What an interesting journey God has been guiding us on the last year.   On April 5th,2013 the show, “Contents May Have Shifted,” opened in the Gallery 2 of the Harrison Center for the Arts.  The artist is Berenice Rarig.  She and her husband Steve serve as missionaries with Mission to the World in Perth, Australia.  They were in Indianapolis at Redeemer and the Harrison Center for a 6 week Artist and Missionary Residency.  Our family had the Rarigs to our house a few times before the show opening to hear about the work that God was doing in Australia.  We were also sharing with them how God had been preparing us for the last 5 years for Church Planting through a Timothy Apprentice Program at Redeemer Indy.  It was clear that are hearts were captured by the Rarigs and their stories of God’s work and the deep need in Australia.

Shannon was also working on a show for the Main Gallery for the month of April,so she and Berenice spent many hours together before the opening.  They shared stories and life together those few weeks leading up to April 5th.  Shannon and I were also preparing for one of the final steps in our Timothy Apprentice Program, MNA’s Church Planting Assessment Center.  As we were getting ready to leave the Rarigs asked if they could help us de-brief when we arrived back from the assessment and for us to consider planting churches in Perth.  We said yes to both and began to pray about what God could possibly be doing.

Shannon and I felt like we where going to plant a church through Redeemer in Indianapolis but wanted to be open to anything.  It was not easy to get to this openness (we would love to talk with you about the glorious deconstruction and construction of God’s Gospel and Grace), but God used our time at the Assessment Center to stir us toward a call to be missionaries with Steve and Berenice in Australia.

So, having just been recommended by MNA to plant churches in North America we began the process of becoming missionaries with MTW.  This started with a Vision Trip (most of the blogs so far have been from that period).  This was amazing as God confirmed that He was wanting us to join the work in Australia.  In January we attend Readiness Evaluation.  This was one of the hardest and fulfilling weeks of our lives.  We were blessed to be approved to move forward toward LAUNCH.

Just a few weeks ago we were made official at LAUNCH and our now MTW missionaries to Australia.  The Contents of our Lives have surely shifted.  But they have shifted exactly where God had determine them to be.

For everyone who has been on this journey with us we can not thank you enough for your prayers and support.  For those of you who will continue to partner with us through prayer and finances we are overjoyed to have you with us on this incredible journey.