It's always great to join our sending church here and the receiving church in England. 

God Bless!



Wednesday, October 5, 2016

GO UP


This post may include random ramblings. I have been discouraged lately and I refuse to believe the lie that just because we are going to be missionaries we have to have it all figured out. The lie that just because you are a Christian you have to never show hurt or fear. I think as believers, the enemy likes to make us think we can't make mistakes or struggle. That we need to have everything figured out and perfect in order for people to believe in our faith. I want to say now that is the biggest and scariest lie the devil tells you.  Because, people listen closely here, WE ARE NOT CALLED TO DO IT ALONE.

We are not called to hide, to pretend, to fix ourselves, or to be perfect. We are not called to live in fear or dismay either. In fact we are called to GO UP to take that which God has promised us. We can't do that if we are hiding and scared of who we really are.

Now I am a big fan of the 'right time and place and person' to share things with, even as I post on an open blog. But when the fear grows that we can't share our discouragement or fear with our close brothers and sisters in Christ... well we set up for more fear and discouragement.

Deuteronomy 1:21 says "The Lord your God has set the Land before you. Go up, take possession as the Lord has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Deuteronomy is talking to the Jewish people as they are about to enter the promised land. How many promises, calls, directions have you received from God that lead you to a place that can be scary. Maybe it's the outcome, the responsibility, or maybe just the journey to follow him but at some point it gets scary. The Jewish people were giving such a huge promise and say God move in mighty ways to get them there. But they still had fear.  Our fear can keep us from seeing God's promises as attainable. We lose sight that he is the one who will complete the good work and we just have to believe and obey.  

We can't let the big and scary be more then the good and love of God is in our life....

So this is how I tie my ramblings together. If we are following God on a course and it gets scary, we are supposed to turn to our brothers and sisters in Christ for help. If we let the lie that we can't stand in the way, then things get bigger and scary and the promis of God seems farther away. Every one needs help and encouragement at some point. Look at Moses, even he needed his arms supported when the staff became to heavy. So instead of trying to be perfect, lets help each other raise our staffs and lets Go Up and claim the promises and victories God wants to do in our lives.

:)

Saturday, September 17, 2016

DON’T CRY BECAUSE IT’S OVER. SMILE BECAUSE IT HAPPENED



Hello all my dear ones, 

         This month has been the beginning of what I feel will be a long road of endings, changing, and saying goodbye. While we still have a ways to go in fundraising and preparing to leave the reality of it has set in during this month, for me at least.  This month we officially stepped down from leadership at 365, the young adult group we helped lead. For the first time in 6 years our Thursdays were not scheduled for Bible Study, there was no message to plan, no meeting scheduled - at least that we were attending. 365 holds a dear place in both of our hearts and always will. Eric started with the ministry in the beginning and for me, it really saved me when I moved to Green Bay. It was the fellowship I was looking for and became the family that I needed. Some of my best friends, greatest memories, biggest growths, came from there.. not to mention it is where Eric and I met. 
         The ministry continues though, under its leaders Bob and Bethany. We are so excited for the work they have done with the ministry and continue to do with it. We were so blessed to serve under them and work with them these past few years. They have encouraged, challenged, and blessed us.  Thankful for their friendship, partnership, and the ability to stop in and visit our old Bible Study any given Thursday. There is a quote that clearly states the way we feel, it is the time we spent together that matters and we will carry with us. 


Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not that we left it.  


Bob, Bethany, Eric and I @ our last 365 retreat. August 2016



As we move on we don't plan to leave our Thursdays alone just yet. Now starts the part of our preparing where we are going to start attending other young adult groups. We are looking for groups that meet around the Green Bay area that cater to the young adult generation. We already have a few we are planning to visit. We want to learn how others lead, how others plan, what they study, how they interact, what food they serve :) 

We know that by being well prepared we can better reach the people in Somerset. We don't want to get there and only have the one model to follow. As a teacher we have a saying
  "Don't have an empty toolbox"
You need to have more than enough ideas and strategies so that your 'toolbox' is never emptied but continuously growing. We are excited for God to continue to fill our toolboxes with lessons He has for us. 



Saturday, September 3, 2016

1st church visit!



We were so blessed to be invited to speak at our first church this past weekend. 
We were able to share the need we see in England along with the vision God has given us.  
It was so great to meet everyone there and feel so welcomed by the congregation.  To see their passion for missions was so encouraging. It is always amazing to see the body of Christ support each other. We hope to share with them soon of our departure for the field. 


