Anywhere you travel with kids involves a leap–

or prance if you have daughters. Ethiopia will be no different. Before children, Emily and I ventured on a one-year mission to Ethiopia where I served on Young Life staff, helping to train Ethiopian leaders and Emily taught fourth grade at Bingham Academy.  Our time in Addis Ababa sparked a love for Ethiopian people and culture that continued to grow in the ensuing years.  As Student Ministry Director of Community Fellowship Church, I’ve led 5 trips to Ethiopia and challenged 60 teenagers and adults to a lifestyle of service. My teams served as work crew for Young Life’s camping program for Ethiopian teenagers.

Now ten years and three ladies later, we believe God is leading us to take another leap–

in serving with SIM (Serving In Mission) for two years.  Currently there is a need within the Ethiopian church for intentional student ministry and leadership development. I have been invited to help address this need by teaching at Ethiopian Theological College. Emily is planning a return to Bingham Academy as a part-time reading specialist while our girls are in school.  We recently completed a two-week candidate school at the SIM USA office in Charlotte, NC, where we engaged topics such as cross-cultural living, story-telling, and personal safety. We are thrilled to be welcomed into the SIM family and hope to be in Ethiopia by July 2011.

We believe prayer is important and would appreciate having you at our backs.

This is a two-way street, so we invite you to pass along your prayer requests to us as well. Personally, we ask you pray for the logistics of transition, like a strong finish with our jobs and finding a responsible family to rent our house. Also please pray for us as we begin to develop our financial support team. There is much more to tell and so we will update you in a couple of weeks.