Vision Trip

Ben and I are SOOO excited about our "vision trip" to London we are taking next week. We have been planning this vision trip for about a year now and it's unreal that its only a week away.

We are leaving on Wednesday, April 7th at 5:55 P.M. and will arrive in London at 10:00 A.M. their time the next morning. Ben has never flown overnight before so this will be an exciting adventure of firsts for him. We will be there for 10 days, meeting with various contacts we have made over the past few months in hopes to feel a strong sense of Gods direction as to where He is leading us. We have a strong urge to move to London within the next few months or year, and so far God has opened lots of windows for us. We will keep pressing on until He closes doors and makes it obvious to us that London isn't where He wants us. We are completely HIS and ready to serve wherever He has us, whether thats here in Tennessee or in London or somewhere completely unknown to us. We are just along for the ride.

We will have many blogs along the way, but I want this blog to describe what our hopes are for this upcoming vision trip. First of all, let me say thank you to all of those who have supported us prayerfully and financially for this vision trip. It means the world to us. Its amazing that God has provided EXACTLY what we need for this trip. Just last week we thought we would be going without any money for food and would just take a jar of peanut butter and some protein bars. That was ok with us. But then God provided the exact amount for food and we will be able to eat more than peanut butter! Yay! It is so humbling to see how not in control we are of our finances.

So...here's a little bit about WHY we're going to London.

Tara (me) spent a semester in Cambridge, UK in 2007. There has not been one day that has passed that I don't think about that semester, the people I met, the burdened God put on my heart for the people of the UK. I have wanted to go back everyday since. I met so many people there that were so CLUELESS about having a relationship with Christ. It broke my heart.

And here's the thing about London, people. Let me get this straight once and for all. They aren't like other 3rd world countries where you come in and provide a physical need. They aren't starving or dying from drinking bad water. Quite honestly, I don't have anything to give them that would meet a deep need. Why does this matter? Well, when you can enter a country and meet such a deep need such as food or medical care, then unbelievers are more likely to be open to listen to what you have to say about this Jesus you speak of. People in London, in the UK, in Europe, don't have the dire needs others have. They are very modern and for the most part, educated about many different religions. They are a tough group. But they are wonderful people. I love everything about them. They are just lost, like many in our own modernized U.S. of A.

Many of you wonder about Ben. Does he have a passion for the people of the UK like me? Well, not necessarily. But Ben has a passion for people. He has a passion for serving and ministering. He felt the call to full time ministry long ago. He has the view like I, and many people do. Wherever we are...we are ministers. We are ministers to the lonely and heartbroken cashier at Walmart, we are ministers to our co-workers who open up their hearts to us and tell us their story, we are ministers wherever we go. No job, race, country, financial status, etc. can change that. We are ALL called, by Christ, to "Go and preach the gospel to ALL nations..."

Anyway...enough about why London...lets talk about this vision trip! We will be shadowing YWAM London, attending morning lectures and participating in their afternoona activities and ministries. We are interested in doing a YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training School). The YWAM DTS is a 6 month school where we would spend 2 months in London attending lectures and serving and ministering in the community and then 3 months applying what we've learned in another country. We will also be meeting with some contacts we have made through Campus Crusade for Christ. If God leads us towards CCC, we will spend 1-2 years in London as an intern, developing relationships with students from Kings College. (there are over 500,000 students in London alone. 100,000 of them being international. Can you even begin to imagine the domino affect if these students go to their home country and share Christ?). We will also be meeting with YMCA London to discuss questions we have about moving to London and working full time with the YMCA. If we went that route, we would work our typical 9-5 type job and develop discipleship groups and serve in various ministries around London (this is mostly like what we're doing here in TN. We have regular jobs, but we serve through our jobs and outside our jobs).

There are some other contacts we hope to meet as well so we are going to be busy! For my birthday, we are using part of our tax return to take the 2 hour train ride to Cambridge, UK so I can show Ben all the things I did while studying in Cambridge. We're stoked.

So PLEASE be in prayer for us. For those of you who are Prayer Warriors and need a list, here it is:

1. Pray for our health. Tara has to get a crown put in 2 days before departure. Pray for no complications. Ben has been dealing with a lot of sinus/allergy issues for the past year or so. Pray this does not bother him on the trip. He also has been having severe pain in his esophagus when eating. Pray this is healed before we leave.
2. Pray for a safe flight and safe journey.
3. Pray that we would be open to what the Lord is showing us throughout this trip
4. Pray that the Lord would speak to each of us individually, as well as a couple, and that we would be able to see the next steps to take when we get back.
5. Pray that we will not get lost and not miss any of our appointments that we have set up.


We love you guys and thanks for supporting us. We're excited about this next step in our adventure!