Rousehouse Update July 2017

Posted on August 3, 2017August 3, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Well, we are not in South Africa like we thought we would be right now. I was really looking forward to writing this newsletter from South Africa but things have not gone as planned…welcome to life in Africa!

Here are a few updates from our last months newsletter updates:

Visas to safely and quickly get here in hand

Quick update on what is happening: We were suppose to get our visas and leave on August 1st but towards the end of last week we began getting a little nervous since we haven’t seen them in the mail. It is normal for them to come last minute so until now we hadn’t thought there was a problem. On Sunday morning when Spanky was leaving Portland, Oregon (he was there with a buddy rafting for the week) we decided that it would be best if he flew straight to New York to visit the South African Consulate and try to get our visas in hand. We have called and emailed numerous times but never got an answer so hopefully an in person visit would help. After flying over night Spanky was able to be at the Consulate office before they opened on Monday morning. He was able to talk with the man in charge and get some answers, kind of, not really. He was told that they are waiting on some documents to be sent back from South Africa before we could have our visas approved. This was not the news we were hoping for but there was nothing else we could do therefore we had to cancel our flights until we have a better idea of when we would get our visas. We have been working diligently this week along with many other people here and in South Africa to get some answers and time frames of when to expect our visas. We are frustrated and a bit discouraged but we know that God is still in control just like He has been in every step of this journey leading up to this point. It is still a difficult time. We would love for you to be praying for the people making the decisions on our visas, praying that we get them soon with no more problems, and for us to remain positive and encouraged.

The closing and moving out of our house to go smoothly (Closing is July 11th)

We did close on our house and everything went really well! God showed Himself in this processes and we felt his goodness through it all. We could not have been any more thankful for the way this all went. We had some amazing realtors, wonderful couple buying our house, and a lot of help from friends and family during this time. Praise the Lord!!!

Packing essentials and things we will want in SA. We can only take 2 free bags each but currently have 5 extra bags ($200 each x 5 = $1000!)

We have sold and got rid of everything exce

pt what we have considered the essentials. We had originally thought that 2 bags per person was going to work but we miscalculated. We have 3 bags per person and I think we are done packing.

All of the goodbyes. There are many!

We have learned that goodbyes are hard so we have decided to say “See you later” instead. We have many people that love our family therefore we have had many emotional “see you laters” over the past month. We are pretty worn out emotionally but encouraged by all of the love and support. We have had some fun adventures and created some sweet memories over the past couple of months with all of you that we have been able to see.

Family prayer card

We value all of you who are continuing to prayer for us daily!!! We are learning that we are on a journey that the enemy doesn’t like and we need you to keep lifting us up! The prayers of those in our life is essential to our healthy, growth, success, and safety. PLEASE keep praying for us!

Prayer needs for August:

Visas to arrive quickly and with out any problems or complications
Contentment during this time of waiting
Protection against the attacks of the enemy. Evil is hunting us (our minds, hearts, relationships, etc) daily
New flights
Wisdom and peace to make the right decisions and move in the right directions
Pray that as a husband and wife we will draw closer together and encourage each other daily. Pray that our children will have an overflow of joy while we move from place to place.

If you would like to join our financial or prayer team you can check out how to partner with us by clicking here Partnering with us…. Thank you!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

June 2017 Updates

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Time is getting close to our departure for South Africa! We are really excited and probably more nervous than we realize. We are scheduled to take off on August 1st. Much has been done to get us to this point and we feel like we are closing in on one of the big mile marker moments in this journey.

Here are a few updates from our last Newsletter Update in May:

Visas – we need to be applying this week and praying that there is no issues with the consulate accepting and approving them quickly.

We did apply for our visas and had all of the paperwork and more they needed thanks for my organized wife!!! We have not received our visas nor passports back yet, but from all of those that have gone through this process before us have said that “no news is good news”. If there was a problem we were suppose to hear with in 14 days. We haven’t heard so we are assuming all is well! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!

Trip to NYC to apply for visas with the SA consulate

You can read our latest blog about our New York trip here, The Big Apple Adventure

Putting our home on the market and selling the rest of our furniture, cars, etc.

