Missionary work is inevitably future-focused. The Great Commission involves accepting hardship – at times, simply incredible degrees of sacrifice! – in order to see churches planted and unreached peoples brought to Christ. Day-to-day ministry is often tough and discouraging, much of one’s effort is unseen and unlauded, and at times it all seems endless. Very few would choose to live the daily life of a remote church planter for its own sake; the worker’s eyes must be fixed on Jesus and His own broader aims rather than any hope of real-time returns.
This principle is not unique to missions in the Christian life. Oswald Chambers preached (as quoted in My Utmost for His Highest) that “the height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God.” So, although ‘mountaintop experiences’ such as mass baptisms and New Testament dedications do sometimes come in church planting, they never suffice as motivation for a worker to remain in faithful service over the long haul necessary to see lasting, generational change.
The suffering and sacrifice faced by Jesus in His earthly ministry are unmatched in human experience – and His motivations for persevering through to the end inform our own. Jesus unquestionably came out of obedience to His Father’s will (John 10:17-18), yet His sights were also set (Hebrews 12:2) on a future joy which made the shame and agony of Calvary worth it all. Scripture overflows with descriptions of Jesus’ love for His Bride, from the extreme of laying down His life to pouring out love on those yet His enemies… but one of my favorites is simply begun by Paul in Ephesians 5:25 (CSB): “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her.”
Church planting is worth the effort because of the ultimate reward. Like Jesus, every Christian participating in the Great Commission seeks to obey the Father’s will… and pictures the future Bride of Christ, arriving in purity and splendor for the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9, 21:9-10). Every wedding we celebrate here in this life illustrates for us in small measure the grand, indescribable joy and rejoicing which that incomparable Day will bring… and helps us comprehend just how very worthwhile all our labor toward that end actually is. As Paul writes in Galatians 6:9 (CSB): “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.”
As the new year began, our good friends Luke and Tina Griffin visited with their family – encouraging us, and getting a chance to see our missions context up close. Titus started playing baseball with a local training team, and our house finally had a pressurized water system installed! Jordan received worldview analysis training alongside our e2 Spanish language/culture consulting team, and had to work through an IT emergency prompted by a change in the Microsoft software licenses available to our organization internationally.
In February, Jordan became a regular member of our church’s worship team. Our family celebrated the Seahawks’ Super Bowl championship, and our Admin Office team welcomed Ryan Kurvits (from the Nahuatl church planting team) into the mix as he took on the field’s Personnel role. Also, the CAM team on which Jordan serves began a process of self-reorganization. The goal is to serve Ethnos México’s support departments as consultants, in parallel fashion to how the field provides consulting for its church planting teams.
Serious preparation for upcoming summer travel began in March – more on that below! Jordan taught a pronunciation orientation module for our newest missionary family, and solved a disappearing files issue in our new Microsoft Teams setup which had plagued our transition for several months. Then, along with the rest of the e2 consultant team, he guided and analyzed a quintet of evaluations for learners at the six month mark in their language and culture study cycle.
April kicked off with our dear friends, Emily and Julian, getting married in front of friends and family from around the world. CONGRATULATIONS, you guys! Lily was so stoked to be with one of her favorite teachers of all time on her big day. Our family headed up to El Paso for several days to rest and work on non-ministry projects while Elayne made a short visit to Washington State. We made official arrangements for a new office manager to replace Jordan in that role this fall, and Jordan continues gearing up for co-teaching a Child Safety course in Spanish at our missionary training center beginning next week.
Next month, our family will attend Ethnos México’s biannual field conferences – more on those in a future update! – and then it will be on to our summer home assignment! After our summer on the road in 2025, we are looking forward to a simpler (and lower mileage!) visit to Washington State. We will spend several weeks in June with friends and family in Eastern Washington, culminating in our niece Noël’s wedding to fiance (and all-around cool guy) Caleb. Afterward, we’ll head over to Western Washington… taking in the sights from a distinctly different perspective, as Jordan’s parents and sister are in the process of moving northward from the Bellevue area up toward Bellingham. Come August, we’ll (Lord willing!) be back on the road toward Chihuahua and the ministry God has for us here during Elayne’s senior year of high school.
Our summer plan is to spend one Sunday at each of our partner churches in Washington, and share at others in the remaining weeks – so keep an eye out for us! We’ll share a calendar for that as we put it together… and would be incredibly grateful for those of you with advocate’s hearts who might connect us with churches and families desiring to partner with cross-cultural missionaries. Please pray that our time Stateside is refreshing to those with whom we interact – that we make clear the Lord’s heart for the unreached, and not least among them those who live in México. May He use us to inspire the next generation of missionaries and those who will partner with them to see the Gospel proclaimed among those with no previous access to His Good News.
For Prayer:
- Please keep the Nahuatl church, community, and church planting team in prayer. The village of Las Moras remains occupied and the people dispersed. Pray that the Lord establish the people in the places He has for them, for the growth of the believers in this time where the church is scattered, and for His encouragement and guidance for those members of the Nahuatl team who are seeking His will for their future areas of ministry.
- Pray for the elementary student Amy is helping in her ESL ministry. That student has made progress this year, and continues working hard to be ready for the demands of next year’s grade level.
- Thank you for keeping our summer travel plans before the Lord – we ask for safe travel, effective service in missions education as we share, and a strengthened support team for our family’s ministry in México.
- We do ask for your continued prayer regarding general family health – Amy’s sleep/energy, Joel’s chronic pain, and intermittent recurring issues for all.
- Ask God to provide the right people to serve in specific needed ministry roles on the field of Ethnos México, including a new IT Coordinator and coworkers for several of our remote church planting teams.
There is also a particular need for teachers at our field MK school – serving the children of missionary families so their parents can focus more fully on their areas of ministry. If you’d like to learn more about this need, please check out the school’s ‘Help Wanted’ flier!
Thank you for your report. I appreciate being kept in the loop, while down here in Durango. May the Lord meet your every need, locally and while traveling northward.