Here we are.

It seems like everyone went back to school today. But of course it seems that way, it's the first day of school. My brother started high school today. One of my best friends went back to school as a teacher this year. Even my dad is in school.

We are not in school. We are not working. Instead, Jeremy and I are sleeping on a mattress in the floor of my old room. Pink carpet, yellow and blue walls, and purple curtains. The room now doubles as mom's office. We're sharing a bathroom with Joe. Not exactly where I thought we would be right now.

I thought we would be on our way to Spain. I thought we would be saying our final goodbyes.
Instead, we have 30% left of our budget to raise.

We have completed our required training and then some. We are continuing to meet with our funding coach. We are still booking churches until mid-October. At this time I refuse to schedule churches for any later. If you ask me, I'll tell you that we are going to be in Spain by October 31st.

I have faith. I have faith that we'll be fully funded in the next month. I have faith that as God has called us to this, He will provide for us. Not only will He provide for us, but He will provide for those who send us. 

We went to Friedberg yesterday, and were incredibly encouraged by the support we received. It is good to be home. But, I would be lying if I said this is where I want to be. I want to be in Spain.

Each presentation we give, we end with this passage from Romans 10 (the Message):
But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? 

The people of Spain need to hear the Good News. We are called to go, but we must be sent.

Three Things Thursday: Orientation, Church Visit & Newsletters

One: Orientation was great! We spent two days with eight other missionary candidates learning more about OMS and getting to know each other. Most of the time was spend going over our Birkman tests and discovering how our personalities will effect us in our ministry on and off the field.  It was  also interesting to see how Jeremy and I work together according to our results. While I tend to be a "let's go" leader, Jeremy is a "let's be careful." So, while I am pulling us ahead, Jeremy is making sure everything is done well. I guess we are a good complement for each other!
It was a great time to spend with each other and the other candidates as we continue to work on raising our support.

Two: We drove up to Salem EMC in Salem, VA early Sunday morning. The congregation  graciously welcomed us to share the story of our call to Spain. We are so thankful for those who gave and supported this ministry. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Orientation group with Dr. & Mrs. Wesley Duewel

Three: Newsletters! If you are interested in receiving our newsletter please click the page above to sign up! We hope to send these out regularly to keep everyone updated on our progress. We will keep an archive of past newsletters so that you can catch up if you missed anything! I promise not to spam you or send you an inordinate number of chain emails.

Our needs...His Glorious Riches

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

- Philippians 4:19-20

We are just in the beginning stages of fundraising for our ministry but already we are seeing how God is opening doors of opportunity. God is demonstrating His faithfulness as we begin to make calls and contact friends, family and churches to share our story and calling. 

He has already shown us how He will provide by giving us our very first monthly supporters last week. We had not even planned to present our story that night but because He is good, the opportunity was given. We sat across the table from a couple who had "adopted" us while Jeremy was  a youth pastor. They have consistently opened themselves up to us as friends and mentors. They are two of the most giving people I know and we are so grateful for the way they have promised to support this ministry. 

I have been sitting here filling in dates that have already been booked at churches I know and ones I don't. As I see our calender already filling up, I can't help but become overwhelmed. Not overwhelmed with stress or anxiety but with gratitude and thankfulness knowing that God has already prepared the hearts of those who will hear our story. 

Long before this calling was revealed to me or to Jeremy, God knew. He knew the needs we will have and the goals we will need to reach. He knows the exact dollar amount that we will need so that we can be on the field. As big this challenge as it may seem to us, God is bigger. He has a plan as to how we will meet this goal and He is making the way for us to meet it.  I have faith that the right people, at the right time will feel lead to support the ministry God called us be a part of. 

It has become clear to me how important it is for people to realize who they are really supporting when they pledge to our ministry. They are not giving money to us each month. They are not giving money to One Mission Society each month. No, instead the individuals, couples and families who will financially partner with us are giving to God. The money that we receive is a gift from God. You give to God and God gives to us. 

Thank you to those who are praying for us. Thank you to those who have supported us along the way. And thank you to those who will give to God as He gives to us in this ministry.We are blessed to be called to this specific ministry just as each Christian is blessed to be called to his or her own specific ministry. 