The Lord gave us this house as a blessing and it continues to be a blessing. We did sell out home in a matter of 4 hours!!! We even got over asking price which is amazing! We know that it is all of the Lord’s doing. We are just about to close (Tuesday the 11th) and are currently getting rid of the last few things. We believe that life will feel a little less heavy after this is all said and done.

From our family’s prayer card, the letter T – Travel arrangements: purchasing the best plane tickets, cost, routes, etc.

We are purchasing plane tickets this week! Our church, Ridge Church said that as part of their support for us they would like to purchase our tickets! How cool is that!!! We even got a pretty relaxing schedule where we can spend a day in London as a family walking around between two long flights.

To have 100% of monthly support finalized and one time set up cost in

We have been blown away by the generous people the Lord has brought our way this past month. We have reached 100% in our monthly support! Praise the Lord! It feels so good and we are extremely thankful. We still would like to raise about $7000 in set up cost before we leave August 1st so please let us know if you would like to help meet this need.

Prayer needs for July:

Visas to safely and quickly get here in hand
The closing and moving out of our house to go smoothly (Closing is July 11th)
Packing essentials and things we will want in SA. We can only take 2 free bags each but currently have 4 extra bags ($200 each x 4 = $800!)
All of the goodbyes. There are many!
From our family prayer care we have a couple:
- J-Joy, “Not to feel sad”, Ellyana
- E-Everyones luggage will arrive safe and sound
- K-Kids, Trusting God to provide what they need in each step of the journey and that they will recognize His goodness

If you would like to join our financial or prayer team you can check out how to partner with us by clicking here Partnering with us…. Thank you!

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

May 2017 Newsletter Update

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

May has been a whirl wind of a month for us at the Rousehouse. Busy busy busy! Thankfully we are holding up well and have experienced the joy, strength and peace that the Lord can give. Thank you for all of you who have been praying for us. KEEP IT UP!!! Let me catch you up on a few prayer points from last month to start…

Decisions on what to do with our home. Rent it or sell it?

After many conversations, prayer, wise council, weighing the options, and moments of grieving we have decided to sell our home. We love our sweet little house and realize that it was given to us by the Lord for this short season to enjoy and that is what we have done. We will always remember this blessing from the Father!

Finishing up fundraising, 100% by June 1st

Almost everyday this past month was filled with meetings, speaking opportunities, and lots of conversations. We are now super close to being at our 100% monthly financial goal!!!! We are in need of just $200 more a month! PTL! If you would like to help get our family across the finish line check out how to partner with us here or email us at spanky.rouse@gmail.com. We do still have some set up cost needs too so any special one time gifts would be very much appreciate as well.

Ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to know the Father’s leading in every plan and decision as we prepare to move

This season has been tough but priceless, for sure. I don’t know that we have every heard from the Lord clearer, seen Him at work, and experienced His presences like we have recently. We are reminded that His plans for us are the BEST and that He desires to care for us more than we could ever imagine or ask. We are learning that you get to experience this part of the Father the most by going through tuff stuff which in the moment isn’t too fun but we are learning is worth it.

Successful silent auction fundraiser and all the planning that goes into it.

Lara killed it! She worked really hard and it paid off! It took a lot of work on her part to put it all together and I am grateful for her! We also had some amazing people that donated a whole lot of awesome gifts and packages for auction. Lara and I wanted to keep all of them for ourselves because they were so great! Thankfully we had many of you come out and bid on them instead. I had a really fun evening with our friends and family celebrating my birthday as well as we were able to raise over $3100 to go towards purchasing plane tickets and vehicles in South Africa. Definitely a great night!

From our family’s prayer card, the letter J – joy: That we may be filled to an overflow of His joy. Romans 15:13

Some fun events this month have been celebrating our 15 year anniversary, Elly’s dance recital and 2 weddings.

I can’t believe that it has been 15 years since we got married! Definitely the best thing that has ever happened to the both of us and yes we are more in love today than ever and have so much fun in together! This is the only way we would choose to do life. We were suppose to go out of town for the week but ended up spending the night and next day sitting under a tree in the grass in the small town of Davidson. It wasn’t the week we had planned but it was just what we needed…it just needed to be much longer!

