Howdy and glad to be here -- our little journey to the Euro-missions

Gospels Teacher said:

Howdy there everyone! Not a massive amount of excitement in our mission work yet and it'll be likely a good year before our big trip over, but they want the newer Europe-bound missionaries to provide a little intro here well before we do our little Atlantic crossing so I suppose, here we are. We're a down-home Southern country family with connections to a few states down around here but mostly Tennessee and the Carolinas, like it sounds a lot of you we got fascinated by the growing missions to help restore and strengthen the churches in the lands of our ancestors and linked up with a group sending missions to areas where they're needed. Curiously enough through a happy series of accidents and the Lord's guidance, we've wound up on an assignment in the Belgium-France border region where we'll be working on major church restoration tasks and teaming up for conversion and worship support work. And like with most of you this is our new, permanent home and re-location, as we're bringing our 2 kids along who are just as if not more eager to pitch in!

Happily the kiddos at that age have minds like sponges when it comes to languages and our younger one soaked up French and some Flemish like a snap, our older one is also learning it fast so my wife and me I guess you could say are the laggards. But we're persevering through! Since it sounds like this question comes up a lot and to inspire others of you looking at this mission option, we don't come from the categories usually associated with easy getting the citizenship there, no direct ancestry to get a passport or one of those high skilled professions usually brought up. Our ancestry is mostly Irish, Welsh, English, Scottish and German but going way back a couple centuries before they had records we could use, and my family is basically solid, middle and working-class backcountry folk. But our devotion was clear to the group and they found a way to use our skills and interests--masonry, contracting and innkeeping all good routes to get the options to settle and team up with missions there. (And doesn't hurt that we're in the process of selling our house before looks like the market really drops off for it, though one of the families who reached out to us weren't even homeowners before they made the leap) So if you want to do mission work you'll find a way! As it's said in Galatians 6:9, one of my group's go-to messages on the topic:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
So the very best of luck to all of you and to any others looking to start their missions, heed those words and you shall indeed reap a happy harvest!

Click to expand...

Gospels Teacher said:

Howdy there everyone! Not a massive amount of excitement in our mission work yet and it'll be likely a good year before our big trip over, but they want the newer Europe-bound missionaries to provide a little intro here well before we do our little Atlantic crossing so I suppose, here we are. We're a down-home Southern country family with connections to a few states down around here but mostly Tennessee and the Carolinas, like it sounds a lot of you we got fascinated by the growing missions to help restore and strengthen the churches in the lands of our ancestors and linked up with a group sending missions to areas where they're needed. Curiously enough through a happy series of accidents and the Lord's guidance, we've wound up on an assignment in the Belgium-France border region where we'll be working on major church restoration tasks and teaming up for conversion and worship support work. And like with most of you this is our new, permanent home and re-location, as we're bringing our 2 kids along who are just as if not more eager to pitch in!

Happily the kiddos at that age have minds like sponges when it comes to languages and our younger one soaked up French and some Flemish like a snap, our older one is also learning it fast so my wife and me I guess you could say are the laggards. But we're persevering through! Since it sounds like this question comes up a lot and to inspire others of you looking at this mission option, we don't come from the categories usually associated with easy getting the citizenship there, no direct ancestry to get a passport or one of those high skilled professions usually brought up. Our ancestry is mostly Irish, Welsh, English, Scottish and German but going way back a couple centuries before they had records we could use, and my family is basically solid, middle and working-class backcountry folk. But our devotion was clear to the group and they found a way to use our skills and interests--masonry, contracting and innkeeping all good routes to get the options to settle and team up with missions there. (And doesn't hurt that we're in the process of selling our house before looks like the market really drops off for it, though one of the families who reached out to us weren't even homeowners before they made the leap) So if you want to do mission work you'll find a way! As it's said in Galatians 6:9, one of my group's go-to messages on the topic:
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
So the very best of luck to all of you and to any others looking to start their missions, heed those words and you shall indeed reap a happy harvest!

Click to expand...