...I go to Spain.

Learning and growing in our calling has been a process. It has been a process of learning to sacrifice, learning to trust God and each other, and learning to stop and listen. It has also been a process of growing as a couple, growing as students, and growing in Christ. 

As we reached the point where we knew God had called us into overseas missionary service, that was where the real seeking began. We had to wait for God to present the place. We looked at Great Britain, Colombia, and Ireland, but the doors continued to close. God laid a burden on our heart for Spain, but, as we have learned, we have been burdened for the lost in other places as well, so we could not take this as confirmation, but as another avenue to seek an opening.

Through the next couple of months, we received confirming moments and began to set our hearts on this place. The confirmation that I truly needed came through a desire to read God's Word while I was at work on September 14, 2012. I was flipping through the Bible, not really sure what I was seeking, but just knowing that God had prepared something for me. In my turning, I stopped and began to read.


"But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain." Romans 15:23-24 


There it was, simply laid before me. I have read through the Bible cover to cover several times, and generally a passage like this would be one I would read and move on. I know this little bit of Scripture doesn't seem like much, but it was to me. I have been involved in some form of ministry for a few years now (although as Christians, we are all in ministry). For a few years, I was a youth pastor. Since then, I have served as an Admissions Director for a Christian University, giving me more opportunities to reach out to people than I could have asked for. 

I have loved the time I have served in ministry here, and I have met so many amazing people who have been of great encouragement in this calling pursuit. Now, God has called my wife and I to a new ministry - a ministry to a population that is starving for, while also resisting, the Gospel. Check out this article to see just how resistant Spain truly is. A population where most consider themselves Catholic, yet only 10% regularly attend a worship service. As I've mentioned before, 47 million people live in Spain, yet less than 1% claim to be evangelical Christians. Spain has some tough soil to plant on.

Anyways, back to the passage. While there is much work left to do here, God is revealing that this is not where He wants us to stay. So here we go, we're moving on to Spain. 

Sadly, I know that we have not seen many of you who read this blog in some time. We hope to do that as we continue through the process. We want to visit you, we want to talk with you, we want your prayers and support, and we want to build our relationships here. I am learning, as I speak with veteran missionaries, that our relationships with you will be more and more important while we are on the field.

If you have not already, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter. We'll start sending out regular newsletters soon, and we want to make sure we are sending information to the right address and email. Also, our OMS profile page is now live, so check that out. 

As always, thank you for your prayers and support. Mel and I are trying to open ourselves up as much as possible for God to use us freely. We'll both be finishing school a semester early, so that is requiring more work in a shorter amount of time. We'll be starting Spanish language training soon and scheduling appointments to develop partners for ministry. It's going to be a busy year as we hope to be on the field early fall 2013, but God is faithful. 

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of a small baptism service that just happened Tuesday where a lady named Veronika wanted to profess her faith through baptism after a Sunday morning invitation. This happened as a result of one of the house churches that were planted by the team in Spain. As Mel said in her last post, it is great knowing our assignment (Vision Sierra Oeste church planting team), and knowing that efforts already established are working.

Weekly Update #2- Funding Class Cont.

The past week of OMS training/prep in list form:

1) Week two of funding class. Everything is great!
2) We have officially received our assignment to Spain!
3) Our status has been changed from Extreme Walk missionaries to career missionaries.
4) Our profile is up on the OMS website.
5) I have had one meeting with the Spain team for the trip in October and have one this Friday.

Prayer Requests:

1) Time management as we balance work, school and OMS work.
2) That the preparation for October's trip continues to go well.

Weekly Update #1- Funding Class

Each week as we prepare for Spain I plan to post a quick update about where we are in the process and how things are going. Please check back to keep up with us! 

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" 
-2 Corinthians 9:8

Jeremy and I started our fundraising class today. This class will prepare us to reach out to potential supporters and be fully funded in (ideally) nine months. We are excited for this class because not only are we going to learn the best way to raise support but we will also be connected with one other missionary couple and three single missionaries. The seven of us will be journeying through our fundraising and preparation together.  