Elly did awesome at her recital! We could really tell that she has improved from the time she first began a couple years ago. Masterpiece Dance Studio is amazing and we will miss all of them especially Mrs. Jackie! Elly’s favorite dance was the Jazz dance because it is fast and she gets to “shake her booty”. She gets her dance skills from her mom for sure! It was a bittersweet time as well seeing Elly and two of her bff’s dancing together for a special ballet piece. Great memories and we got the DVD so we can watch it over and over and over.

Prayer points for this month:

Visas – we need to be applying this week and praying that there is no issues with the consulate accepting and approving them quickly.
Trip to NYC to apply for visas with the SA consulate
Putting our home on the market and selling the rest of our furniture, cars, etc.
From our family’s prayer card, the letter T – Travel arrangements: purchasing the best plane tickets, cost, routes, etc.
To have 100% of monthly support finalized and one time set up cost in
Strength: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.

Psalms 28:7

Snap, Crackle and Pop

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Snap, Crackle and Pop…

This is probably the sound that you think of when someone says, chiropractor. For me, when I thought of this type of doctor I thought it was an additive to real medicine, pain relief or good health. Not a necessity or priority. Come to find out it is so much more than popping your stiff back and twisting your neck real hard.

Did you know that the body was designed and able to heal it’s self from many of the common issues we are having today with out surgery or medicines. I had no idea! I also am not one that relies on medicines and prefers a natural way of medicine or healing. This is why our family tries to regularly eat a clean diet (this is a whole other topic I could talk on for a while) and use alternatives to medicines like essential oils. Therefore, the idea that chiropractic adjustments can boost healing for my whole body not just bones and joints, intrigued me a lot.

“As a neurologically based chiropractic team we focus on the master control center for the body. We remove pressure from your nervous system with specific, scientific, chiropractic adjustments, which allows the body to restore mental and physical health. More families are choosing principled chiropractic because no one is too young or too old to live at their optimum health.” – Greater Life Chiropractic

Lara and I went to Greater Life because of an immediate need that was causing regular problems that were more than just some pain. After going through the initial consultation and sitting through an engaging 30 minute class by Dr. Grant on the benefits of chiropractic medicine we knew we had to give it a try. They even use this really cool, state of the art scanner invented by NASA to get a picture of our spine. This helps them to determine problem areas you may be experiencing and plans for correcting these issues. This was really interesting for sure. The Process

Does it work? After a few weeks I can say my shoulder, knee, ankle, and wrist pain and problems seem to be minimal if not gone in some areas. Most of my back problems are gone too, other than when I try to lift weights that are too heavy. Lara’s pains and problems with her neck that were causing nausea and constant headaches seem to be gone too! We are excited to see all of the health the benefits of regular adjustments over more time as well! Here are a few results of health concerns that have been overcome by chiropractic help, Health concerns and research

As for the Greater Life staff , Dr. Grant and his wife Sam, they are awesome people! You will feel cared for and like one of the family before you leave your first visit! They also have the coolest doctors office ever, for real! Greater Life Chiropractic is one of the fastest growing pediatric chiropractic offices in Charlotte and NC which means they are good at what they do because even children enjoy going to the doctor! I promise they are not one of these services that try and talk you into any thing or scare you into believing you need their services. They are to the point and honest people that we trust!

I would strongly encourage YOU to just go check them out! I am definitely not doing them or chiropratic justice so please just check it them out and see for yourself. Greater Life . If you mention the Rousehouse you will get a complimentary evaluation which includes the scan of your spinal cord to see if there are any problem areas as well as they will build a custom plan that is specific for you and your needs. (We do not get paid to promote them either, just in case you are wondering :)) You will not regret getting to know them and learning more!

Will you be a Finisher!

Posted on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Hear where we are in our fundraising goals and just how close we are to 100% of our monthly support raising goal! Will you consider a monthly reoccurring gift to support us? If so, please let us know at spanky.rouse@gmail.com or click on Partnering with us… to go ahead and sign up. June 1st is our goal date and we need your help to get there! #finisher

#allthingsaredying

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

Just in case you aren’t familiar with #Hashtags (please don’t call this the pound sign, your children will be completely embarrassed and call you old) they are a simple and fun way to label something, briefly explain your thought, or make a point. Our family plays this game where we have an entire conversation using only hashtags. Elly is the queen at using hashtags and she is hilarious!!! I should video one of these conversations for all to enjoy one day. I will try to keep that in mind.

