The big news is finally here: Hannah and I have recently been accepted as Church Planting Missionaries with e3 Partners!
Before I get into the details, however, I want to point out that as Christians, we are all called to be missionaries; whether it’s across the street or around the world. It’s a command of Christ, not a man-made affair. How about some Scripture to back that up?
“Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!” – Psalm 96:3
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20
“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'” – Mark 16:15
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” – 1 Peter 3:15
In light of this truth, we recognize that even though we’ve been called to be missionaries in the conventional sense, we don’t lose sight of the fact that our ultimate role of being an ambassador of Christ has and always will remain.
Now… back to the matter at hand! If you’ve been following our blog for the past few months, you’ll have noticed that Hannah and I have been involved with the #NoPlaceLeft movement at our local church plant. To put it mildly, it has changed our lives forever. Seeing (and experiencing) how Biblical the movement is and how it intentionally carries out God’s Great Commission has completely transformed us. It’s made us rethink and reexamine how to “do” ministry, reach others, and disciple the next generation of leaders in the Church.
After coming to the realization that we were completely on-board with the movement, I decided to reach out to our top three prospective missions agencies about the possibility of being sent to Japan (where Hannah and I feel called long-term) after Seminary. The first one that I got a hold of was e3 Partners. Towards the end of a very fruitful initial conversation, I pointedly asked if they would support our call to reach the lost in Japan after I was done with Seminary. They answered an affirmed “absolutely.” At that point, I was asked a game-changing question: “Would you consider coming on board with e3 Partners NOW instead of waiting until after Seminary?”
They went on to point out that my intention was to pursue church planting while attending Seminary anyway, but by being SENT, Hannah and I would be able to fully invest in the ministry instead of being obligated to work jobs on the side (taking up our valuable free time)…
The more we discussed, the more I realized it was a win-win. Not only would we be in a better position to reach the lost in Denver, but we would gain valuable experience in preparation of reaching the lost in Japan once I finish seminary.
The two days following our conversation were ALL GOD. Hannah and I conversed, prayed, and we were able to establish a connection with the #NoPlaceLeft Denver team and even the #NoPlaceLeft Japan team! Our decision was clear; this was God’s calling. Over the next month or so, I went through the application process and was officially accepted as a “Church Planting Catalyst” on April 25th! As previously stated in our blog, we then attended a Support Raising Solutions Bootcamp in New Jersey, and have been in the process of raising support for about a month and a half, with a target date of reaching full support by August 28th!
If it hasn’t already been made clear by now, we are in need of ministry partners. The fact of the matter is we can’t be sent without people sending us. If you’d like to learn about how you can invest in this ministry, click on the SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY tab at the top of our page. If you’d like to get in touch with us personally, click on the CONTACT tab.
You can also view our ministry presentation with further details HERE.
Finally, we have updated other parts of our blog, so definitely feel free to explore!
– Aaron
teamloy 