Diane and Drew Henley

Bio

Served: Atlanta, GA 2005-2006
Did Mission Year: After College
Where They Are Now: Atlanta, GA

What made you decide to do Mission Year Married – what was the draw for you?

We started to see more and more of God’s heart for the poor in scripture, and we wanted to be able to learn how to live out the gospel in the inner city, and Mission Year seemed like the perfect way to go about it- in community with other Christians.

What types of service and outreach were you involved with during your Mission Year?

My volunteer site was Grant Park Clinic, a small clinic that serves mostly uninsured hispanic patients. My husband’s sites were Habitat for Humanity and an after-school program in our neighborhood. They were amazing service sites and a great fit for both of us. I was hired on at Grant Park Clinic and Drew was hired at Habitat for Humanity after MY was completed, and we live above the after-school program and have continued to be connected in relationship with those children and their families.

As far as outreach, we were involved in reaching out to form relationships in our neighborhood. Together with our housemates, we would have cookouts, volleyball games, and just have people over for dinner and games. We coached a soccer team that was comprised of kids from the nieghborhood and just sought to hang out with the people in our neighborhood a lot.

How are you different from having lived for a year in the city?

We are a lot less naive to the problems that poor communities face. The Lord really used this year to teach us about his heart for the poor and the joy/need to live a life of simplicity. He showed us the joy that he brings when we serve those in need.

How has your Mission Year experience affected your future plans & goals?

We felt very connected to our neighbors by the end of Mission Year, and decided to continue living on the same street to be able to continue those relationships long-term. God has continued to work in those relationships since then in even bigger ways than during Mission Year through the trust and depth that has been built since then. My years at Grant Park Clinic showed me a need for quality healthcare among the uninsured, and especially among people that aren’t ordinarily loved and accepted… so after working there for a while, I felt like God was telling me to go back to nursing school to be able to be better equipped to meet some of those needs. My husband continues to build houses through Habitat because we saw what a huge impact affordable housing has on the stability of the lives of our neighbors. We have been thankful for the support of continuing to live nearby our housemates, and have been thankful to join a church where we can grow and know more of God so we can be rooted in His love and His word as we hold it out to people around us.

How did Mission Year Married enrich your marriage?

We came to Mission Year straight off of our honeymoon, so we were very much still learning how to be married when we moved in with two other couples! It was an amazing experience to be able to walk through that first year with two other Christian couples who allowed us to see the ups and downs of their marriages and were such wonderful support. It was a challenge to learn together with them what it looks like to prioritize our marriage while pouring our lives out to those around us.

What did you learn about God during your year?

I learned how much I need Him. And how much everyone around me needs Him. Not just the drug dealers or the prostitutes… I saw that I need Jesus every moment, that my housemates need Him, that my husband needs Him, that my neighbors need Him, that my coworkers need Him… Jesus offers a hope and love and forgiveness that cannot be found in a program or in doing more things or in trying to clean yourself up. I learned that He cares about people way more than I do, and that He can understand people’s pain way better than I do, because He has been there, and He will continue to be there long after I am gone.

Can you give some words of wisdom to potential team members?

While loving God and loving people, remember that loving God has to come first. Loving other people can only truly come from an overflow of knowing more of God and the love and grace He offers.