Lara and I jokingly have a few self labeled hashtags that we are using in this season. When something happens instead of explaining how we feel or getting into a long story we just throw out one of the hashtags like #allthingsaredying. It’s a silly way to recognize the irony of what is happening and allows us to brush it off and laugh at things that normally would drive us crazy. Let me explain #allthingsdying so that you don’t get too worried about us. This one is actually a good thing that the Lord is using to move us on to the next season of life.

A few months ago we began noticing that random things around the house were starting to die on us. Mac even mentioned that it feels like everything is wearing out at just the right time. Just so you get an idea of what we are talking about here are a few examples from the past couple weeks.

Mac’s ipod…he accidentally put that one to death in the car door!
both of our cars began showing signs of dying in the same week – but were brought back from the dead
The A/C in our home – was dead but has new life
our cloths dryer – dead
the ice maker in our fridge – dead
my wireless earbuds – dead
our microwave is barley hanging on to life

We then came to the conclusion 3 weeks ago that we are going to need to sell our home, which honestly felt like a death to us. We love this place that God has blessed us with and didn’t want to give it up. Through listening to others, prayer and a lot of tough conversations we believe that this is His best plan for us. This was not an easy decision and we took a week to mourn our loss. Through this decision Lara began to recognize this theme of dying to ourselves. Dying to yourself and your desires hurts and isn’t all that fun but we know that we can trust the Father! If death is what He has for us then it must be the best for us! Dying to your old life gives birth to the new life and paves away for an abundant life. God doesn’t take things a way too be mean but takes them away because He knows what is good for us.

Through dying we can see He is faithful, trustworthy, present, for us, sovereign, loving, compassionate, mighty, glorious, gracious, and the list goes on. Dying is a necessity and dying is worth it because we get more of Him and His goodness he has stored up for us! Psalms 145

When you are going through a time of death (and you will) and you can’t see past what is happening right in front of you read and re-read what the Lord says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you. They are good plans, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a future and a hope!” He never goes back on a promise either!

Did you know that your skin cells are constantly dying. In the next minute 667 skin cells will die and fall off your body, the next hour 40,000, over the next day close to a million cells die and fall off your body! That is kind of gross if you think about what happens to all of those that have fallen off your body this week alone. Where are they??? Back to my point, they have to die so new cells can grow. As skin cells grow and others die your body is able to heal it’s self, protect you from infections and viruses, and technically makes you waterproof (seriously, think about it). But none of this would be possible if your skin didn’t die constantly so that better, newer skin could be born.

What is dying in your life that God is wanting to use for your good?

What needs to die in your life to allow you to experience the abundance He has for you?

#allthingsaredying

Be still, Wait on the Lord, & Watch Him do it

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

godisdoinganewthing

For the past couple of years I have tried to pay attention to the themes I believe the Lord is wanting me to learn or hear from him. Last year, for instance, was “I am His beloved son”. Those lessons learned changed my perspective on a lot in life and I believe will empower me to run this race of life better, for sure!

It is now close to the fourth month of the year and I am just now starting to see clearly (clear as mud currently) what this years theme might be from the Lord. “Be still, wait on me (God), and watch me do it!” I like the last part of this theme, “watch me do it” but the previous two points frustrate me to be honest. Maybe this is why He has chosen to teach me about them.

Be still – In my personal experience over these past couple months I have since the Lord saying, “CHILL OUT! REST! Let me refresh you!” I love to rest and vacation but I think that there is a time and place for that. So when I hear this part of the my yearly theme (Rest) over and over it frustrates me. Most days I feel like I have 1 million things to accomplish therefore if I don’t do all that I can the world is going to fall apart, right???

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalms 46:10

Wait on me – Again not a topic that I excel in. I like action. I am a head down, check off the task list, don’t get in my way kind of person. This idea that I am suppose to not only be chilling with God but now I am suppose to stop trying to figure life out and make things happen makes me feel like I am going insane. I have crazy questions rumbling around in my head like, “How long do I wait? God are you paying attention to the time table I have set? How far behind are we going to be, if God ever shows up and gets started”. Don’t judge me I know you have all thought these same things before, I just said them out loud. **BTW, I think God is ok with us getting real and asking our stupid, off the wall questions. He may even enjoy it when we get this honest. What I perceive to be the real meaning for me behind “wait on me” is trust. He wants me to trust that He is good and in control as I rest in Him and wait.

