Hello all!
Matt and I have some big news that we would like to share with you now that things are moving forward with it a bit.
We have recently (2ish months ago) decided to seriously pursue moving overseas to do missions work. We both feel that we do not want to be comfortable, and would like to use the gifts that God has given us to minister to those who haven't had the chance to hear the Gospel, or help in the process of acceptance.
As of right now, we have no idea what country we want to go to-that is one thing that we are indifferent on. We just know that we want to reach the unreached, and he would love to use his gift of teaching (science, math, etc) and do some one on one discipleship, and I would love to work with special needs children, specifically the severely multiply impaired and babies.
We have just sent in our first round of applications to Serving in Mission (SIM) based in North Carolina. If our applications check out, our next step would be to go to North Carolina for a 4-day interview that involves consulting with a whole bunch of different departments there to make sure that we are a good fit for SIM, and vice versa.
SIM was originally known as Sudan Interior Mission, and they initially went in to Sudan at a time when the world said that Sudan was "unreachable". Now, they have expanded across the borders of Sudan into the world, and do "a lot of different things with a lot of different people in a lot of different places". This is one thing that Matt and I love about SIM. They aren't an organization focused on one area of outreach (i.e. medical, education), but instead they respond to the needs that are encountered in country.
We are so excited about this next step in our lives--as God is bringing us together as one through marriage, and we know that God will use and bless us through each other if we keep Him at the center of our marriage.
Don't worry though, we aren't leaving September 22 :)
This would be, at the earliest, next fall.
The one thing that we can ask for now is prayers for peace and for discernment if things continue to go forward with SIM. This can be a very lengthy process, and if things go well, there will obviously be a big need for fundraising. We both feel at peace about this right now, but I know from experience that that feeling often comes and goes.
Thanks for supporting Matt and I in our marriage, and what's to come afterwards! We love you all! :)
--Matt & Rachel
