If I haven't had an opportunity to talk to you recently, I just want to warn you that this will be a wild post. I'm sorry that you have to find out the news this way, I just have not been able to get in touch with everyone. That said -- here goes. The short story is that I leave for Texas this friday, and Kim will be following close behind me in September sometime. I will be going back to school at Tarelton State Univeristy and we are going to spend a couple years getting rid of our credit debt and spending some time alone together (for the first time). There are, of course, many factors and events which contributed to this decision, so the longer story follows. Kim and I have been planning, for quite some time now, to move to California and become cultural missionaries. However, our finances at this time would not allow for us to make the move. We were planning on raising our support through financial contribution, but we have realized that we do not want to go that route. The missionary ministry that we intend to live out is one that we can and will be doing no matter where we live or what our jobs are. We also have been struggling to pay back the debt we incurred during the first year or so of our marriage. We really feel that we need to get out of debt while we are still young, with out kids, and much more financially flexable. So, we decided that we need to get jobs and get out into the world. And for now, we are going to do that in Stephenville, Texas. Once I finish my degree and we've paid our bills, we will decide where to go next. I still have a huge pull in my soul for Calfornia and I imagine that Kim's heart will always be in Minnesota, so who knows where we will land next. But if there is anything we have learned, it is that wherever we are together is where our home is. And where our home is... that's where our ministry is. Our door and our hearts are always open, and you always have a place to rest your head and your soul.

Someone visited our site because they were searching Yahoo forbeatiful churches for a wedding in southern california. That's hillarious becasue (1) We don't have a church (2) We aren't even in California yet. And to top it all off... we're the No 1 Result. Beautiful.

We now have a toll-free number so that it is easy for people to keep in touch with us. It also works as a fax. It is: 1-877-643-1085 We also have a new e-mail address: missiodeisocal[at]ureach[dot]com We want to be in touch so give us a call or drop a note to say hi.

I almost wrote a post earlier today to tell you that not much is going on and that Kim and I have no idea when our next step will be. When you come down the mountain, the foggy river valleys that looked so beautiful and fresh from above suddenly become hazy winding paths. That is to say that after spending so much time in SoCal in the middle of a place we feel called to minister, it's a little tough coming back to the 'real world' where we have bills to pay and no idea how we are actually going to get to California. But I'm not writting to tell you that not much is going on because I just talked to a new friend I met while browsing the Matthew's House site. (Go ahead, check them out, they are pretty exciting.) While Kim and I are anxious to start the Non-Profit, the process takes quite a long time and requires a lot of energy and money. So we have been hoping to partner with a church or ministry so that we can begin receiving the support we need to be missionaries. Jason Evans (the friend) has some ideas and will be walking with us for a little while. I would just ask that you keep this connection in your prayers and ask that God's will be done. That Kim and I will have the discernment to know what is from God and what is from ourselves. If there is anything I have learned over the past couple of months, it is that no matter how good I think my plans are, God usually has something bigger and more amazing in mind. Lord, don't let my plans get in the way of yours. Amen.

I don't even know what to say today. I mean, so much is going on but it's almost overwhelming. If this message doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I'm sorry. I just gotta try and get some of these thoughts out of my head. Friday Just as soon as Kim and I got home and got some sleep we were off to the airport to pick up my mom and brother who flew in from Stephenville, Texas. My brother is just going to hang out with us for a while and my mom is attending her first summer session of the Master of Arts in Christian Outreach (MACO) Program. Weekend My brother has a new camera and so he's been running around taking pictures. Kim and I got back home to a huge pile of bills and quickly realized that I'm going to have to get another job. Right now I am working part time at the church I have been working at for the last couple years. We were ok with the pay cut because we assumed that Kim would be working more this summer now that she graduated. Well, once she saw California and knew we were going out there in the fall, we re-evaluated our short-term values and realized that Kim needed to spend a lot more time with her family this summer. So, I'm gonna have to get an extra/other job to cover the money we thought we would be getting from her job. Please keep that in your prayers. Kim and I also got to hang out with her uncle on Saturday. He is the pastor at Cheyenne Hills and an awesome church planter. He had a lot of good advice, you'll probably hear more about all that later. Monday I dunno... today is a new day. We'll see what happens. I'm just praying that God will guide our steps. Right now I know that our ministry is to get out of debt. Kim and I want to be able to use our resources to help others, but a good friend of mine recently reminded me that, 'You can't give money away if you don't have any.' So we need to pay off our debt and love the people arround us.

Man, I can't believe that tomorrow is our last real day here in California. I say, 'last real day' because on Thursday our flight leaves at 6am which puts us at the airport by 4. WAY too early. Tonight Kim and I drove around the perimeter of Westminster and Huntington Beach, the two communities to which we feel called. I can't even begin to tell you how many people must live between those perimeter roads. Once we were done driving around the community, we drove to the house we will most likely be renting and starting walking the streets. It was amazing walking past all these houses and all these people we will hopefully someday know. You know what the craziest thing is? We're at complete peace with what God wants to do with us in California, the scary part is just getting back here. Waiting for us, here in California, are a very affordable house, great friends, connections with some awesome existing ministries, a church to call home, and people wanting to know more about 'Life to the fullest.' Yet we have no idea how we're financially going to get here. We're just crazy enough to believe that if God can do all this, He can handle the details as well. I don't know what tomorrow brings. That is in God's hands. Tonight I just pray that He will guide our steps, illumine our paths, and reflect His love off of us and into this world.