We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. Psalms 33:20

Watch me (God) do it – This one isn’t too developed in my head, heart or life just yet but I LIKE IT! I know that He likes to show off His glory and I believe that there is nothing too big for God to do. At least in my head I know these truths so maybe His point with this one is to get it in my heart. The thought I keep having is what is “it” and how big is He going to show up doing “it”? I’ll keep you posted on this one.

I know that my God is moving in great ways and I know that He deeply longs for me to trust him and let go of the steering wheel. The funny thing is, when I do the opposite of these three I don’t enjoy life as well nor do the people around me. I believe that the Father is trying to lead me in my life in such a way that I will thrive, be refreshed, enjoy the fullness of Him and be a blessing to all of those around me. What a surprise, He does know what is best for me (said with much sarcasm).

He is good and is pursuing us with a great passion! Let’s pay attention today to how He is working and loving us! Stay tuned. I know that I will have much more to learn over these next 8 months of 2017.

The Rousehouse is Moving to AFRICA!

Posted on February 2, 2017February 2, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

The Rousehouse has taken some big steps before but this may be the biggest one yet! We are moving to AFRICA!!! We are so excited to publicly announce this news as well as tell you a little bit about our story. So here you go…

Last summer our family moved into the neighborhood that surrounded Piney Grove Elementary, the school we had built a partnership with through Ridge Church and had been volunteering at for the past few years. We had no idea how the Lord was going to use that step of faith to call us to even bigger ones. We moved into the neighborhood because we loved the idea of our family living missionally beside these people we had been serving and fallen in love with. We loved the idea of our family being intentional about building relationships in a community of people that maybe didn’t look or act exactly like we did. We believe there is a great big God who is constantly at work in this great big world and by living our lives this way our family will be able to experience Him more and hopefully, just maybe, He would use us to bring others closer to Him. What a privilege!

Fast forward to this past March…

Lara and I had the opportunity to travel to Cape Town, South Africa to visit a missional community that I serve with at UWM called East Mountain. As we spent time with this group of people we saw something that sparked a passion inside of us. The excitement began to grow as we saw how they serve and support the local church and how they live in healthy community with one another. It was also very exciting to see how they are partnering with ministries in South Africa similarly to how we have partnered with Piney Grove. As East Mountain is serving alongside these national workers God is using them to grow His church, strengthen indigenousness leaders, and do good works while living in healthy community with each other. Lara and I have patiently been waiting for God to provide an opportunity for our family to serve overseas for a few years and through this trip He did just that. Our time in South Africa was awesome, simply because we heard the Father’s voice calling us to something amazing.

After a whole lot of prayer and discernment, we feel like this is how the Lord wants the Rousehouse to, “Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you” (Ephesians 4:1). We feel like this calling is God extending His grace to us. It is a privilege to serve alongside the other missionaries in this community as well as be a part of how the Lord is building His church all over the globe, especially in Africa, a part of the world we fell in love with many years ago.

We have committed to serve in South Africa for 3 years on staff with
East Mountain. East Mountain is a community of people who love Jesus and are passionate about teaching, developing and empowering leaders. They accomplish this through one-on-one discipleship, training workshops, theological education, and spiritual formation as well as forming authentic relationships with leaders already engaged in excellent Kingdom work in churches, non-profit organizations, and schools. While we are there we will spend a third of our time doing a specific role/job, and third of our time will be spent serving as a family in one of these local partnerships, and a third of our time being developed ourselves as leaders and Christ followers.

Lara and I have been involved in missions from the very beginning of our marriage. We have served in Brazil, Panama, Uganda, our local church, and in our community, Piney Grove. Our whole family shares this love for people and we know that we were created to live our lives this way. By living in community we care for others and we are cared for, we disciple others and we are discipled, and as we serve others we are blessed beyond measure. We are super excited about the work God has called us to and we know He has not called us to do it alone. We are seeking a team of partners that will help with meeting our financial support goals, praying for us, and connecting us to others who may be able to partner with us as well.

