"Have you told the kids yet?"
This was one of the first questions people asked us when we first started to share the news of our move to South Africa to do missions work. Our response was "Yes, they've known about it for several months now, and the boys have been an integral part of our decision-making process right from the start."
It all started with a family conversation over a back-yard barbecue in August. At this point, Kevin and I had long had a desire to staff YWAM's counseling school, and we'd just become aware of the existence of the YWAM base in Worcester, and it interested us - but we hadn't yet mentioned it to the children. Actually, over the years we'd talked with them about the possibility of landing up in Hawaii, as that's where YWAM's main campus is so it seemed like a logical possibility.
So, as we downed our burgers and grilled zucchini, I happened to ask the boys if they could be praying about what God might have for us as a family - whether that might be staying here in Ellensburg, or going somewhere else in the world.
Zaden's response was, "Well, why don't we just ask God about it right now?"
So down went our knives and forks, and we spent a couple of minutes just listening.
After a few seconds, Zaden piped up, "I got something!" and proceeded to tell us how God had told him: "We need to go to Africa, and we're going to meet some special people and we'll be friends for life".
Um, Africa?? That was unexpected. So at that point we started to seriously consider YWAM Worcester.
Meanwhile, Daniel was not excited about the prospect of South Africa - he felt sad at the idea of leaving friends behind, and if anything he saw himself surfing in Hawaii... And, in case you don't know Daniel, he is not one to give up on an idea once he's got his teeth into one.
But 2 days later he approached me and said, "I think God has changed my heart about this... we need to go to South Africa."
Around that same time, Zaden said to me, "You know when God told me we need to go to Africa? I think he was saying to go just for a visit, not for a long time."
So I said, "Well sweetheart, maybe that's something you can ask God about again, because Dad and I feel like God is asking us to go for longer."
"OK!" Zaden said, and disappeared into his bedroom. 20 seconds later he re-emerged: "Mum, I guess you were right. God did say we need to go for longer."
Honestly, THE most exciting aspect of our process thus far has been seeing how God has spoken to and encouraged the boys, and increased their faith through it. And now Daniel is making noises about wanting to get baptized.
As a parent, it doesn't get much better than this.
If you would like to help us with transition costs, please click on this link:
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If you're interested in supporting us monthly, please send us an email at kryangas@hotmail.com
