“So as Psalm 34:3 says, ‘Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His Name together.'” It was no small thing that Adam added this verse to his wedding vow. If you were to rewind our lives you’d see God’s hand of guidance from the time we were very young children and we wanted to make sure that He received the praise and honor! There was the day that Adam’s parents enrolled him in the Royal Ambassadors program at their church, thus igniting in his heart what would become an unquenchable fire for missions. In 1997 my church’s Vacation Bible School taught how Jesus loved ALL the children through the entire world. Next came our unique salvation decisions at a basketball camp and after a funeral at the tender ages of nine and five. After that was my leap into children’s ministry at the age of sixteen. In our high school years, Jesus gave us each a call into full-time ministry, later clarifying that it was to the mission field that He called.  God pursued our hearts and minds with every fiber of Himself,  and in the same way a two-year-old craves independence, we pushed Him away. We each had “Jonah years” where we ran from God’s direction as the famous biblical character did. Fortunately, it didn’t take a giant fish to get our attention, but instead broken relationships and depression drew us back to His everlasting love, grace, and mercy.

When Adam and I met in 2013, we talked about our callings. Adam had already been to Parras de la Fuente three times by that point and had a vice grip placed on his heart for the people there. I wanted to go to New Zealand, they needed people for children’s ministry and they spoke English. I was even so brazen to say, “OK, God, I’ll be a missionary, as long as I don’t have to learn Spanish!” on the day that God called me. Adam and I started our courtship in June of 2013 and when August rolled around, we took our first trip together with our church group, to Parras. I fell in love…with Adam. It wasn’t until two weeks before our next trip that God broke my heart for the people of Mexico, all I wanted then was for them to know Jesus, whether Adam and I married or not. Adam proposed on that trip and we were married three months later on September 20th.

We continued to trek back to Parras for the next four years and wait for God to open doors for us to move down full-time. In January 2017, the Lord planted a huge sense of urgency in Adam’s heart. It was time to get our house in order. In October of that year we took a different trip to Parras, a house hunting, find-your-way-around, make contact with everyone we knew in town, kind of trip. When we got home, we met with our pastors, shared our plans, and continued to wait for God to open a door.

In December we received a phone call about a position that was coming available at the local children’s home in Parras. If we got the job, we would be dorm parents to the children, caring for their spiritual and emotional needs, as well as helping with homework, play time, and other physical needs. We would be open communication lines between the Mexican director of the home and the American board and team members that couldn’t always come down to see how things were going. We would be support staff to the Mexican directors assisting in any way that they needed, be it a listening ear or helping cook, clean-up, and with handy-man projects around the home. AND we would be able to participate in ranch ministry, reaching the villages outside of Parras with the gospel. We were excited by the fact that God had opened a door, and thrilled at the prospect of working with a ministry we had come to love so much! In March of 2018, we took our last short-term missions trip to the children’s home in Parras. The week we returned to the states, we went to a training where we learned effective ways to share the gospel, plant churches, and disciple others. It was during this training that we received word that we had the job at the Vida Nueva Nueva Esperanza (New Life New Hope) Children’s Home!

God has been so gracious to allow us the opportunity of a lifetime! We are so excited that we are able to go serve Him at Vida Nueva and are delighted and grateful that you are a part of our team of encouragers, supporters, and prayer warriors. Please feel free to visit the contact page and update us on your life so that we can be the same for you! As the psalmist says, “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His Name together!”