We got to remake our board with the help and direction of one of our mentors from GEM 
and are excited to display it for the first time last Sunday at the church. 
Now it correlates with our brochure.  
**In this picture it is missing the "about us" facts. Don't worry we got it on before it's debut. 



This is us outside of the church. We were so excited to share with people
 and have them be so receptive to our hearts. This month we also celebrated sending 
out our 1st newsletter, we just want to say a big thank-you for the great responses 
we have received. It is so important to us to stay connected with our partners as 
we take this journey.  We have enjoyed getting the  opportunity to meet
 with so many people and grow our team with  individuals who are excited 
to see this work done in Somerset. 

Friday, August 12, 2016

It is here!

Hello! 


   I write to you guys as Eric is off at his new job dropping off his tools and welding gear. We want to thank you for your prayers over the summer and are excited to see what God will do at his new job. We believe these hours will help give him more flexibility to have time for fundraising and preparing to speak at churches.

  With the extra time off we were able to borrow a friend's cabin and go celebrate Eric's 30th birthday in Minocqua. It was a great time to relax, take our focus off of everything else, and celebrate where God has us. We enjoyed a lumberjack show and some Hawaiin ice both completely new experiences for me.  Speaking of new experiences, Eric saw his first ever Rugby match on the Olympics. I am slightly worried at how excited he got. We found out from friends in Somerset that there is a Rugby club in town, so he could play on the weekends... good thing we have insurance :)

This year we have been slightly torn at the Olympics and have found ourselves cheering for both our home land and England.. makes it extra exciting when they both medal.


As summer winds down and we wonder where it went to I am preparing to head back to school. It is an interesting year because I know tha school isn't my focus this year.. My focus is to prepare the best I can for the mission God has given us. This shouldn't be a new way at looking at life, God has given us each a mission and a purpose - things He has called you to. A good question is to ask yourself if you are living out your life preparing for the mission God made you for. Or do you find that you are being distracted by the small things around you?


  This month will be our first enews and I am excited to send it out. If you are not signed up for our newsletter and want to be please comment or email me your email address and I will add you to the list.

One final piece of good news.. we are 10.6% funded!
We want to thank our partners for listening to God and joining us as we reach out to the young adults/families in Somerset.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Seeking out God.


Our first update in July! Wow, I can't believe it is already July...  in four weeks I will be starting school again and we will even busier than now. Today in my quiet time I was starting the book of Acts. Do you know that Jesus told the disciples to sit and wait. He said to wait where they were till the Holy spirit came and gave them the power they were missing. Of course then their mission was to go and witness to the world.. but first they had to wait. 

So many times I find I am so willing to go, to do, to organize or accomplish. However, when God says to wait.. that is hard. He always has us waiting for good reason too. Sometimes it is to learn something, to learn to let something go, to grow in our faith, or just so we give up the ridiculous idea that we can do it on our own. 

I feel like Eric and I have entered a long season of "wait". We are waiting 11 months to our expected leave date, waiting for 93% more funds to come in, waiting for Eric to get a new job, waiting for a child... wait wait wait.... it is my least favorite thing to do and yet it is the season God has put us in. Through waiting though we get to learn that he is faithful and able to sustain us. We get to practice budgeting on a lower income than we are used to. We get to see him work out his plans in areas that we were getting comfortable in. We are being called out and strengthened, not only in our relationship with God but with each other. 

How exciting!  that is what I am supposed to say right? To some extent it is, but it is also scary and tough and tiring. It is tense, sad, and frustrating. So what truly makes it exciting is that we are being prepared. The trials that have come since we have been commissioned, and while there are many I do not want this to become a dumping ground of complaints, God has shown true through each one. We have been being prepared to face trials and obstacles in a different land, with different responsibilities, and less supports. God is prepping us instead of throwing us out there with no experience to call back on.  

Jesus told the disciples to 'wait' because he wanted them to be prepared for what they were about to embark on.. Is God asking you to wait on something so he can prepare you?? 

-Megan  



Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Unfinished business

This passage was shared with me by a dear prayer partner who has been lifting England up to our heavenly father.  
    “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

    ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:1-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
She shared this revelation with me. She noticed the words: "I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God."  How greatly God has used the nation of Great Britain and the Church there in the past to reach the entire world with the Gospel!  The impact has been huge!  But their time is not over yet; God's work and purposes for the British people are not done.  Their deeds are "unfinished."  That is why is is so vital for this nation's church to be awakened and brought to life again!

