Where It All Began

In 2004, our church was putting together a team to go to El Salvador, to serve with King’s Castle, under missionaries Don & Terri Triplett. They would have several different areas of serving to choose from, but because we were both in the medical field, they asked if we would join the medical team. The Lord really tugged at our hearts to go, but we still had young children at home, an 8 yr old and 6 yr old, and would have to burden our family with, not just watching them, but getting them back and forth to school everyday. We would also have to figure out how to raise $2600, which was the total cost for both of us.

God amazingly worked everything out for us both to go. We had family willing to watch the kids, and we both miraculously received bonuses at work, that together paid for our trip with $2 extra!! Only God can do that!!

On that trip while we were up in the prayer fortress with our team, we both individually felt God calling us into missions. At the time, we thought He wanted us to just join the team, returning to El Salvador every year, for a week or so. We committed to that, and returned with the team the following year, 2005. It was on this trip, while again praying in the prayer fortress, that God spoke to both of our hearts, about becoming full time missionaries there in El Salvador.

On our free day at the beach, we spent time talking with Don & Terri about what we felt the Lord spoke to us, and they invited us to join their team as missionary associates through the Assemblies of God.

When we returned home and shared the news with family, we received their blessings, for the most part. We had to do mountains of paperwork, and every kind of background check imaginable, before being accepted, which took about 6-8 months. Once we were accepted, we started the long process of raising our budget, which was set up by the Tripletts, based on all living expenses in El Salvador for a family of 4. We were told that this process would probably take about 2 years, but God’s hand was in this all the way, and we not only raised all of our budget, but sold 2 houses and a car within 3 weeks, once the budget was met. This whole process took us 18 months!

In August of 2008, we moved our family first to Costa Rica for 8 months, for mandatory Spanish classes, and in May of 2009, we were finally in our new home in El Salvador, where we served in compassion ministry for 4 1/2 years. We worked with a physician in a free clinic at the camp, worked with medical teams from the US & Canada, headed up several children’s feeding programs, served in an elderly ministry at our church, giving weekly food donations to a group who couldn’t provide for themselves, and had no family to help them,  also started a milk program for infants and pregnant mothers, who needed the extra nutrition. There were many other areas of ministry that we helped with over the years we were there, and we are so grateful for this opportunity. Our children ministered in children’s and youth ministry while there, as well. They went on mission trips to neighboring countries with their pastors without us, and have both learned to speak Spanish, fluently. We thank God for His calling on our lives!