Facebook Official

In this day and age, as soon as information hits the internet, there is no taking it back. Once a tweet hits Twitter, it can be re-tweeted faster than you can take it down. Once a status, relationship change, picture, etc. hits Facebook, there is no delete button that works fast enough; it has become official...Facebook official. Knowing this I am careful with what I post online. Knowing how strongly I feel about this reality, you should then know how serious Polly and I are about the next step we are taking in our lives. Today is the day that we have made our announcement. Today, we have made our big news "Facebook official."

In the coming days, I will be blogging more about how we came to this decision, some of the things we've had to work through in this process, some of the challenges that still lie ahead and some of the lessons we've already learned. But for this first post, I simply wanted to give an overview of the transition we are about to embark on.

Polly and I are in the final stages of receiving our final approval to become Missionary Associates to Costa Rica to work with missionary friends John & Dina Musacchio in partnership with Assemblies of God World Missions (AGWM). There are two major aspects to this transition for us that I'd like to briefly cover: 1. Transitioning from our ministries at Calvary Assembly of God; and 2. Transitioning to our ministries in Costa Rica.

Transitioning from Calvary Assembly of God

Polly and I have spent our entire adult lives at Calvary AG. I was invited to come to start a youth ministry at the church upon my graduation from Central Bible College in 2005. Shortly after my arrival, I also took on the responsibilities of  the children's ministry. Polly spent the summer of 2006 at the church for her internship and then took over the children's ministry from me upon her graduation from CBC in 2007. In the time that we've been at Calvary AG, we've experienced challenges, but so many more great experiences in both our personal lives and in our ministries.

Personal - Polly and I didn't even get engaged until 7 months after my arrival at Calvary AG. And we didn't get married until 5 months after Polly's arrival. Polly and I had our daughter Genevieve at this church. Our lead pastor is the one who officiated her baby dedication. I had the privilege of receiving my License to Preach and my Ordination while on staff at this church. We've grown and developed so many long-lasting relationships with so many amazing people at Calvary AG. We have even lived with one of the wonderful families from our church for the past 3 1/2 years. We have so many memories and connections at the church and in the community. Polly and I have also grown much in our walks with the Lord while at this church.

Ministry - We have had so many amazing ministry experiences over the years at Calvary AG. I have had the privilege of serving over 150 youth in some capacity or another. I have had the joy of witnessing young people give their hearts to the Lord. I have had the honor of water baptizing a number of our youth (and even some adults). I have laughed and cried with our youth. We've worked to help youth deal with the loss of a parent, divorce and even their own legal troubles. I have had youth that started out as 7th graders graduate high school and go to college. Of our two original 7th graders who remained at the church through high school graduation, one is actively involved in a campus ministry and stronger in his walk than ever before while the other is finishing up her first year at a Bible college answering God's call on her life to ministry. I have also watched as the next generation of youth have come through the children's ministry stronger than ever. Polly and I are both so excited for what God has in store for the young people at this church.

I could probably go on for quite some time talking about the many great personal and ministry memories and experiences, but I think you get the point. Leaving Calvary AG is not easy for us. This has become home to us. In fact, we are considering this our home church as we head to the mission field. Don't get me wrong, we're incredibly excited for the opportunity that God has set before us and we are willingly and joyfully going. I'm just being real in saying that we have a bit of a heavy heart today telling people that we've grown to love and appreciate that we will be leaving.

We have established a plan approved by our church's board that has us remaining on staff through the month of August. In these next 5 months, we will start to turn our attention to transitioning the ministries to the new leadership. If there were a new husband and wife team coming in to take over the ministries, we would probably be stepping out sooner so we could get out of their way, but the solution to each ministry is in house, so we are going to be intentional and thorough throughout the process. We will officially be hands off by the start of the new school year (the new leadership will take over completely beginning the first week of September).

Transitioning to Costa Rica

Polly and I are both excited for the road ahead of us. Once we officially receive our final approval, we will begin the itineration/fundraising process to raise our budget so we can go to Costa Rica. There is no set date of when we will actually leave for Costa Rica. It is dependent on how quickly we can raise the funds (through God's wisdom and favor) to go. We expect this to take somewhere between a year and a year and a half. We would like to be there by the spring or summer of 2013. We have already begun the process of networking with more pastors from the Southern New England Ministry Network (our district) and will be continuing that process in the months to come. While we are hopeful that we can begin picking up services and speaking engagements at churches soon, our ultimate goal is to be running full tilt by the fall (the summer is usually pretty quiet for this for numerous reasons). This is part of the reason we have set the timetable that we have for when we will step down from our responsibilities at Calvary AG. I will be keeping my full-time security job until a week before we leave for Costa Rica.

Our initial commitment is between 2 and 3 years. We will have to spend some time (possibly a year) in language school to learn the language. Upon completion of language school, we have committed to 2 years of service in Costa Rica. Our main responsibilities will be to serve as resident directors (and mentors) to students participating in the Engage program that the Musacchio's will be starting in Costa Rica. We will also be assisting the Musacchio's in their other ministry ventures including youth evangelism, youth leader training and work with children. Working with college students, youth leaders, youth and children is right up our alley. We are so excited for what God has in store.

If you are interested in following us on our journey, please feel free to follow this blog and/or check in with the blog as I will be hoping to update it on a regular basis. As I said above, I will be looking to cover how we came to the point, some things we've had to work through, some challenges before us and some lessons we've already learned in this process. I hope to begin tackling these topics this week.