the journey...

John 21:21-22

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!"

It has been an amazing journey these last 8 years... much like a trail on a hillside that you can't quite see around. Oh, you move forward in confidence because of the God you serve but in your heart you know that anything is possible just around the corner. I guess that is the challenge of James - continually living a life of faith filled movement WHILE living and speaking humble statements of, "if God wills". It feels like the consistent lesson of these last couple of years has been, "you follow Me!" Wherever I say to go, whatever I call you to do... "you follow Me!" Don't worry about what others will say or what others are doing... "you follow Me!" Don't worry about how I will care for your needs (because I will!)... "you follow Me!"

And that's what we are going to do.

As most of you know, the past couple of years have been bumpy for us. After a tough season and de-commissioning of the Glasgow site, Britany and I have been in an extended season of processing the past, present and future (all the while carrying on with missionary life). This has included MANY conversations with mentors, family, co-workers, counselors and LOTS of prayer. In the midst of all this God has clearly confirmed that He led us from Scotland to San Diego for a season of learning and listening AND to walk alongside Rob & Laurie and help them shape this new site. Though we always knew San Diego was not a permanent move for us, this fall God began doing something in our hearts that seemed confusing yet powerfully true... He was remaking our calling.

So a couple weeks ago we sat down with Rob and Laurie again and shared what we feel is the beginning of a new vision for us and our family. It is a vision that includes moving this summer to a new destination (Portland, OR) and a change to our ministry focus (The Berean Way). But we are hopeful that this new focus will involve a strong relationship with NieuCommunities and CRM. It has been a difficult process/decision because we love this ministry and the people. Honestly, if God had told us in Glasgow, "Move your family of six to San Diego for one year then I'll be moving you on," we probably would have never done it. But we're so thankful that God didn't reveal it then because we know that this is right where we are supposed to be and with the right people to work through this next step in our journey. In many ways it feels like we have been experiencing what NieuCommunities seeks to do with all those we apprentice.

So what are the pieces to this new calling? Well, there are a number of them but the two most closely tied to our mission are:

1. Teaching, encouraging, feeding and praying with indigenous church leaders in hard to reach places (like the barefoot pastors in India). As many of you know, I have been working alongside my brother-in-law's ministry called The Berean Way for the last couple years. This ministry has significantly impacted who I am... and in the process, what I wish to do.

2. One of the great features of The Berean Way is that it takes "short-termers" into these difficult settings as well and gives them a taste of God's power "in the field"... forcing people to wrestle with themselves. We believe that we can leverage these experiences with the leaders who go on these trips and help them craft their own discipling communities and expressions amongst their neighbors. It is this piece that I hope will have strong ties to what we have been doing with NieuCommunities and CRM.

Rob Yackley (my boss) has written a brief note on our behalf:

Tim and Britany are great friends and trusted colleagues. They have been around from the beginning and have given so much to NieuCommunities. I'll always be grateful for that. We will miss them dearly here in San Diego, but we also want to see them serving from a place of strength. We will certainly feel their loss, but we also have a sense of release that feels healthy and right too.

We're looking forward to seeing what God will assemble up in Portland and we're hopeful that the community they form there will be part of the NieuCommunities family.

Peace
Rob

We are SO excited to see what God is going to do but we are also a little afraid and a little unsure - and that's OK. We are feeling that sensation of faith (being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see) filling our hearts... and that feels good. Would you pray for us as we begin this new journey? In the next days I will post some more specific prayers requests BUT, for now, pray for courage to follow Him as He calls.

Thank you all for your support and prayers!
grace and peace,
The McDonald clan