As I was riding home today and contemplating all that has happened in my life God revealed to me the thread of His sovereignty that has been running the the fabric of every event that has taken place.
It all starts when I was about 13 years old. My parents were at a traditional "campmeeting" service in Dunn, NC. It was held in a gym and there were doors on the side of the building that were directly in view of the altar. I, being the typical 13 year old, was outside running and playing with my friends. Suddenly I stopped and looked through the window seeing my dad at the altar with both hands raised and crying. I turned to my friend and said, "My family has been called to the mission field". I ran off and continued to play. Little did I know that the Holy Spirit spoke to running little boys. Two years later we moved to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Flash forward a few years and I was attending college at East Carolina University and studying Spanish. I was doing work-study in the foreign language lab when a young French student walked in. His name was Tad Williams, from Rocky Mount, NC. Immediately we connected and became friends. But, he being older, graduated and we lost connection for the next few years. I got married and moved an hour away from our university.
The first job I received as a teacher in a local middle school. The first day I walk in and there for his first day sat Tad. He and his new bride became my best friends. For the next ten years we remained close friends even though their path eventually led them to Maine. While I was studying in seminary I drew from my Pentecostal background and slammed it into my Baptist theology and presto, out popped the Vineyard. I had been exposed briefly to the Vineyard through the Toronto Blessing days and all the controversy surrounding the awesome move of God that happened there.
Prior to all of this happening with Tad and Stephanie I had met my first wife. She was from a state that I only knew existed by name. We drove to visit her parents who were stationed there with the military. I immediately fell in love with New England (although God had prepared my heart as a child with a love for the Boston Celtics, the Byrd days).
Now back to the seminary graduation. I had every intention at the time to be moving to New Hampshire and planting a church. The seminary had an initiative to plant 20 Southern Baptist churches in 10 years. Although I wasn't planning on planting a baptist church I did have a burden to plant there. I began to study it and the summer before graduation I went to New Hampshire with my wife to visit and see if this was God. I came back excited and knew that graduation was coming in December. But four months out of seminary the biggest attack of Satan came that I know now was his plan to take me out of the game. My wife of ten years decided she didn't want to be a pastor's wife. (Fine time to tell me. LOL) My life and vision went into a tail spin.
In the midst of this storm (I'll spare you the details) I called my friends Tad and Stephanie. I didn't know what to do. Steph asked me, "What was the last thing God told you to do?" To which I replied, "Move to New England and plant a church." She said, "Then why aren't you here." I moved. No job. All faith. The next year would be a spiritual journey during a painful separation.
Now the reconnection to my calling as a teenager to Costa Rica begins. The only job I could get was with a worship leader on Tad's worship team. His name was... Josh LaFrance. It get's better. While working on Josh's house his dad walked in. Though he may not remember it, I met a future friend in a very broken time in a very passing way. Rodney LaFrance would later become a great friend that I hold in great esteem.
For the next year I would move back to NC to attempt reconciliation only to still end up divorced. After toiling over condemnation of being a divorced minister, I felt peace to move forward with God and a church plant. In that process a mutual friend from NC had moved to Ohio to help some friends in a new church plant. The church was a New Life church and was pastored by Pastor Chittum. His cousin, Joe Chittum, was helping him plant the church. Joe was from a VINEYARD! His family had links to Boston and Joe knew he wanted to go to the East Coast. Joe became my friend and joined a Vineyard church plant team to New Hampshire that I was forming.
Back in NC our team visited New Hampshire and went to a Maine Vineyard conference at the Vineyard in Lewiston, ME. While there I met three people that would be intricate parts of my life. Eladio, a Costa Rican, was visiting. I introduced myself to him in Spanish and told him of my connections to Costa Rica. He made it a point that I meet his American host who was leading a trip to Costa Rica the next summer and wanted me to be a part of the team. Who was that man? Rodney LaFrance. We immediately connected (in March), by April I was on the team.
At the same conference I met a very important friend, Arthur Butt. His church was adopting into the Vineyard from Manchester, NH. Our connection was obviously the Vineyard and New Hampshire. Our relationship would blossom over the next couple of years and eventually he would become a mentor that I deeply admire.
Meanwhile, God was working a miracle of restoration in my life. I met a woman through and online dating service. Funny thing is Shelly was from Columbus, Ohio and happened to attend a familiar named church, New Life. It was a part of the same network as my other friend, Joe, had attended. It gets better.
After going to Costa Rica in July I married Shelly in August (mind you, I had known her for over two years at this point). We continued forming our team and moved to New Hampshire with our team in June, 2006. We had our daughter in August and started the church in September.
But in the Fall of 2006 we started planning a missions trip to Costa Rica. I wanted to see more of the churches in New Hampshire get involved in Costa Rica. But at the time most of them had other missions that they were involved in. So, we formed our first team with people from NH, Maine and Ohio. Most of the team was from Ohio. One member, Matt Thomas, was a friend of Shelly's before I met her. Matt invited a friend of his from New Life Gahanna. He invited a friend named Eric Obert. Eric was going through a tough time and felt a missions trip would be good for him.
Summer of 2006, I returned to Costa Rica with our team and got involved with Los Anonos where Rodney and Cindy LaFrance had moved to plant a church. While there, Eric and Matt caught the vision of the Vineyard mission there. They returned to New Life with a desire to get their church involved. By the Fall of 2007 we were already forming a new team to return to CR, but this time it was with New Life Gahanna. Their team leader, Brian Robertson, had led many mission teams to several different countries. But Costa Rica proved to be different for Brian. He caught a vision for Costa Rica and since has taken multiple teams and even another church to Harvest Hands ministry in Los Anonos. New Life has surpassed my wildest dreams in their involvement and support in CR. Eric and Matt have returned several times. The last trip for Eric included his new bride and Shelly's friend, Lisa. Small world or God?
Flash back to New Hampshire. Due to the economy we had to stop our involvement temporarily in both CR and NH. Lame excuse maybe but our reality. But back in New Hampshire Arthur's church was going through many changes. One of the strangest though was an influx of Costa Ricans. His best friends in ministry (and friends of mine now), Les and Diana Morris, had a new addition to their family. Their son, Jon, met Erica (a Costa Rican) and were married in a matter of months. God began to work on the Morris' about doing missions in CR and on the Manchester Vineyard to get involved in CR.
Now, we are looking at all of this and thinking ok God when are you going to pull this thread and make all of this come together. We know that none of this is a coincidence. Perhaps we will be in NH again, or in CR or neither or both. We just have no idea where this is going next. I am sure I have left out some details, but there is definitely the the Sovereign Thread of God. Just keep stitching God. We are ready, willing and able.