She is so right, God is not done with England. He is not done with the people. God will move mightily in and through England like he has done before. Look at what is written about the church in Sardis right before that. It says  "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die"

England has a reputation that is blinding to the world. People focus on the history and the spiritual state it once had.  But that is like looking at a chard painting and calling it beautiful because of what it once was.  Instead of taking the time to pick away at the burnt edges until you see color once again.  England is almost dead, there is a generational gap in the church that is staggering, but because of its false reputation no one sees the need to help it.  We are called to strengthen what remains.  To bring life to a generation that has been left out.

-megan. 

Monday, June 20, 2016

Fundraising has started.


Hi everyone!

     Sorry it has been a month.... wow we have been busy. Since coming back from orientation we have been able to meet with our fundraising coach on a weekly basis. We have been learning so much from her and are excited to say that we have started the fundraising process.

     As summer has arrived we are looking forward to hopefully heading out to meet with family and friends who are not in our area.  It is exciting to get to share our heart and passion and make partners for the ministry.  We are so thankful that God has provided us with amazing families and friends, along with coaches to keep us encouraged as we start this next phase of the journey.  Praise the Lord we are 3% funded!!

    We have finalized our brochure and are looking into getting it printed, this will have a summary of our ministry along with simple statistics and facts about England. Some of these fats are that while in England 49% of all people claim no religious affiliation and less than 2% claim to be born again Christians. Church attendance in England is the lowest in all of Europe at only 6%.
   Through our research we have learned that people in England struggle with anxiety, depression, and self harm at higher rates than most of Europe.  We also learned that in England the highest cause of death in men between the ages of 25 and 45 is suicide.

    Hearing these facts can be saddening and disheartening, but we serve a God of love and hope. He is powerful enough to effect the hearts of these people and radically change their lives and environments.  

 


     

     

Saturday, May 28, 2016


BOOYAH!!!!!!!  

We had our booyah and bake sale two weeks ago at our church.  
After two days full of hard work and prep we were blessed by God through our family, church family, and friends. It was so wonderful and encouraging to see the support we had around us.  
The sale raised $1009.00, that is basically half of the cost for candidate orientation. How amazing is that.  

                Shredding the 15 chickens to make the 40 gallons of booyah.

                                         Fishy cupcakes for the bake sale.
                                   We we're blessed by our family helping out

                                       Tons of baked goods.


Tuesday, May 3, 2016

One step closer

 
We are so excited to share that we have been appointed and commissioned with GEM to serve in the United Kingdom!!!


  Greater Europe Missions (GEM) is a missions organization that was started in 1949. As a ministry their desire is to engage Europe through making disciples in every nation. Their focus is on church planting, discipleship, and evangelism.  We are so excited to work with them in order to reach the young adults and young families in England. If you want more information about GEM you can visit their website at http://www.gemission.org/.  


Our name on the appointee map in GEM headquarters.
 They day we depart for the UK they move our flag to the missions map. 

We had such a great time in Colorado, at candidate orientation. We were able to make some great friends and learned so much to be better prepared for the field. We have a journey ahead of us but we are excited to see how God moves in these next few months.


We had one free day during the week and we went to visit the Garden of the gods. It is such a beautiful place, looking around I was in awe at the beauty God displayed. You can't help but think of his majesty and strengthen when you walk around the high orange mountain peeks. 


Sunday, April 17, 2016

This Sunday

So excited I finally figured out how to put pictures on our blog. Yippie!
This will definitely improve our updates. We were so blessed this morning to be supported and encouraged by our home church. We were able to share during the service then talk with ppl afterwards. Even with out my voice we were able to share our vision because my wonderful husband really ran the show. He did an awesome job!

Here we are sharing at out church. 

This is our board we use to share.. we have some doctor who figurines and some digestives (cookies from England )

Thursday, April 14, 2016

These next steps


          Well we are getting ready to go to orientation and we are so excited.

          We are so excited to be able to share at our home church, NEW Freedom Church, this Sunday. It will be the first time that we get to share our vision with this family that we love. We also get to hand out our information cards and put up our poster. During this time we will also be promoting our Booyah sale. We have been blessed by the generosity of Eric's parents who are making booyah and other family members who are making baked goods.  We are selling them after church on the 15th of May to help raise support for our Candidate orientation.

         Right now we are in the process of working on figuring out banking, packing, and studying.  I am also working on how to format our email - once we figure that our we will start sending out emails as updates as well.  Please remember to keep us in your prayers; I currently have no voice from a bout with bronchitis that led into laryngitis. Eric has been on 10 hour days and on top of that has been helping to take care of me.  We are trusting that God will return my voice so that we can share together on Sunday and be in full health for Colorado.

