Greg's Story:
When I was a little kid I had a globe. I’d spin the globe and put my finger on it to stop it. My finger usually landed in exotic locales like Vanuatu or Madagascar. Sometimes it would land in Siberia or an island group like the Azores. I can’t say when for sure I developed a love for geography, world flags and maps in general but it definitely predated my life as a Christian.
I always used to wonder, ‘what makes people like this?’ or ‘what makes people like that?’ I’d ask questions like ‘Why does this flag have stripes and this flag have a gun on it?’ By the time I was 17 I understood the answer to that far better. That was the time that I began to follow Christ. I understood that people were very different because they were spread around the world and lived in different climates, heritages and different economies. I also understood that God loved them all and wanted them to be back in the relationship he intended with them. Soon after I became a Christian (in 1999) I found myself at Mid Atlantic Christian University studying to be a preacher. My interest in the world was not lost as I passed international flags and was introduced to what missionary work really meant. I met people who lived in Southeast Asia, Ghana and Colombia (and much more!) and started to understand that the task truly is great. A year into college I met my wife who had a passion for Europe. Looking back, all of these things (including my 2 years of training in French in High School), are stones that build on who we are today. I was so young in the faith. I had gone from sitting through church to studying the bible and hearing new ideas about ‘The Kingdom’ in only 2 years. Now, my best friend and future wife was talking missionary work! I had a passion for people, a knowledge of the French language and more importantly, a knowledge that the French as a nation had long since seen God as distant and isolated. Flash forward to a few short years ago when a friend (Kevin) asked if I’d like to go to Japan to help in the Tsunami/Earthquake aid. I quickly said yes and a few months later we were helping people on a different continent. It was on that trip that, though we had spoken to many missionaries and organizations about their work, I truly realized what it meant to ‘Go.’ It was there that I realized I could/should/would go. Not that I hadn’t gone, because I had been ministering for years, but I felt a significant urge and call. Coupled with the knowledge that two of our very good friends Mike & Joanne had just ‘gone’ to Tanzania, I knew this was right. Recently our daughter Ophelia was running around the house with a pamphlet. I opened and read it. It was the words of Keith Green. One of the statements was simple and went like this, ‘God said to go.’ |
Nikki's Story:
I first visited France in 1998 during a brief touristy trip in Europe. The short of it is that I didn't enjoy Paris and didn't plan on ever returning unless it was just to visit the museums that were on strike during my first stay. Needless to say, my French was abysmal (1 year in middle school) which didn't make things any simpler. One of the best things about this vacation, however, was that it opened my eyes to the religious climate in Europe which really struck me as I was about to attend college to get a degree in missions work.
Also in 1998 I attended the National Missionary Convention (now ICOM) where I went to a workshop on Christianity in Europe, led by an American man who was serving as a missionary in France. College came and went and I never lost my heart for Europe. But I got married and moved to Pennsylvania to help my husband do youth ministry instead. We got the chance to attend the National Missionary Convention in 2007 together and picked up brochures from organizations working in Europe, including one from Kontaktmission. We even signed up for their prayer emails that we kept up with for a while. Some of the work sounded appealing but we weren't ready to go just yet so I put the pamphlets and postcards into folders in the filing cabinet. In 2008 I met some people online who live in France and I gradually became friends with one of those people. Throughout our conversations, I came to realize that not all French people hate Americans and that there really is a spiritual void present in France. I began to really pray about my friend and the French people in general and felt very drawn. It was at that time that I felt God was telling me that He wanted me to go to France. I asked for details and the response was that I didn't need them. (I like life to be outlined very plainly. I planned out my entire college course schedule during my Freshman year.) From that point on, now and then we would look into what various missions organizations were doing in France and just weren't satisfied with the answers we received. In 2012 we decided to get serious about the mission field. I dug into the file cabinet and came up with 2 organizations to contact. One of the groups was very slow getting back to us. Kontaktmission was quick to respond even though they didn't have anyone in France. They were the first organization that didn't try to send us somewhere we didn't feel called to. There was no bait and switch. Once Rob, the US director, saw that we were serious about France and talked it over with the other directors, he said, sure, let's see what we can do! |
In May 2013 we went to France with Rob Harris, US Director of Kontaktmission, to meet various French mission organization directors and workers. It was a humbling experience, hearing their passion to reach their country and knowing that they took time out of busy schedules to talk with us about their goals and how we could potentially work together to achieve them. We felt like we met everyone we really needed to, from directors to French church leaders to missionaries already serving with them. If you supported that trip in any way, thank you! We gained so much from those face-to-face meetings that were planned and from the many more that were not.
Greg officially left his full-time ministry job in July 2014 and we became full-time support raisers. We moved in with friends, sold many of our things and put many miles on our car as we travelled to various churches, spoke at camp and VBSes, and squeezed in friends and family time before it was time to go.
On December 31, 2014 we boarded a plane that took us to Europe followed by a morning connector flight to Lyon, France. After a 2 hour van ride, we arrived at our apartment in Albertville, France where we lived until the end of July at the CCEF-AFEB language school.We began at the church planter training institute in Loches, France in October 2015.
In July 2016, we moved to Descartes, France to begin working there with another couple with the goal of opening a church in October 2016.
In July 2016, we moved to Descartes, France to begin working there with another couple with the goal of opening a church in October 2016.