eMi: our timeline

So often in life, God will allow you to go down a winding, weaving path...not to lose you, but perhaps to allow you to lose some of yourself, so that He may fill you back up.  I am so thankful!  The past 2.5 years have not been the easiest, but in looking back, I am so able to see his faithfulness.  He does not waste a minute that we are given!

January 2009: Jason, baby Jack and I had officially been at our awesome new church 3 months, and decided to participate in our church's 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting.  During this time, we also read Francis Chan's "Crazy Love," and it stirred something up in us.  We weren't sure what, but we knew God was calling us to something more...something bigger than us.  We stuck our "For Sale By Owner" sign in the yard and waited for Him to work His magic (annnnd tell us where we were suppposed to go. And what we were supposed to do once we got there). Fast forward 6 months: No sale.  No word from the Lord yet on where we were headed.  I checked "Obey God's promptings" off my to-do list (after all, maybe it was just a test to see if we were willing to obey), and had another baby.  It was a great year!

January 2010:  We looooove 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting!  Woohoo!  Read Chan's "Forgotten God" this go-round, and realized that so, no really, He's calling us to something.  This time we meant business, so we actually listed with a realtor. Six months later: nada.  And no Word.  I decided it was time to settle in and get comfortable...we had passed "the test" again!  I am in love with our cul-de-sac! And church! And friends! And by this time, I was working serving at our church, and LOVED that! And I got pregnant. Again. Which brought a whole new level of settledness and comfort to my sweet, perfect (loud) house and routine.  Another great year in the books.

January 2011:  Welcome to 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, round 3! YEAH! This year, the book o' choice for that season was David Platt's "Radical." (If you've read it, you probably know where this is going.)  Not only that, I decided to pray specifically for Jason (didn't tell him that), that he would continue to grow in his role as the leader of our house.  With us both being the youngest child from our families of origin, we are not what I would refer to as "decision makers." You know, the dumb stuff, like "Laredo's or pizza for dinner?".  Weeeeeell, as most believers can witness to, be careful what you pray for.  :) After just a few days of praying specifically for wisdom, leadership and vision for Jason for our family, he walked in one afternoon and announced with the most confidence that I've EVER heard from him, "I feel that we're supposed to somehow increase our involvement with eMi (Engineering Ministries International). I don't know if that means that we should move to Colorado (their base office), or Africa, but God has made this so clear this week."  Vision given! Having prayed so specifically for one, and for Jason in the middle of that, I knew it was the Lord who was calling us, not just an adventure-loving (snowboarding) husband on a tear.

November 2011: We finally flew out to interview with eMi in November (having a baby in May and TONS o' events throughout the summer and fall slowed things down for us).  A couple of weeks after our trip out, they officially extended a letter of invitation to us, asking us to join the staff in the Colorado Springs office.  Jason will be a project coordinator for building projects in developing countries all over the world for things like hospitals and orphanages, as well as the director for their new Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program.

January 2012: Still praying, and fasting again.  We have vision, we have plans, we have received our Word from the Lord.  He is so faithful; He is so good!  And holy moly, where do we begin to get this ball rolling?!

October 2012: We are in the process of raising our ministry team.  We would LOVE for our house to sell, but  have a total peace about renting it out if it doesn't sell by the time we have our support/team raised and are ready to move.

January 2013: They want us out there by January 13th for staff training!  The next staff training isn't until August 2013, so we would love to have everything set and ready by January. We have a LONG way to go (and a LOT of toys to get packed up!), but we are yet again trusting that He is going to provide, and in His time.

We are Colorado bound!

After praying for several years for God to move within us and our family to do something BIGGER for Him and His glory, He has made it so clear that the mission field is the next destination/adventure for our little family.  Auburn has been such an incredibly sweet place to be the past 6.5 years.  We've loved watching our family grow, seeing God move, and our marriage being brought deeper through the things we've been a part of here, and wouldn't trade it for the world! However, when you open your hands and honestly say, "What next?" to the Lord, you better believe He will answer!  Over this post and the next 2, I'll explain a little bit more about what we are being called to in Colorado Springs, as well as how we got to this point.

What will we be doing?
Jason will be on staff as a project manager with Engineering Ministries International (eMi).  He will be responsible for leading 3 mission trips a year.  He'll recruit professionals (architects, surveyors, civil engineers, structural engineers, etc.) for their design project (hospitals, orphanages, clean water systems, etc), lead them on their trip to collect data in their respective fields for the project, and once they return home, he will spend the next few months in the office collecting the data from each professional, assimilating it and submitting it back to the hosting organization.  He will also be the director for a new ministry of eMi, their Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program.  EMi will now be partnering with WASH project organizations; anytime a partner organization has any issues with a well/pump (i.e. low water pressure, tainted water source, etc), they can contact Jason, and he will get them paired with professionals who can help identify their issue and come up with a solution.
   I plan on staying at home with Jack (5 years old), Will (3 years old), and Josh (1 year old).  It will be no small feat to get us there, settled and well transitioned.  However, if the right doors open up, I am not opposed to working outside the home once we are settled; I had not planned on working at Highlands when they approached me 2 years ago, but it worked perfectly!  The Lord knows what our family (and specifically, the children) need, and I will be open to His promptings when/if they come.
   Jack is already in kindergarten this year, and is thriving academically.  However, he is a very young kindergartener (he made the school cut-off by 2 days!), so we are considering having him stay home with me and his brothers for the remainder of the school year once we move, and start kindergarten over in the fall.

