The Vision

Vision, recently the Lord has given me a vision to do something that I viewed as too big for myself. In March of 2016, God placed a vision in front of me that seemed quite large at the time. I was in Kampala, Uganda working with a local pastor named Bamanya Deogratius and God vividly told me to start a missions organization. I remember not being able to sleep much that evening because I knew that life was about to change drastically. During that trip to Uganda, I told God no to the vision that He had been so gracious to give to me. I was starting to doubt and question if it was really from God or if it was just in my head. We returned home to Albany, Tx where I was doing youth ministry at FBC Albany. I had this overwhelming burden on my heart for the rest of the year since returning home from Uganda. We returned back to Uganda the next year and I finally gave over to this calling that God had given to me. I had one requirement of God, just make my wife, Jordan, okay with this decision. I prayed about it for an entire month. To my surprise, I approach her with this crazy adventure and her words to me were "Okay, I'm in." The first confirmation was complete. I asked God to make her okay with this decision and He did. We began to form a board and start the legal process of getting our 501c3 nonprofit status. My biggest fear entering this whole idea of running a nonprofit was the funding side of things. God has been so gracious to us and money has been there when it shouldn't have been. God is our ultimate provider and when He tells us that He is going to take care of us, it's foolish of us to doubt Him. There have been many nights where I lay awake, stressed and worried about how this is going to come full circle. But to be honest, I think that is the beauty of trusting God and stepping out in faith and knowing He will provide when we are in doubt.

As we were praying and asking the Lord what He wanted us to call this organization. He told me to Live the Mission. I went to the passage in Mark 16 where Jesus found his disciples resting and became disgruntled with them. He tells them in verse 15, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation." Jesus was telling his disciples to continue to Live the Mission that He has set before them.  We want this organization to resemble exactly what Jesus did here on the earth with evangelism and discipleship. We will partner with churches and colleges in the states and train them on how to share the gospel effectively. We also want them to understand their testimony and how powerful it is. God has given us a story and we need to use it to help spread His kingdom. I think we make the gospel to complex and are pushed away because of fear and doubt. We will partner with international churches who are lacking in discipleship as well. It became very clear that we are not called to church plant, but to do church development. When someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal savior, they will have the opportunity to be discipled right then. Giving them a small biblical foundation will prevent them from leaving the faith when it gets tough.

God has been so gracious to give us this vision of Live Missions and we are so excited to see where this organization will go and the people that it will reach for the sake of the Gospel. When you take a leap of faith, trust that God is going to provide. When we doubt, it gives the enemy an opportunity to put lies in your head. God bless and remember to Live Missions wherever you are.