About Us

 

About Us:

Katie received her graduate degree in Education from Ohio State University and has taught High School Chemistry and Physics in the States and in Tanzania and has been active in church leadership for a number of years. She has a heart for encouraging and supporting third-culture kids and for sharing her love of science with teenagers and desires to find herself back in the classroom.  

Michael received graduate degrees (MDiv and ThM) from Asbury Theological Seminary and has been active in leadership in various churches for a number of years. Following a career in technology research, he now desires to serve the church, with a heart for leaders with little access to resources and for localized expressions of worship among emerging church movements.

We have three kids who are in preschool, first grade and second grade. They are excited about moving to a new country and making new friends, though one is concerned about finding someone to help us learn the new language and another about flying in an airplane since he is afraid of heights.

Vision and Values:

Overall, we believe that life in the kingdom of God is better than life out of it and so we approach life, our local community and our local church from that perspective. We have sensed for many years that God was calling us to serve in another country and among people from another culture and we are excited that doors seem to be opening to do that.

Host country needs 

We are currently seeking to join a team serving in the Balkan countries of southeastern Europe. There are a variety of needs there, economic, vocational, social, and spiritual. We believe that God is already at work in that part of the world and our job will be to see what He is doing and the join Him in blessing the people there.

Why go? 

Throughout the Bible, God shows us that He has always been on a mission to bless the world and bring everyone into His kingdom. This is especially apparent starting in Genesis 12 when God tells Abraham that he will be a blessing to all peoples and culminates in Jesus’ command in Acts 1:8 and in the beautiful picture of all peoples worshiping together in heaven presented in Revelation 21. We love because God loved us first. We go because God came to us. And ultimately, we are trying to be obedient to the call of God on our lives to serve overseas. 

This going fits our personalities, our love for the global church, and our willingness to be bridge people between communities in different parts of the world. Both of us can trace evidence of this call on our lives, even from early ages. Katie wrote a paper about wanting to serve overseas when she was little. Mike always enjoyed food, movies and music from different cultures. These are just a few of the many signposts we believe God has placed throughout our lives, leading us to this point.

Why go with support? 

In an area of the world that is economically strained, we believe that the best way we can serve the local community is not to pull from local resources by taking an income from it. Rather, we will rely upon the prayer, social and financial support of those in parts of the world with better economies and more flexibility with their income. We also look to models in the early church that provided support to those they sent out to serve among other communities.

What about the needs here? 

Our efforts to go are not meant to be in competition with other efforts to serve locally. Our desire is to see everyone in the church to walk in obedience to whatever kind of service God is calling each of us to. When we work together as a body, all that God plans will be accomplished.

What will we do?

First, we will take time to learn the local language and culture of our host people. This will include finding language learning helpers, interacting with neighbors, and exploring our local community. We always go as learners, and this will be especially forefront when we first arrive. After establishing the family, we will seek to see where God is working in the community and join in those activities. We believe that God may use Katie's love of the classroom and provide space for her to serve at an international school that the kids will also attend. We also think that God may use Mike's training and experience in spiritual formation to encourage members of the local church and community to find abundant life in the kingdom of God through Jesus. 

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