Maturing in our faith is a communal effort. Most realize this, but it is not always easy to implement this in our lives. We want to experience God’s grace, freely and overwhelmingly given, and sense that we can do so more together than individually, yet don’t always know the best way to pursue this. This Sunday, we’ll take a small step in that direction, simply by having a guest preacher in our midst, a new voice addressing our hearts. I have known Dan and his family for over two decades, and I’m excited to hear God’s Word proclaimed by him this Sunday. Bio follows…
Dan and Courtney met during their years studying engineering at Geneva College. As they often do, opposites attract, and the outgoing, carefree young man couldn’t believe the quiet and beautiful bookworm even gave him a second look!
Shortly after their wedding in 2004 (the good Rev. Henry Knapp presiding…) Dan and Courtney discerned the Lord pointing them in a different direction than they had envisioned. Embodying what they have since described as the backwards American Dream, their career paths transitioned from two full time Engineering jobs down to one high school Math teaching position. Little did they know, the next step would be overseas, jumping into full-time m!n!stry, completely funded by donations!
Their family grew from 2 to 5, as they welcomed their two boys and a girl in 2007, 2009, and 2011. Now with their hands completely full, they got rid of 99% of their worldly possessions, packed up what was left and hopped on a plane bound for Africa in 2012.
For the next 9 years, Dan and Courtney, Ethan, Nate, and Evie, lived, served, and grew up on the campus of an international boarding school in Kenya. The students who attend there are primarily from families living and m!n!stering cross-culturally as well, in countries all across the continent of Africa. These families are all playing their part in the Great Commission, spreading the good news in hard to reach places.
A few months before COVID changed the world as we know it, Dan and Courtney felt a distinct shift in the Father’s call on their lives. Each of them noticed a growing burden in their hearts concerning the severe lack of access to the good news of the Kingdom in many parts of the world, North Africa specifically.
After the Father closed the chapter on their time in Kenya in 2021, they are now anxiously awaiting their next assignment on the front lines of the Kingdom going forth. Re-launching to North Africa, Lord willing, in July of 2022, they hope to learn the language, become students of the culture, and be the first to share the Father’s plan with many who have never heard.
In the meantime, their family counts it a privilege to spend more time with the faithful brothers and sisters at Hebron, who make it possible for them to follow where He leads. Thank you for your faithful partnership!
As you prepare for worship this week, read Matthew 2:1-6.
1. Why would Herod be troubled by what the wise men said?
2. What can be said about the wise men for traveling as they did? How crucial was their mission?
3. How does the citation from Micah speak to the question at hand? Is this a good reference? Why/why not?
4. In what ways have you acted like Herod in your lifetime? How has that been shown to others?
5. In what ways have you acted like the wise men? Can you identify a particular instance?
