We were feeling his direction in our lives. We were brand new believers, and even looking back now, we find it amazing how he orchestrated the circumstances to set us up to be where we're at now. Very early on it became clear to us that the gospel message wasn't a separate category from that of taking his word to others who have never heard it. Both hearing and sharing the good news is all part of the same package. God blesses his people... so that they may be a blessing to the rest of the world. That's a major theme in his revealed word to us. It's woven all throughout the bible.
With this understanding, it was never a question of whether or not to be involved in missions, but HOW we would be involved. We didn't know much, but we knew that we couldn't go wrong by taking steps in accordance with what we knew. It was a process of taking those steps (in contrast to standing idle and waiting for the proverbial 'brick in the head') that God used to confirm and direct us. As God directed our steps, we found more and more that our desires were leaning toward taking the gospel message to one of the remotest places on earth. God powerfully confirmed each step along the way through his word, the strong backing of church leadership and supporters, and in some places along the way, amazing circumstances that spoke to us, "God is behind this."
Over a period of 4 years, God gave us some solid direction, took us through 2 years of training with New Tribes Mission in North Cotes, England, and gave us a fast send-off from our home church in Tempe, Arizona. We've now been living and serving in the Mibu tribe for over 6 years now. God continues to confirm where we're at as he continues to teach us and bless our ministry. He's given us much joy (even in the extremely difficult times) in our ministry and it would seem that God's got us in there for the long haul.
Geoff's primary involvement in ministry revolves around translating the Bible into the Mibu language and also discipleship/coaching with some of the Mibu believers. Shannon's job as a homemaker has grown more recently with the addition of our third daughter (born 5/11/2010). Even while keeping up with three young daughters and managing a household she still finds time to further her language abilities as well as spending time coaching some of the women in Mibu in their faith. We consider our ministry a whole family thing. Our children are very much a part of our ministry in Mibu as well.
Please take some time to read "The Mibu Story" for more details about the ministry we're involved in. Then pay attention to our regular posts to continue following the unfolding story of the church in Mibu!
