“Why aren’t you doing this full time?”
Hi all! I’m Nate and I will occasionally pop on here to write a blog when it feels right (when Rox tells me to). You might also recognize it’s me and not Rox because I use capitalized letters and punctuation appropriately. Anyway, you may be wondering how we got here, here’s some background!
In January of 2020 we started praying for our future. We were happy in NYC and were enjoying our lifestyle, our friends, and the city, but we felt a tug on our hearts that we couldn’t explain. As we began to pray, it was obvious to both of us that Brazil was on our hearts. However, in January, I had just begun my busy season. Busy season as a CPA in NYC is no time to make any lifestyle changes. In fact, it’s our rule that you can’t make any big life decisions while in busy season. Life is so miserable oftentimes people make stupid decisions just to get out of doing the never ending work of a public accountant.
Because we both felt the tug of the Amazon, we agreed, “yes, God, we will, one day.. not now.” In February of 2020 I was on the Ray of Hope Board Meeting when my old youth Pastor, now campus Pastor at Grace Church, Chris Fetters asked why Rox and I weren’t in Brazil doing this work full time. I half jokingly said, “Why don’t you send us and we will!” He said, “Okay!” and began working with church leadership to create a program for us. We felt like things were moving quickly and we wanted to take a step back before committing to changing our entire life! The truth is we were comfortable and happy in NYC and didn’t feel ready to leave our first home and our friends. We fasted and prayed and it became clear what God wanted for our life was no longer lining up with what we wanted for our life. We ended our fast by agreeing with God that if Brazil is what He wanted for our lives, we would listen, but if it wasn’t to shut doors and lead us where He wanted us to go.
In March of 2020 COVID-19 hit and it felt like the biggest door that could shut, did. Even international borders shut, so we said, “Okay, God we hear you! If not Brazil, what?!” Because the borders to Brazil closed, no scheduled mission trips through Ray of Hope could go in 2020. Ray of Hope’s support mainly comes from the mission trips that run over the summer. When COVID hit, it became clear this would affect Ray of Hope in a big way. The more we prayed about it, the more we could see COVID was not a door shutting on our mission work in Brazil, but rather the biggest plea for help that we felt urged to answer.
Quarantining in NYC was a bizarre experience. Although this time was incredibly difficult for so many families, it changed our lives. For the first time we slowed down, and had a lot more time to spend with each other and Jesus. I’m thankful for this extra time because God used it and transformed in our minds the importance of this life and what He wants us to do with it. I began the interviewing process with Grace Church in June of 2020. Before that process was over, Rox and I were on a mission to get to Brazil. Whether Grace Church was going to partner with us or not, we knew our time in NYC was over and it was time to prepare to be full time missionaries in the Amazon! Before I knew that I got the position at Grace Church, we packed up our little 500 square foot apartment and shipped everything we owned to Kansas City (where Grace Church is) and prayed they would accept us. On the day before we moved out of NYC (still not sure where we would end up) Rox and I walked around our favorite park that we spent so much time together in our first 2 years of marriage. We prayed for a sign that the path we were on was the right one, because walking through this park and our first neighborhood to say goodbye had us feeling gutted. It was at the moment I got the call from Grace Church about being accepted into their program and they would be our sending church. God’s timing is perfect!
We spent some much needed time with family in Colorado before we moved to Kansas City in September of 2020 to begin the residency program with Grace Church. For the next 6ish months we are preparing, working, and raising support to be as successful as we can be in the Amazon. We are currently praying through a late spring or early summer 2021 move date.
We could not be happier and more excited in this new phase of life! God has been so good and I couldn’t be happier to be experiencing this life through Him. If you have any questions for us head over to the contact page and let us know!