          Can't wait to share with you the results of Candidate Orientation and where God is leading our next step.

      God Bless,
          Megan

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Off to Colorado we go!


Wow! So much has happened!

So here's our quick update..

The mission conference in Watertown went great! We got to meet so many great people and it was wonderful working with their mission team IMPACTS.  It was a blessing to us that we got to meet a man from Bath (which is part of Somerset county). It was really encouraging to talk with him and have him pray over us. He really just encouraged us and just confirmed the need that is there and ignited our passion to get there to help. I am so thankful that God sends us little moments like that to encourage us along the way. I mean what's the chances!!!

We were able to gather a number of emails from people who are interested to learn more. This is exciting because I will be writing our quarterly email soon, both our blog and email will have the same information, just presented differently. 

On another note, we finished our application to GEM (Greater Europe Missions) and were invited to attend the Candidate Orientation. Which we accepted. This is the final step in joining the organization. So this means we will be heading off to Colorado for 8 days to learn more about GEM and so they can learn more about us. At the end of the orientation we will know if we are a good fit fro them and them for us. We are so excited to see God move through this whole process. We can't wait to get to know GEM more and see if they are the right fit for what God is calling us to do.

Please keep this time in Colorado in your prayers. There are a couple more pages we have to complete and a few things we have to do ahead of time. We also need to raise $2,500 for the orientation, travel, lodging, classes and materials. Then another $900 to cover our typical house expenses as neither of us will be getting paid for the week we have to take off.

We are trusting God to provide and are excited to see how He already is doing so.

Also, if you want to receive the quarterly emails please send me your email.

Well, I did promise this would be short. I am just so full of joy I couldn't wait to share with everyone.


See you back here soon :)

Megs




Saturday, February 27, 2016

Our plans are God's plans

Hi it's Eric the other half,
I wanted to take a second and talk about how we have been seeing God come along side us in this process of becoming long term missionaries to Somerset.  
Some of the things we have done we have tried to keep quiet. We don't want to hurt the church in England by jumping ahead, we also wanted to make sure we approached it appropriately by going to our pastor before we started telling everyone.  
I just want to share two quick stories that encouraged my faith that this is where God wants us to go. 
In the process of figuring out if God was calling us to England and what our roles would look like Megan and I sat down and made a list. 
We made a list about what we would want to do, what our vision for that area would be, what we want to do with the young adults, how we'd hope to accomplish that, and how to tie young adults into the local churches. The cool part of this story is we got to host pastor Kelton at our house, he comes to the states once a year to go to mission conferences and talk about his church. We got to tell him in person that we have been praying and want to come serve in his church. He wasn't surprised he has been praying for missionaries for young adults in his area for a while and as we have visited before, he was happy. He explained what he would want from us and what he would like our responsibilities to be if we came over.  It was very cool because it lined up perfectly to what Megan and I had written earlier. We probably could have just had him write it for us, but that wasn't the point. 
The other cool story is I've felt called to missions my while life but I wasn't sure why England. I always felt Africa or China or a place that would really need me, England just never seemed like that type of place. As my wife and I studied England we realized that is not the case at all. Before I knew this God and I had this conversation where he revealed to me that England has all the resources to send missionaries.  There are so many young adults who would have the funds and support to go, if they only knew God. I felt like God was telling me I wasn't going into a mission field but a missionary field. That by listening to God and going where I felt he was calling me it could affect the whole world for missions. 
As part of the process of becoming GEM missionaries you have to talk with the head of the branch in England. When I shared this with him he thought it was cool because as they have been praying they felt like they were supposed to start sending people from England in this next season. 
These are just reassuring stories that help me to remember that my heart is in the right place and I can't wait to see what God is going to do in England.  

Eric. 

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Why England?

This post talks about some of the reasons why we have a heart for England. Take a look before you continue on to the rest of the blog.  


I was 9 when I was baptized (didn't think I was going that far back did ya?) and I seeked God on what he was going to do with my life. I developed a call, or desire and passion, to do missions. Later God worked on my heart and I fell in love with England, all the missionaries who came from there, the history.. In 2013 I met Pastor Kelton Black through a girl in my women's ministry. He invited me to come serve with his church in England. When I was there I noticed a few things about the culture; the church was missing a generation, and they didn't talk about really deep or serious things often outside of formal settings. I loved the church and the members of it (whose average age was 70) are some of the most welcoming and loving people I know. I did however feel a burden in my heart for the young generation that was missing. 


