My Story
While I will update "my story", I do not want to erase the story below.....it is still a part of my journey.
In late 2020 Amir felt God calling us back to the US. While I know Amir hears from God, I just didn't feel a release in my heart to stop partnering with El Ayudante and using my gifts to further their ministry. While we were in the US during Covid, I was able to do 90% of my job remotely from the US. God planted a seed in my heart that while He was calling us back to the US, He was not calling me away from my ministry with EA. He showed me clearly that I could work effectively from the states and continue as a missionary. Before Covid, this would have been unheard of, but like so many other industries, remote working is a very viable option. I am thrilled to continue my calling while Amir is obedient to what God is calling him to do. It is the optimum situation.
Our journey to becoming missionaries started in 2009. After attending a medical conference where he saw a presentation on mission work in Honduras, Amir felt a stirring in his spirit to go to Honduras. He didn't act on it at the time. About a year later, he ran a half marathon that was fund raising for wheelchairs to be sent to Honduras. He felt the stirring again, but again, didn't do anything specific to act on it.
In January 2011, we attended a wedding at a resort in Cancun, Mexico. While we were seated in the lobby listening to jazz, a couple asked if they could join us. We invited them to sit down and we started to chat. Not too far into the conversation we began to talk about our faith. The conversation quickly turned to mission work and they told us they had gone on medical mission trips to Honduras with their church in Illinois. Needless to say, we were taken off guard by the conversation! God reached us on vacation in Mexico and stirred Amir's heart once again. We exchanged contact information with the couple, our now good friends, Pat & Marcie Rogers.
We didn't immediately hear from them and Amir started to doubt the encounter. The day he voiced his doubt, the emails started pouring in from Marcie, her pastor and a missionary currently serving at the ministry that they served at! They decided to introduce Amir to their sister church in Orange County. They also serve at the same ministry and this way Amir could get to know his team members before going to Honduras. He signed up to go with them in July 2011. He spent a week serving on a medical missions brigade and came home on fire!
When he was describing the trip and his excitement to take me the next time to Marcie, she challenged him by saying she and her church were going back just a few months later in October and why didn't he come back and bring me with him. He accepted the challenge and 3 months later returned to Honduras with me. I can honestly say I didn't go because I had a desire. I went out of obedience to God and my husband. How could I deny the fire that God had lit in his spirit about this? I went with trepidation but God honored my obedience and I was blessed beyond measure by the trip.
We continued to serve for the next 4 years. Amir made 8 trips down to Honduras and I made 4. Amir continued to feel called but the timing didn't seem right. We continued to pray and seek God's will. Amir was definitely feeling called to a rural clinic where we could live in the community. We were introduced to El Ayundante and Amir began to research the ministry and pray. In October 2014, we visited El Ayudante on the tail end of our regular week of service. While visiting we felt it was the place but I still had a reservation.....I needed a purpose and to not be an "extra".
While meeting with the directors of El Ayundante, I shared my heart. They asked me what I "did". I explained that I was an accountant with administration skills. It was real quiet as they absorbed what I said. They then said that they had been praying for an administrator/finance person for six months and even had a job description they had prepared but had not felt released to post just yet. So here we sat with the only two open positions being medical provider and administrator. It was just the final confirmation that this was the ministry for us!
After filling out applications, interacting with the directors, interviewing with two board members and visiting the ministry for a week of service, we have formally been accepted as new missionaries to El Ayundate. We are now on our journey to make the transition to moving to Honduras! God is so faithful. The journey thus far has been full of confirmations and we are anticipating the rest of the journey as we will see God move in a mighty way. Thank you for following our journey with us!
In January 2011, we attended a wedding at a resort in Cancun, Mexico. While we were seated in the lobby listening to jazz, a couple asked if they could join us. We invited them to sit down and we started to chat. Not too far into the conversation we began to talk about our faith. The conversation quickly turned to mission work and they told us they had gone on medical mission trips to Honduras with their church in Illinois. Needless to say, we were taken off guard by the conversation! God reached us on vacation in Mexico and stirred Amir's heart once again. We exchanged contact information with the couple, our now good friends, Pat & Marcie Rogers.
We didn't immediately hear from them and Amir started to doubt the encounter. The day he voiced his doubt, the emails started pouring in from Marcie, her pastor and a missionary currently serving at the ministry that they served at! They decided to introduce Amir to their sister church in Orange County. They also serve at the same ministry and this way Amir could get to know his team members before going to Honduras. He signed up to go with them in July 2011. He spent a week serving on a medical missions brigade and came home on fire!
When he was describing the trip and his excitement to take me the next time to Marcie, she challenged him by saying she and her church were going back just a few months later in October and why didn't he come back and bring me with him. He accepted the challenge and 3 months later returned to Honduras with me. I can honestly say I didn't go because I had a desire. I went out of obedience to God and my husband. How could I deny the fire that God had lit in his spirit about this? I went with trepidation but God honored my obedience and I was blessed beyond measure by the trip.
We continued to serve for the next 4 years. Amir made 8 trips down to Honduras and I made 4. Amir continued to feel called but the timing didn't seem right. We continued to pray and seek God's will. Amir was definitely feeling called to a rural clinic where we could live in the community. We were introduced to El Ayundante and Amir began to research the ministry and pray. In October 2014, we visited El Ayudante on the tail end of our regular week of service. While visiting we felt it was the place but I still had a reservation.....I needed a purpose and to not be an "extra".
While meeting with the directors of El Ayundante, I shared my heart. They asked me what I "did". I explained that I was an accountant with administration skills. It was real quiet as they absorbed what I said. They then said that they had been praying for an administrator/finance person for six months and even had a job description they had prepared but had not felt released to post just yet. So here we sat with the only two open positions being medical provider and administrator. It was just the final confirmation that this was the ministry for us!
After filling out applications, interacting with the directors, interviewing with two board members and visiting the ministry for a week of service, we have formally been accepted as new missionaries to El Ayundate. We are now on our journey to make the transition to moving to Honduras! God is so faithful. The journey thus far has been full of confirmations and we are anticipating the rest of the journey as we will see God move in a mighty way. Thank you for following our journey with us!
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