This time last year we were looking forward to a new ministry at Bethany Baptist Church. As the school year was coming to a close at ICS-Uijongbu, we had a lot of 'what-if' questions in our minds, and God was continually answering each of those one right after the other. We were preparing to leave our lives and ministries in South Korea to begin anew in California. We were praying and asking God's provision and we were excited time and again as prayer after prayer was answered. Many of you joined with us in those prayers and some of you were led to help financially. God worked in a mighty way to get us back across the Pacific, and we were amazed. And now, after three months of looking for God's will for our family, we find ourselves in a very similiar position as last year.
In my last update, I asked everyone to pray that the congregation's vote on the financial package from South Dade Baptist Church would be indicative of what God would have us do concerning the future of our family. I asked you all to pray open-endedly on purpose, as we were desiring confirmation of God's will. The vote was unanimous to accept the financial package and commit to growing the ministry at SDBC. On Monday afternoon, I received a contract offer from Colonial Christian School. I went to Pastor Rushing to explain to him our feelings and belief that this was God's will for our family, and he advised me to sit on it for a couple days to simply see if any last-minute miracles occurred, which would allow us to stay in the area. On Wednesday morning, we met again, and I confirmed for him that this is still what we believed to be God's will for us. On Thursday morning, I signed the contract and faxed it back to the school, accepting the position with the school and church. So, God has called us to Homestead, FL, and I will be the HS Bible Teacher at CCS, and the HS Youth Pastor at SDBC.
Those are the facts. The decision to go to Florida has been made by faith that this is God's will for our family. Over the past few months, I have contacted, in various ways, no less than 20 schools in the area concerning employment for next year. Only three showed any interest, but one eventually said they wouldn't be able to hire me, and the other two haven't responded to any subsequent contacts. With the help of my Dad, I placed resumes in for 20 government jobs, two that were in the area and the rest nationwide. No positive responses came back from any of them. I also persued two pastoral positions, one in the area, and another in New Jersey; both of which have grown silent over the past few weeks. I also contacted 3 other schools outside the area, one in Arkansas, one in Hawaii, and the one in Florida. Our faith belief in all this is simply that if God wanted us to stay where we are, something would've surfaced in the area along the lines of the ministries to which He's called me (teaching and youth work). Scripture tells us that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). By faith, neither I nor Dulcy believe that God has given me such a strong desire to teach to simply have it sit idle.
So, at the end of June, we will be moving to Homestead, Florida, to join ourselves to the ministries there. This time last year the decision to go had already been made for four months. We now stand in front of a timeframe half that long. We are confident that God will provide, but we have no idea how or from where. According to recent research, which I am going to be expanding upon as quickly as possible, we are going to need in the neighborhood of $5000 for the move. This is an educated estimate based on contacts I have already made to a few companies, and includes gas for the trip, a moving company and supplies, hotel/motel stays on the drive down, and what I percieve to be minor set-up costs in Homestead. I am hopeful that it is a high estimate, but I am fearful that it isn't. My first paycheck from the church will be ready for us when we arrive, but my first paycheck from the school will not be until August 27th. So, that has already been a topic of discussion with the pastor and director there, and they have said that they will begin looking for a job for me to fill in the gap until I begin work at the school. I'm trying to paint a picture here that will hopefully help you all understand our situation. We have been paycheck to paycheck since we have settled in here in California, and have very little savings (only about $500). So, in many ways, this leap of faith is much scarier than the one we made last year. Last year, I knew we would have the equivalent of about 1.5 months pay from the school when we left, and that was after airfare had been paid. I also knew that I was going to have a hefty pension paycheck arriving shorlty after we did from the Korean government. The exact opposite is true now. We believe that this is God's will for our family, and in order for it work, He has to provide just as He has before. We know He will, but we don't know how.
So, this brings us to the prayer request section.
1. PRAY that Dulcy and the kids will finish their homeschooling on-time. They are scheduled to be done the second week in June, two weeks before we are planning to leave.
2. PRAY that I will finish strong in my ministry here at Bethany Baptist. We aren't leaving until the end of June, so I don't want to "check-out" until then.
3. PRAY and ask God to provide for our moving expenses. $5000 is a HUGE amount of money for us, but it's pocket change to God. Would you also prayerfully consider if God would have you help financially? Please also understand that I completely understand how tight today's economy is, and how strapped many people are these days, and not just ourselves. Just please ask God how He would have you help.
4. PRAY for Bethany Baptist Church, and the growth of the ministry here. Even though we will not be a part of it after June, we still desire to see God's family grow, and for a Bible-believing church like this to be a beacon of light in this community.
5. PRAY that we will have practical wisdom in deciding waht we take with us, and what we choose to try and replace once we get there. 'Things' can carry sentimental value and be difficult to let go, but we don't have the time or money for such things. Dulcy is much better at axing things than I, so pray that God will allow me to keep my mouth shut.
6. PRAY that Dulcy will continue to remain healthy during her pregnancy. Everything is going just fine with absolutely no hitches, by the way. Along with this, though, is the question of health insurance in Florida. Pray that God would have His hand upon those at SDBC who are looking into this for us. This has also been a point of discussion aleady, and they are working on it.
7. PRAY for those at SDBC who are looking into a housing arrangement for our family. Pray that God will lead them to the exact property He has for us, and that it would be as inexpensive as possible.
And I think that's it for now. I will be updating you all with new information as soon as I have it. We are in a peculiar place to be right now. On one hand we wonder why God didn't work things out for us here, and sorrowful with leaving our new friends behind; and on the other, we are excited by being led further into His will for our family.
More to come...
In His Service,
Sam, Dulcy, Michael, David, Katherine, and "Point-five" Healey.
Mark 10:45
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