My husband, Eric also felt a call to serve in missions in high school and when he graduated he joined YWAM (Youth with a Mission) and stayed with them for a couple years before we started dating. In 2015 my husband and I listened to God and journeyed back to Somerset. Now we got to minister there together. He noticed that the great big beautiful churches were now more like monuments to their past works. That the country that used to send out missionaries was now the one in need of them. In Europe (including the UK) only 2% of people claim saving faith in Jesus. 


 After a couple months of praying for God's will to be revealed we sat down and composed the reasons why God is calling us, not only individually but as a couple.

The churches have become museums…
Only 6% of ppl in England attend church. Its closer to .4% in the area where we will be.

Last time we were in England we visited a number of beautiful churches that have become monuments to the rich Christian history that the country has. However now, many of those churches are empty. Their message, that once influenced towns, is now missing and has no influence on the lives around it.

The churches that are alive with the Spirit of God are missing a generation... The average age of a Christian is 45, the average agw of a Muslim is 25.

The area of Somerset we have interacted with 3 different churches and in those churches there is a huge generational gap. The young adults and youth of England are missing from the churches and there is a barrier in the way of them connecting with them. These churches will die out if the younger generation does not recognize the importance of God and value of biblical fellowship and if the older generation doesn’t reach out and connect with the younger ones.

The Bible says Judges 2:10 “And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.” If there is not a change in the generational gaps in the churches in Somerset this could very well happen to the area.

There is a generation that is missing who God isIn the last 20 years chirch attendance has dropped by around 37%.

The young adults (18-35ish) are not only not connecting with God but they don’t even know who he really is. There are a lot of hurting young adults in Somerset that are not aware that there is healing in Christ. They also don’t know how to connect with each other, In Somerset everything closes early so their is no safe place to go and fellowship, this leads to isolation. This is a generation that could be impacting the world for Christ, they have the means and opportunity. They come from a country that used to be known for impacting the world for Jesus. When we think of pouring in to the young adults in Somerset we don't just think of them we think of how they could turn around and impact the world. But they can’t take that stand in today’s world if they don’t know what they are standing for.  


God has a heart and passion for the English people of this generation. He has a desire for them to leave behind the isolation and emptiness and be ignited for Him.



Tha is why ww want to go and serve a missing geneation that has no hope and can't see a way for changing it.

God Bless,
Megs

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Oceans...

 Have you heard the song Oceans? It has a line that says "take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stoner in the pressence of my savior... where my trust is with out borders, let me walk upon the waters... where ever you would call me". 

Eric and I had this song sung during our wedding, back in 2014. It was supposed to be a song for ppl to worship with but that message wasn't brought across well. Besides a majority of our wedding party and a couple audience members we were the only ones really singing. Which might be ok. If you think about it those words are big words, and that is a big request. It's not something to take lightly. So many times I think we worship with elegant words but never put our life where our mouth is. 

For Eric and I these words were not just a song we wanted at our wedding but they were promises we wanted to incorporate in our day. We wanted to make sure we knew that before anything else our marriage was, is, a vow to God that we are here to be led and used. 

Wow! Not popular I know. In today's world where you are meant to look out for number one it isn't common to enter a situation not only vowing to put someone else first but to put obedience over comfort.  As Christians we are called to do just that! Thankfully we have had great Christian role models in our lives who have used their marriages to bring glory to God. 

Now please note I am not saying the only way to bring glory to God through your marriage is to go on long term missions...  that's just what it looks like for us right now. I am also not saying we have it all tpgether, oh trust me we don't :) 

Before this honoring God with our marriage looked like learning to be a good husband and wife (which we still are).  I think in all marriages that in itself will always be at the base of honoring God.

We both knew missions was something we both felt called to and it was something we wanted to explore as a couple. I had a big heart for England, I had gone there on a mission trip the summer before I started daiting Eric. 
We thwn went back to Somerset, England on our first missions trip as a couple. We both felt God's desire to reach out to the young adults there. When we came home it was to a couple months of praying. To be honest, there was a whole bunch of 'this is big how would it ever work' thrown in there too. 

The amazing thing was when we couldn't ignore it any longer.. You know how it is when God is putting that message every where you look and in every way that you can imagine.  We agreed to say 'yes' together in October. 

We only told our pastor, the pastor in England, and our parents. Ok, I might have also told a lady from church, a teacher I work with, and my best friend... I was excited. Well anyways, we told the people who needed to know and then gave it over to God. 

It is amazing how when you say yes God, He moves. This step we are taking is big and scary and out of our control.. it's perfect. We have gotten to see God orchestrate situations and events that we couldn't, even if we had known it was possible. We can't wait to see how He moves next. 

:) Megs.