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Welcome to Apollo's Sidebar |
100% Drag 'n Drop
Every single element of Apollo is completely drag 'n drop. |
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3Three Big Things
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1This was a short term mission trip with long term goals. One of our teammates launched into full time ministry in Bulgaria from our trip. He is still a missionary to Bulgaria with Antioch Partners.
2We worked in conjunction with a local church in Cincinnati which supported an evangelical church plant in Vidin, Bulgaria, where we were able to hold a camp, play games, evangelize and spread the presence of that local church in the community
3God gave me a vision and called me to pursue that vision during one of our meal times in Bulgaria. We ate this Bulgarian salad of lettuce, goat cheese and tomatoes every meal. It was great at first but then you ended up looking for something different each meal. However, one of our meal times was different and it wasn’t the food. We had a dinner with a missionary family from the states. They had been in Bulgaria for 10 years and they hosted our basketball team for dinner while they shared about what God was doing in Bulgaria through their ministry. He was a professor at an evangelical seminary in the capital city and his ministry was theological education. God spoke to me during those moments telling me that I could be in his shoes someday.
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Early LifeI grew up in a pastor’s home and missions has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, even though my family didn’t go on any mission’s trips. Instead, they brought missions into our home. We did foster care and from the time I was a kid until I left for college we cared for hundreds of kids. Most stayed for just a few weeks, but over the course of my childhood there would be dozens of kids that would stay in our home for several years. After the rest of my brothers were out of the house my parents decided to adopt two more children. Living in a foster family deeply formed who I am today. Although, I didn’t always appreciate my experiences. Living in a foster family is difficult and requires a very selfless attitude. I had to learn to give up my family to these foster children, but in the end I received more than I ever hoped for as I experienced first hand the transforming self-giving love of God in the lives of my parents and the impact they made in the lives of children that were desperate for the kind of love only God can give. I would say God was planting a missions mind in me during these years.
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During my internship in India teaching at Asian Baptist Bible college I experienced what every teacher dreams of experiencing: engaged students eager to learn, attentive on the edge of their seat begging you to continue and teach more - all the while in run down classrooms with little light small room and a few pieces of paper to take notes on. Students that were desperate for gospel truth and willing to give all they had to learn more. In contrast to my education that I viewed as free, these students would give all they had just to take any one of the classes that I had received in my wonderful education experience. A verse that I have continually applied to this perspective is from Jesus’ instruction to his disciples just before he sent them out on their first mission’s trip. After giving them instruction on how to disciple other people he gave them this dictum “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matt. 10:8). God began to transform my heart to see how I could apply this verse in my life by teaching in theological education overseas where I would seek to give freely to foreign students the kind of education and instruction that I received for free..
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My Mission |
God has called me to provide theological education to address this very need. Combining the heart transformation of my early years, my passion to learn and teach, my experiences in overseas missions, and the revelation of the need of the church - these together have led me to prepare for the mission field.
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Josh and JodieFor Jodie and I, our friendship grew after college and when we began to date we knew that God could call us to the mission field and so our hearts were being prepared for that. We married in the summer of 2009 and moved to Dallas for my graduate studies and during that time we were able to go on two mission trips as a married couple, and God confirmed his call in our lives. We are a team as we both share a passion for education and compliment each other in many ways. Jodie helps with keeping things organized as she is the real brains behind the operation, and she is a very good educator. I lean on her for good methods in teaching. In God’s providence he led us to Perry Hall Christian School for two years to be a part of an education experience where we could serve others while God was preparing our way to Papua New Guinea.
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