Most of you know the saying...or some variation of it. "Whenever God closes a door, He opens a window". Well, that in a nutshell is how our God journey began.
Ben and I had been renting a duplex since we got married. When our daughter was about 2 months old, we got notice from our landlords that they were putting our unit up for sale. We were pretty shell shocked by this news. Our initial plan had never been to stay in the Mid-Missouri area long. However, by-in-large, both of our families live in Missouri. With our new baby and plans to continue growing our little family of three, we dove head first into the craziest housing market we have ever seen. We house hunted and house hunted....and house hunted. We put offers in on a few properties with nothing coming to fruition. Finally, we found a cute little fixer upper with good bones. We put in an offer and it was accepted! We were elated to be under contract for our first home! The inspection was passing with flying colors. I was planning interior and exterior home designs. Then the hammer fell. The sewer inspection was a GIGANTIC fail. Essentially, the entire sewer system was complete poop (pun intended). It was going to be in the ballpark of twenty-thousand dollars to fix. We thought surely the home owners would negotiate price? No dice. With our current home officially sold and us needing to be moved out in a few short weeks, we walked away from the house that we thought we were moving into. Thankfully, all of our parents are amazing and helped us to navigate through our housing debacle.
Doors Closed.
Simultaneous to our house hunt, Ben was on the job hunt. His job was contracted and we had no idea if the contract would be renewed for the following year. There were several good leads. Over and over he made it to the final interview. None of them ended with a job offer for us. Fortunately, Ben's contract was extended and God has provided an income until we leave in January.
Doors Closed.
In the midst of all that chaos, Ben had reconnected with an old friend who serves on the mission field with the International Sports Federation (ISF). This is usually where I ask Ben to take over telling our story. I'll try to make it concise. The long and short of it is that Ben and I started prayerfully discussing entering the mission field. I wish I could say that when God knocked I was ready and willing, but that wasn't entirely the case. It's not that I was unwilling....I just wanted to pump the brakes on a train that was quickly gaining momentum. We had several meetings with Ben's friend and the director of ISF. We figured we would have a rigorous application period. We wondered if they would even allow us to partner with them? We couldn't have been more wrong. We were welcomed with open arms and asked where we wanted to go. We were baffled....and speechless. Only after reassurances that we would not be air-dropped into the middle of nowhere with our new baby did I finally let God's peace wash over me.
Windows opened.
We are partnering with the International Sports Federation and will embark for Cape Town, South Africa on January 19, 2022. There we will be working with those living in abject poverty. After our 3 months in Cape Town, we will come home for 3 weeks and regroup. After that we leave for Athens, Greece. We will be in Athens for 3 months where we will work with forcibly displaced refugees. If funds allow, we have been invited to visit other European contexts in the summer of 2022.
We have met our first fundraising goal of raising $5,000.00 by 9/1/2021! Praise God for that! We encourage you to check out our sister site Herricksonmission.com to donate. This is where you will be able to give a monetary gift that will allow us to go and serve on the ground in these communities. All donations are 100% tax deductible.
Our next fundraising goal is $15,000.00 by October 1, 2021. Let's keep the momentum going!!!
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your generosity! Love and Blessings to each of you.
~Paige