Babcock
Our plans for next year. . .
On June 5th, of 2009, I married my best friend. Cliché I know, but true. After a wonderful first year of marriage, we began feeling more and more led to alter the course of our lives together- forever. Having both spent a little time in Ecuador (Christin more than I), we knew serving God with our entire lives was what we were born to do. Nothing is better than living for Christ- except living for Christ with your bride by your side. After much prayer, we knew we were in need of serious training and education on how to truly do what we love with our lives.
So here we are, explaining to friends and families the upside down kingdom of God we believe in and taking a giant step of faith to grow in ways I’m sure we never imagined possible.
A little about myself: I am a lover of all music at heart, have a passion for urban gardening, and have a bachelors in business. I enjoy reading, playing piano and nice long walks.
We are SO excited to embark on a new journey together with God and Mission Year Married in Lagrange, Georgia!!
About Christin
For those who know Bryan and me, it is likely not surprising that Bryan would be so ready to give up the typical life of going to work and paying the bills to make this huge (and to some, crazy) change to leave his job and give of himself in service to others. Many are probably wondering how the “sensible” one (that would be me!) would have ever allowed this! :) While I was initially going through the website and reviewing the information, I felt completely torn. I immediately wanted to sign up and just do it, but I thought that it was impossible—there was no way we could do it. We both knew we needed a change, but was this really it? Mission Year seemed so extreme, so extraordinary. What about our finances? What about our jobs? What about all of these things that we are expected to do/be/achieve? What about our responsibilities? And then I thought, do any of these things even matter in God’s eyes? And what about faith? That’s when I knew that I was being challenged and pushed beyond my ideas of what normal life should look like. I knew that Mission Year was God’s answer to our desire for change.
I am very excited about the next year as we take this step of faith and leave everything familiar to live every day as intentional followers of Christ. I know for me, it becomes easy to fall into a routine and regular patterns of life and I often forget what my true purpose and calling is for every day. That calling is summed up with the Mission Year mantra, “Love God, love people.” I’m excited to be doing this with Alterna and learning more about what I can do to more actively pursue justice and love those who are often forgotten people.
I’m also thrilled to be able to begin this adventure with my husband beside me. It is an amazing experience to serve God with your life partner and best friend. The growth we will experience together will be immeasurable and will prepare us for a lifetime of service and intentional living for Christ.
While all of these things are wonderful and I can’t wait to get started, I know there will be times throughout the year that will be difficult and I may even ask myself, “What did I let Bryan talk me into now?!” I ask you to pray that God will give us the strength and courage to love even when it’s difficult. I ask you to pray that He will break my heart in a way that will continue to lead me to action. I ask you to pray that my world will be turned upside down as I learn to live fully reliant upon God and that after our mission year I will not return to life “as normal.”
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Babcock's Blog
Here we are; send us! / Aug 24, 05:36 PM
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8
This verse has been on my mind quite a bit lately and takes me back to my Junior Missionary Conference days. For one week each year, we would spend our evenings learning about exotic countries and hearing stories about those who had committed their lives to the mission field. These missionaries had left their homes, learned new languages, sometimes wore different clothing, ate strange food, and often faced dangerous situations—all because they answered God’s call.
Now it’s our turn. We have said “Here we are; send us!” In about a week, we will be headed to La Grange, Georgia. Maybe Georgia isn’t the most exotic place for a missionary: we get to wear our own clothes and we probably won’t be forced to eat too many unusual meals; we likely will not be in any danger. Does that mean we are not real missionaries? Of course not! We are going to La Grange as representatives of the Cross and making an effort to daily live the love of Christ. We will be sharing our lives, our faith, and our hope with many who are broken and without hope. Regardless of geography, that is a missionary.
The past few months have been a blur as we have made preparations for the year to come; it’s hard to believe our program is about to begin! God is teaching us so much through this experience and we aren’t even there yet! We have been in contact with our housemates, Pete and Cherilyn, and are eager to get to know them and share this journey. We have talked with different service sites and are excited about the many possibilities that await in La Grange. We have taken steps for a more simplified life and are definitely up for the reminder that it is God who supplies all that we need.
We are still raising support and are very blessed by those who have already given so generously. We ask that you continue to pray for us and consider partnering with us financially. In honor of Bryan’s 30th birthday (September 3!), we have decided to start a 30/30 campaign for the month of September. We would like to see 30 people commit to making a $30 donation ($1 a day!) to our Mission Year. You can make a donation online using the links on the side of this web page or find more information about mailing a check.
We are so thankful for all of those who have already done so much to show their support and commitment to us. We’ll do our best to keep you updated as things come together once we arrive in La Grange. We definitely will appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we set out and say, “Here we are; send us!”
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Preparations Update / Jul 17, 05:45 PM
We thought it might be nice to have a preparations update from us! While we are increasingly excited about altering the course of lives, it seems there is much to do to prepare! We recently completed our first newsletter and sent that out. If you made it to our blog and haven’t seen the newsletter yet- check it out at: Babcock
This week was the week we gave notice to our jobs and all went well. We also sold our piano this week which brought with it a few bittersweet tears. God is working in our hearts and in the hearts of those we know as we trust in Him during this transitional time. While it is stressful and there is plenty that is “unknown,” we are relying on Him to see us through. Through the natural process of change, we are beginning to feel what we think all those involved have probably felt at some point. We have found it increasingly important to be sure we have time to enjoy life together, to walk, to talk, to pray, and to simply be contemplative.
Thanks to all those who are supporting us and we hope to have more updates soon as we continue our exciting transition!!
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