There will be many stories and lessons learned that we will want to share here on our blog, we hope that you will stop by and follow us along the way! God is doing a good work and we look forward to telling you all about it!

If you would like to grab coffee, a meal, or simply give us a call to hear more please email Spanky directly to set up a time we would be honored to answer your questions and share more with you! spanky.rouse@gmail.com

You can also learn more about East Mountain at http://www.eastmountain.tv .

It is our desire to make an impact globally, serve locally, and invest deeply in God’s people and we would love to have you on this journey with us!

If you would like information on how to partner with us through sending us, praying for us, and supporting our family in this mission you can either let us know by emailing Spanky or clicking here.

2016!

Posted on December 21, 2016February 2, 2017 by Spanky Rouse

What a big year!

-2016 Summer Olympics screen-shot-2016-12-21-at-11-39-43-am

-Cuba, you can now freely (legally) visit this beautiful island!

– Zika virus outbreak stormed Latin America

-The Queen of England turned 90 years old

– US Presidential Elections…Oh my! 2016-election

– Syrian Crisis

-Hurricane Matthew 58615649_hm_queen_elizabeth_iiembargoed_until_0001am_gmt_sunday_february_12th_2012_first_use_on_the-large_trans5imstzwctiy5u7qsxwr4txprc0l9pb_vion6sux5xte

-Is the UK leaving the EU???

And so much more happened in 2016!

For the Rousehouse it was a big year too!

-Elly started Kindergarten

-Mac began middle school

-Lara and I took a trip to South Africa

-Mac made it to Africa for the first time!

-I was able to play a role in mobilizing/recruiting 61 new missionaries. PTL!

-Family camping trip for Fathers day

-I visited China for the first time

-Beach Vacation

-Family trip to Atl to see the Braves play one of their last games at Turner Field

-Spanky ran his first (of many) Spartan races! hoorah!

This past year also included some significant spiritual formation for both Lara and I. Both of us went on an amazing weekend with the Battle for the Heart where we have seen the Lord spark something great in us for Him and His word. We have seen the Lord grow our children physically, mentally, and spiritually this past year. We have seen our relational influence grow in different circles of life. Our fitness and nutrition has been on a good path where we have seen some wonderful changes and feel much better. We have heard from God in many ways and as a family have been seeking after His plans for our lives more intentionally.

This has been a memorable year for the Rousehouse! I know that 2017 will be even more eventful, challenging, and more rewarding than we can even imagine. I can’t wait to share more details about our next steps in this journey of life come January. Be on the look out because it is the biggest “MOVE” we have ever taken and we are super excited to share it with all of you!

2016 verse of the year is Psalms 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” This is one of the things that I believe the Father has been trying to help me understand. Be still, slow down, wait on Him, don’t try and make it all happen, rest in the fact that He has it all figured out, and enjoy His presence fully.

Super Heros or Missionaries

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Spanky Rouse

(None of these pictures are UWM personnel or ministry sites)

I LOVE missionaries! Since the age of 14 I have had a draw to those who are living out there faith in big ways among another culture…why I ask.

I am standing here in a time of worship with a group of missionaries and I begin to wonder what is it that is so remarkable about them. They truly are amazing people and families, so what is it about them?

This is a personal reflection that I have listed out that I thought I would share with you. I share it because I believe that they aren’t some super Christians or more anointed children of the King than anyone of us have the right to, but when you are with them you realize there is something more about them. So, here is what I have noticed…

They pursue God all out with their life!
Worship is sweeter to them
Prayer is more powerful to them
That care deeply for others
Their love is not just a theory but an action
They are normal people that believe God can use them
They have the idea that life is short so enjoy it…they know how to have fun!
They care less about themselves and more about others
They see people as those loved by God
They are adventurous
They are a bit crazy (in a good way)which leads them in faith not rationalizm
Their joy is attractive
They are steadfast and strong

Missionaries are encouraging, inspiring, and in my mind, resemble Jesus. The hero’s of faith that I look up to and use as guides to who God wants me to be actually have faces and names that the majority of this world will never know…I thank God that I have the previledge of knowing many of them that are true world changers!