Saying Goodbye

After two full days of moving and one day of R&R, it has finally set in that we are in the Twin Cities for the long run. While this is where both Chelsea and I have always considered to be our true home and saw ourselves starting a family, saying goodbye to Epikos and the friends we had made in Milwaukee was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do together. While neither of us thought it to be possible, the people who God put into our lives in Milwaukee made us feel truly loved and at home. We were blessed to be able to see nearly everyone who made an impact on our lives over the past four years in this final week, and with every meeting, a new flood of happy Milwaukee memories came. Thank you all for loving us with the love of Christ and allowing God to work through you to grow our trust in His plans for us. I wouldn’t trade my time in Milwaukee for the world.

On my final day at work in Milwaukee, a sister in Christ reminded that no goodbye between fellow followers of Christ is truly a goodbye. We will indeed all see each other again whether it is in this life or in eternity with our God. This thought made moving away easier, as it reminded me that God will still be at work in the lives of my friends in Milwaukee, and Epikos will never be abandoned by our God until He brings us all to our true home with Him. I think many of us, and especially myself, become worried by change and become anxious with the thought of all the things that could go wrong without our help. Sinful pride is at the base of this anxiety, as it assumes we had anything to do with any success to begin with. Reminding myself that the same God who works in Chelsea and myself is working in all believers at Epikos is a humbling and encouraging thought. It would be foolish to doubt that I will continue to hear success stories from Milwaukee as the church continues to grow and bring new believers into God’s family. I pray that God will rise up new leaders equipped to fill needs and shepherd His flock. I know He will.

Pray that God would lead us in all aspects of our lives in Minnesota as we seek to follow Him and represent Him truly and faithfully. Pray that God would bring us to a church where our gifts, time, and money can be used to expand His Kingdom and glory. I am excited to see how God will answer our prayers and grow our trust in Him as the next period of our life begins.

One final note: thank you all for your amazing generosity in stewarding God’s resources to aid us in our call to France. We are just under our support-raising goal, and have been humbled once again by God’s work throughout this process. It is now time to start directing our hearts and minds to the campers in France, as we are only a week away from our trip. Know that God has answered prayer regarding the video workshop I will be heading up, and I will be working on fleshing out further story ideas today.

Thank you and God bless,
David (and Chelsea)