The class is three weeks long, meeting for an hour and half, four days a week. Additionally, there is reading and prep work to be done outside of our meeting times. We know that this class will be extremely beneficial but we also know that it will require many hours over the next few weeks. But this is only a taste of the busy times that are to come as we continue to prepare. 

We are already so thankful for the support of One Mission Society. We are so excited to connect with other new missionaries. We are so excited for the support we have already received from friends and family. We are so blessed to have friends and family who are as excited about our calling as we are. 

As I look ahead to what God holds for us I am not scared. I'm certain there will be days I am frustrated or even discouraged but I am declaring now that I will not let fear become an obstacle in our preparation. 

Prayer Requests-
That God will continue to guide our steps.
Time management as we work through this class as well as work and homework for school. 

Our Purpose and Our Passion

“I set myself on fire, and people come to see me burn.” – John Wesley

This quote has come to my mind a lot recently. When I think about it, my immediate mental interpretation is that I would certainly run to the person on fire, but I would probably bring a hose. It’s not a statement that you generally hear someone say, but this was Wesley’s response to a question about why such large crowds of people would travel for miles to hear him preach.

Wesley had lived much of his life clinging to an outward Christianity - the Christianity where the works you did were the focus. He said that he hoped to be considered a good Christian by following three basic principles: “(1) Not being so bad as other people, (2) Having still a kindness for religion, and (3) Reading the Bible, going to church, and saying my prayers.” To have an enthusiastic passion for Christ was a distant concept, because salvation came largely from the works you did.

Mel and I came together with two separate thoughts of how our lives would go, but through the process of becoming one flesh, we have spent time with God trying to find our combined purpose. This quote comes to mind because at times it has been difficult for me to find the burning passion of following Christ. I have been in ministry for a few years, and in that time, I have had highs and lows, but I don’t feel that anyone ever rushed to watch me burn. Until recently, I still had this feeling that the spark was missing from my relationship with God.

On a recent trip to Medellin, Colombia, I found my passion. In an individual prayer time, I had to break away from my wife so that God could speak to me individually. As many of you know, Mel has had a passion for missionary work since she was 15 years old, and our marriage had left both of us confused about the calling on our lives. I was resisting the combining of our gifts and abilities and Mel had times where she wondered if her calling was lost or misunderstood.

I realized during this prayer time that I need to quit being resistant and just be open to His leading, so I asked – “God, what do you want for us to do?” And then the answer came – “Go.” I’ll be the first to say that God doesn't speak audibly much, but I think sometimes it takes a life changing moment for Him to clear His throat. In that moment, I found my passion. In that moment, I found the burning desire to follow Christ with all that I have. In that moment, I found hope and a purpose.

After much prayer and conversation, Mel and I took this message and redirected our path. Questions began to surface – Where? When? What organization should we go with? How long? What about our friends and family? – but these questions seemed minor in light of God’s plan. If He has told us to go, then he’ll reveal the path to get there.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

A couple of weeks ago, Mel and I went to Indiana to interview with One Mission Society. We had been working through the application process for several months and had finally reached this pivotal point. We spent a day getting to know the inner workings of OMS and the expectations placed on us as missionaries. We met people from different offices and learned more about the philosophy of ministry that One Mission Society has had for over 100 years. Today, we received a phone call notifying us that we were approved as Missionaries with One Mission Society!

Over the last few months, God has laid Spain upon our hearts. This is the country where we feel that God is calling us to serve. 1% of the population of Spain consider themselves Evangelical Christians. 1% of 46 million people… and this is where faith comes into play. How exactly does around 500 thousand people reach out to over 45 million others with the Gospel of Christ? “I set myself on fire, and people come to see me burn.” The Gospel of Christ is attractive if there are followers that are serving Him passionately. I want to be one of those followers, and I believe that passion comes from purpose. With Christ, we all have a purpose, and I’m excited that Mel and I have reached the point of understanding that purpose.

More updates will follow, and I believe Mel will be posting something really soon. If you have any questions about the process or any questions for us, feel free to post a comment or to email me at reese.jdr@gmail.com.