August 2024 Update!

 Hello to our wonderful friends and family!

We are writing to you on a beautiful sunny day in Minnesota as we soak in our final days here before heading back to Georgia on September 10th! Some of the trees here are already turning colors, marking the changing of seasons. We hope that as seasons begin to shift, you are all finding comfort in the Father’s unchanging love! In this newsletter, you will find a few brief updates regarding our travels and upcoming plans as well as an incredible testimony of salvation! We’re thankful to have the opportunity to share all of these things with you and pray that you are encouraged by God’s authorship of our lives! 

WHAT ARE WE UP TO? WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

    As we explained in our last update, we’ve gotten to spend our engagement with our families on the West Coast and the Midwest! During our time in Minnesota in August, we especially enjoyed having our extended families together! We celebrated Baylee’s grandpa’s 80th birthday with a family boat ride on the Saint Croix River, and a week later, celebrated her family Christmas on Lake Superior (yes, they do celebrate Christmas in August lol). In between big celebrations like these, we’ve been meeting with faithful supporters, spending time with friends and family, and attending many weddings! We recently had the joy of taking a short trip back to the West Coast to celebrate the wedding of some of our dearest friends, Rachel and Nathan, who did the World Race with us! We’ve been deeply blessed by the time we’ve gotten to spend with our families and friends this summer, and we are excited to spend our wedding day on October 5th with many of them as well! 

A LITTLE PIECE OF BAYLEE’S HEART

A prayer we often pray is that our hearts would remain aligned with the Great Commandment given in Matthew 22:37: “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”. Recently, I’ve been studying the book of Exodus, with a particular focus on the life of Moses. Early on in the book of Exodus, Moses goes through an extensive identity crisis followed by a slow acceptance of his identity as God’s child and his role as the chosen vessel of deliverance for Israel. Though Moses’ initial response to God’s new identity and calling for him was, “‘oh, my Lord, please send someone else’” (Ex. 4:13), God, in His kindness and mercy, continued to help Moses make baby steps of obedience and trust. Slowly, as God revealed more of His love, provision, and character to Moses, he grew to love the Lord his God with his heart, soul, and mind. As Moses grew in love for his God, he grew to obey Him, and through Moses’ quivering, but bold obedience, God delivered His people from slavery through the parting of the Red Sea. Not only were the Israelites delivered from slavery, but the name of their God and the testimonies of His might were spread to the surrounding nations! Some 40 years following the parting of the Red Sea, Joshua sends spies into the land of Jericho where they run into a faithful woman named Rahab who testified, “. . . we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt . . . and as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the LORD your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:10-11). This story causes me to ponder; if Moses, choosing to be compelled by the love of God (2 Corinthians 5:14), obeyed Him, and thus testified not only to the nation of Israel, but to the nations of the world that Yahweh was the One True God, will God not use and multiply our obedience for His glory and fame also? 

A LITTLE PIECE OF ETHAN’S HEART

Recently, while interviewing an applicant for the World Race, God brought a young woman from death to life, just like He did for me a few years ago! 

“Wait, do I need to be like, religious to do this trip?” the girl asked. “No, not religious, just a follower of Jesus!” I said enthusiastically. “Okay, okay, well I’m religious” she responded. Smiling to myself I said “Great, looking forward to chatting with you again soon!” I then prayed for her before we hung up. A few days later we had an interview call scheduled. She picked up, sounding particularly down compared to the last call we had. I asked her a few questions before I asked if I could share my story with her. “Yes, that’s fine” she stated, pretty mellow. I then started to tell the story of how I dealt with anxiety and depression and even suicidal ideation. Crying… I just started to hear weeping. “Are you okay?” I asked. “I didn’t know you were going to start talking about suicide.” She stated firmly. She went on to express how life has been so hard recently and she has been dealing with depression for a while. She went on to talk about how her situation feels so heavy and how lost she feels. After listening to her share about her life I asked, “would it be alright if I finish my story, because I’m still alive today?”. “Yes, that's fine.” she replied.

 I then went on to tell her about the night that I was set free. “My pastor called me up to the front of the church, but I had never told anyone I was dealing with suicidal thoughts, so that was so jarring to me. When I got up front he said, ‘I know you won’t do it, but why live with the thought of it?’. This was even more jarring to me because I hadn’t told anyone that days prior, I had convinced myself to crash my car into a tree, until the conviction of the Holy Spirit became too much to follow through.  He then said ‘Ethan, I want you to proclaim your own freedom today’.’I’m free in Jesus’ name’, I said, pretty half-heartedly, not feeling free. He simply looked at me and said,’no you’re not, not yet’. He walked away and began to pray for people before coming back and again telling me to proclaim my own freedom. ‘I’m free in Jesus’ name’, I again stated, with little confidence behind my words. ‘nope, not yet’,  he responded before he went on to say, ‘there is a lion inside of you and you’re caging it’. He walked away again to pray for people and for the next little while I was being so ministered to by the Holy Spirit. He came back and prompted me to speak one last time. I took the microphone from him and from a deep well inside yelled, ‘I AM FREE IN JESUS’ NAME’! In that moment, I was completely set free from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and I havent dealt with them since. So now I say that I was going to give up my life willingly, but there was a man who went up on the cross and paid the price for my life, so I gave it to him. I knew Jesus was my Savior, but that day I started to recognize Him as my LORD.” 

She was silent on the other end of the phone for about 15 seconds before asking, ‘who is the real Jesus?’. I then shared the gospel from Adam and Eve, through Jesus’ resurrection. She had so many questions that I did my best to answer before sharing Romans 10:9 which says: “if you declare that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. A pause. ‘I believe,’ she said. I then taught her how to repent and ask for forgiveness, and we talked for another 20 minutes or so. At that time, she revealed to me that she had been a Musim growing up, but that she knew it wasn’t real. She couldn’t follow the things required of her, so she left the faith. I answered a few more questions she had before she asked to pray for me before we hung up! 

I can’t believe how good our God truly is. What a beautiful opportunity I had that day to share the TRUTH. I hope that hearing this testimony of how God used my testimony will prompt you to TESTIFY of the GOODNESS of the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

In closing, we are so thankful for our God and His faithfulness to move in us and through us, and your prayers and support are critical components to keeping the work of God moving in our communities and Adventures in Missions! Thank you for taking the time to read this update! In the next month, you can be praying for us in these specific ways: 

• That our marriage, beginning on October 5th, would grow to be a representation of Christ and His unending love for His Church! 

• That in the midst of moving, preparing for our wedding and marriage, growing together as a couple, and establishing our lives in Georgia together, we would keep Jesus at the center of all things!

• That we would seek to love the Lord more, and out of that love, we would joyfully follow Him!

We want to express our deep gratitude for those of you who have financially supported us; we praise God for your generosity! If you feel led to meet with us about supporting us financially, please contact us! We are currently halfway to meeting our $2,100 monthly support goal necessary to be able to continue in ministry with Adventures in Missions, and we would love to explore what partnership could look like! 

We will leave you with the encouragement given to the Corinthians: “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14). 

We love you all! 

Ethan and Baylee