New Beginnings
Here I am! Send me. 

As missionaries we are called to launch out into the deep, to journey into an unknown ocean, a sea of human need, in order to share the gospel with hurting people. In response to that call, and in addition to our overseas missions trips, our car has logged sixty thousand miles in the last two years. 

We have journeyed from Upstate New York to Florida, sharing the gospel of Jesus with the lost and encouraging churches in the areas of missions and evangelism. A frequent companion during our journeys has been the Reverend Billy Graham. 

We began listening to old messages from Graham’s crusades on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) app. Then we found more archived sermons and radio broadcasts on Amazon Music. These days we listen to a constant stream of America’s greatest evangelist on the Billy Graham Channel on Sirius XM. 

Many thousands of souls came to Christ during Graham’s ministry. Reflecting on this has caused us to pray together and individually, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ 

Beyond that daily prayer, our most common petition has been for the right team. Meeting so many amazing pastors and their staff has caused us to pray even more, that God would allow us to serve with a team.

The prayers of last winter gave way to spring. In April we traveled to Florida to lead worship during a BGEA Rapid Response Team training. As we listened during the sessions, we were stirred by what we heard. Responding to tornadoes, floods, and even shootings, the ‘ministry of presence’ is a key component to crisis chaplaincy. BGEA chaplain leaders shared stories of simply being there for hurting people during the hardest moments of their lives. 

As summer came we learned more about the BGEA crisis chaplaincy. Service is not based on ability. It is based on availability to the call of God. As we have continued to pray, we have been gripped by the vision of being there for people in crisis in the name of Christ.

After prayerful consideration, and in response to the leading of the Lord, we will be adding crisis-response chaplaincy to our mission! We are making ourselves available to the BGEA Rapid Response Team, and are ready to deploy to a disaster as volunteer chaplains. 

In this exciting transition some things will continue. We will still be traveling to encourage churches in missions and evangelism. Between our regular missions trips, church itineration, and chaplaincy deployment, our schedules will be full!

As we launch out into the deep, navigating a vast ocean of human need with the gospel of Jesus, we ask for your prayers. We also want to thank you for considering monthly support in this season of new beginnings for The Mission Hills!