Where exactly will we be?
We will be based out of the Colorado Springs, CO, office.  Jason will lead teams to undeveloped (aka 3rd world) countries approximately 6 weeks of the year to collect data for their projects and tell people about Jesus.   He will spend the rest of the year in the CO office, preparing the project design to submit back to the host ministry.

Why?
God has made it SO clear (as detailed out in the 2 following posts) that this is exactly where He wants us.  As long as there are precious babies needing a roof over their heads and grandmommas needing hospitals, we as believers are called to help take care of them.  As the bible says in James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." I LOVE that God has been shaping our hearts for missions, a desire to do His will, Jason's amazing Professional Engineering skills and even a love for Colorado, all to bring us to a point that we are able to say a big fat "YES" to following Him in this.  We personally cannot house all the orphans who so desperately need a home and a momma and a daddy, but I can send my husband to help build a more suitable orphanage until their forever families come for them.  I cannot take care of all the sick people in foreign countries, but I can send my husband to help provide a hospital for those who need a place of refuge and help until healing comes.  I cannot hand a cup of clean water to the precious children who are walking literally miles a day to get their own, but I can help ensure that there are people going to those who need it most...who can provide not only clean water, but a chance to know the One who is our Living Water, our Jesus.

How?
We stand firm behind the cry of Jesus to make disciples of all the world.  There are people who are sick, homeless, and hungry throughout our world.  Even worse, there are sick, homeless and hungry people who have never heard the name of Jesus. And while we know we can't save them all, let us each cling to the calling to reach the few God has put before us!  Jason has a special skill set that will enable him to make life better for people in developing countries all over the world, one project at a time.  As Romans 10:14-15 says, "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?" By gathering a team of people who are interested in partnering with us to provide financial and prayer support, Jason will be able to devote his time to being SENT and solely working towards improving life and making disciples of Jesus through eMi.

Who?
Us.  We are very aware of the great implications that this act of obedience towards the Lord will have not only on us, but on generations to come.  God tells us that we have ALL been created to do good works, which He has prepared for us in advance.  We simply believe that this is is a part of ours!

And you.  We are currently developing a team of ministry partners who are committing to give monthly to make this vision possible.  As the verses from Romans 10 stated, some are called to go, and some are called to send.  We need senders!  We are working to build a team who will not only financially make it possible for us to be sent, but also to commit to praying for us at each step of the journey. Jesus made it so clear that we are made to live in community, and we would love for you to prayerfully consider being a part of ours.  This is a huge opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourselves, without even necessarily leaving your home! We clearly cannot do this alone; however, we are honored and humbled to have a front-row seat for seeing how God will call together His church to make this all possible.  If you would like to join our team as one who is committed to praying for us, please email us at chandlerjcsp@gmail.com, and we will gladly get you on our email/coffee-date/phone list.  :)
  If you are interested in giving either a one-time gift or committing to give monthly to make this work possible, eMi has made it SO easy; just click here and you can make a donation online.  All gifts to eMi are tax-exempt and will go straight to an account with our name on it; it will be used solely to pay our support.
As a 5-star non-profit agency, eMi operates exclusively through the gifts and offerings of others.  This allows the professionals in their office to give their time and attention exclusively to those in greatest need throughout the world (as opposed to spending some of their time as professionals doing for-profit work, as well). If you are interested in learning more about eMi, just click here to get to their web site.

When?
Staff training for eMi is held every January and August.  We are praying that we can have our ministry partners gathered and funds raised so that we can be out there by January 2013.  We need to have 90% of our monthly giving pledged, as well as three months worth of support already given.  No amount is too small (we see in Jesus' parable that even the widow who gave what "little" she had was considered one of the greatest!), and we trust the Lord will pour out his storehouse on those who He finds to be generous.  We know that there are more than a handful of amazing causes in the world today (which is AWESOME!).  However, if the work of eMi resonates with you, we would be honored to have you be a part of our team for this journey. Simply click here and you will be directed to a page where you can give and/or set up monthly withdrawals to be regular supporters; click on "please select one," and choose "staff." From there, scroll through the "choose a subcategory" until you see, "Chandler, Jason - 2126" and simply click on his name.

Thank you.
For reading, for praying, and for being a part of our lives.  We are so thankful for you!