Kim and I are about to go see a house that we might be renting. We'll tell you more about this crazy opportunity in the next post. But for now I'll just say it is a miracle if I've ever seen one. I've been praying for a house for about two years now, not so much because I want to live in a house, but because I think that hospitality is a huge form of evangelism. I want to be able to invite people into a home and share a meal with them, give the a place to rest their feet, head, or their worries. As a place to gather. A place to fellowship. It looks like God might be answering that prayer tonight.

Today Kim and I got to hang out with our friends from Rock Bottom Ministries [Their site launches on 6.9.03]. Keith and Gina's two daughters are absolutely adorable, so it was fun walking around Fashion Island with them. Good old fashioned fellowship. While Gina was getting the girls ready for bed and Keith was catching up with one of the many friends they have made over the years, Kim and I were checking out Acts in The Message and ran across this section: 44 When the next Sabbath came around, practically the whole city showed up to hear the Word of God. 45 Some of the Jews, seeing the crowds, went wild with jealousy and tore into Paul, contradicting everything he was saying, making an ugly scene. 46 But Paul and Barnabas didn't back down. Standing their ground they said, "It was required that God's Word be spoken first of all to you, the Jews. But seeing that you want no part of it - you've made it quite clear that you have no taste or inclination for eternal life - the door is open to all the outsiders. And we're on our way through it, 47 following orders, doing what God commanded when he said, I've set you up as light to all nations. You'll proclaim salvation to the four winds and seven seas!" 48 When the non-Jewish outsiders heard this, they could hardly believe their good fortune. All who were marked out for real life put their trust in God - they honored God's Word by receiving that life. 49 And this Message of salvation spread like wildfire all through the region. Acts 13 We've been brainstorming a name for the ministry for a while now and have been going in circles because 'witnesses' sounds a lot like Jahova's Witnesses and including Samaria in the name sounds like overseas missions, and so we weren't sure what to call it. But when we read this passage, it hit us like a bright light! A Light to the Nation God was offering this amazing grace to the 'non-religious' and the 'not-His-people' people. All the way back in Isaiah's time, God was calling the Israelites "A light to the nations." And here Paul and Barnabas are reminding the Christians/Jews that they are called to be "A light to the nations." Kim and I are excited about what God is doing, through His church, in overseas missions 'to the nations.' Our vision is to allow God to shine that that same light right here in America to the 'non-religious.' To be A Light to the Nation. So, we picked up www.alighttothenation.org tonight and will begin the process of setting up a website to match. We ask for your prayers as we begin the next stage of developing the ministry. If you feel like God is calling you to help in any way, please drop us a note.

Here are some thoughts from this morning. Very rough, but at least a start. Please tell us your thoughts, insights, questions, confusions, etc. The Non-Profit And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, even to the ends of the world. - Acts 1 Many churches are very effective witnesses to Jerusalem (i.e. the people who grow up knowing God) and even Judea (i.e. The people who have experienced the religion but have no direct relationship with God). There are also many churches and agancies sending witnesses to "the ends of the earth" through overseas missions. [The non-profit] seeks to reach people in 'Samaria.' Those people who live right arround the church but have no direct experience or relationship to their creator. A people often overlooked by the church because they speak a similar language, wear similar clothes and eat similar food. Nevertheless a people who do not know God and do not understand the language of the church (think "unconditional love"), the food they eat (think communion), or the clothes they wear (think a robed leader or hanging a cross used for execution arround the neck). [The non-profit] exists to develop & support missionaries willing to present God's message to the American people who have no background in God's way. [The non-profit] will develop missionaries through: a. Education b. Training c. Mentoring d. Consulting [The non-profit] will support missionaries through: a. Prayer network b. Resources c. Financial & health benefits

I woke up pretty early this morning (from a rather strange dream I may add) to wish my mom a happy birthday. I wont tell you how old she is, but I will tell you that she has had many years of experience which have brought me encouragement and guidance for which I could never thank her enough. Then, I asked God for something... anything... a word, a chapter, something for the day. And this is what I read: This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through Christians like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels! All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. - Ephesians 3, The Message [read more] That was huge because I've been dealing for a while with this thought in the back of mind/life/heart/whatever that tells me I'm not called to be a pastor (tied into a specific community), I'm more of a Paul... to go arround and encourage/equip/create leaders at/for local churches and be a missionary type. It's as if Paul's words were describing me, A good for nothing dork who can't form a sentence unless I'm talking about God... with a heart for sharing God's grace with those who have never heard it. I dunno. Tell me what you think.

Kim and I just arrived at our friends apartment in Aliso Viejo. They moved out here almost a year ago and so they have a good idea of what it is like to move out from California. They both work for Lutheran Church of the Cross. John is the coach at their Christian School, and Katrina is a secretary. They also run a photo business called Personal Aperture Photography. They took our wedding photo's, so you can even see some pictures of us. Anyway, we'll be hanging out with them for a little while getting a feel of what it really takes to live in Southern California. So, that's the story right now.

Kim and I have arrived in Orange County and are now at our friends house in Westminster. We took off from Minneapolis, MN at 9:06am and landed in Irvine, CA at 10:36am. Which seems like a really short flight if it weren't for the time change. So, on our flight back we take off at 6:45am and land at 12:30pm. We drove down to huntington beach this afternoon and saw the dolphins playing in the waves with the surfers. It was amazing. And now that the sun has set, I think we're going to sleep.