The NEXT BIG ADVENTURE! We. Are. Moving!!!!

So, Lowcountry...YOU READY FOR THE NALLYCATS? We're moving to town (and back home)!!!!

This news seems exciting and surreal at the same time!! WE ARE MOVING to Beaufort, SC in just three weeks! WHOA. I wrote those words in a blog post.

God has taken Dustin and I on many adventures in our 11 years of marriage. Many adventures have not been conventional. Yup, that's us. Unconventional. And, it seems here we go again. 

We are moving to the Lowcountry for ministry. More like being sent as missionaries, since Dustin will not be transitioning directly into a pastorate.

We can't believe God wrote this story for us. We're excited, overwhelmed, and can't wait to see what the next years hold...because we have No. Idea. What. He. Is. Doing!

In moments like these we praise the Lord He guides our steps in His wisdom, not our own. It is certainly bittersweet to say "good bye" to our church family in North Carolina! Yet, we are super excited to get to know our new church family in Beaufort (and be closer to family who are in Hilton Head and Bluffton). 

Our Great God who directs our steps is sending us out on mission. It is a gift from the Lord that our church has been led through a recent study of Acts, and how God has used it to encourage our hearts during this season. Sermons on trusting the Lord, being ready in obedience if He says “Go” on mission for Him. We are all called to share the Gospel and be His workmanship, but as Acts 17:24-27 explains, God guides our steps to live and work where He calls – so that His Kingdom work can be most effective, and His glorious saving grace shared with those who are lost.
  
However, to be honest we feel a bit like Abraham when God told Him to go to the land He would show Him without giving him all the details, so that he could trust the Lord by faith. Even now, we don’t have all the details. 

This is what we know the Lord has revealed to us so far. In a few weeks we will move to Beaufort, SC to join with a year-old church plant, Cross Community Church. Working with Cross and the South Carolina Baptist Convention, we will begin the process of a church planting residency program, where we will build a team of which Dustin will be a lead pastor for a local church that needs to be revitalized in Beaufort County. That church and the timing (could be 3+ years) is yet to be determined. Lots of prayer there!  

Currently, around 88% of the Southern Baptist Churches in South Carolina are plateaued or dying. Beaufort County, South Carolina (Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, and Beaufort) has a population just over 160,000. Over 90% of that population, that’s 9 out of 10 people we would meet on a given day, do not have a personal relationship with Jesus – lost, without hope!! A spiritual awakening is happening in this area, so much so that even our North American Mission Board has recognized Beaufort County as a major target area for church plants and re-plants because of the tremendous population growth, and projected continual population growth over the next decade. 

While this ripe harvest field is incredibly exciting, when God calls us to obedience it is not always comfortable or easy. Currently, we have been asked by the Convention and the lead pastor at Cross to move down to Beaufort and plug into the church as the Lord continues to reveal more of His direction. That’s where the tremendous faith comes in!  

Since early into our marriage our love for the Lowcountry was stamped on our hearts. Through seminary that love grew, and we began working with a dying church on Hilton Head Island for 8 months in hopes of doing a church re-launch with a pastoral team. But, God had different plans! We felt very clearly that He said “no” at that time. Shortly after, God made it clear to us that Dustin was called as the Discipleship Pastor at Central Baptist Church, and for us to minister to Henderson. And what a joy these almost four years have been – what incredible ministry/service the Lord has allowed us to be a part of! 

All the while, the desire for the Lowcounty to be reached for the Gospel was still a burden on our hearts. We began seeking Him even more this past year about why, and what, and when. One thing was clear, God was preparing Dustin to be a lead shepherd in a church somewhere in Beaufort County. 

Around August, we discovered a new church plant in Beaufort called Cross Community Church. Knowing the area very well, we had never heard of this church and became curious. (K.J.’s family lives in Hilton Head and Bluffton, and she grew up in Hilton Head during high school). We spent a couple of months researching Cross Community and listening to the pastor’s sermons. Awesome!

About the same time, we e-mailed the S.C. Baptist Association requesting the demographics for Beaufort County to help us in our praying for God's direction. Instead of sending us what we requested, the S.C. Convention wanted to know WHY we wanted that information.

Phone conversations began, and God began putting some pieces together for us! S.C. Baptist Convention had been praying for God to send pastors to Beaufort County. By sharing our burden for ministering to that area, we were an answer to that prayer. And Cross Community…this church we were following, was the church the Association was working with to be the healthy church to send out the next Beaufort County church plant!  

In December, while visiting K.J.’s family for Christmas, we met with Taylor Burgess, the lead pastor of Cross Community to share our hearts. It was an amazing, God-ordained two-hour breakfast. And God again made a step clear, we needed to move down to Beaufort to begin whatever process and plan God has for us in ministry there. We needed to be obedient and trust Him. 

That brings us to where we are today. God is calling us out from Central and North Carolina to be on mission to Beaufort. The plan is for Dustin to start working bi-vocationally the end of April with SunTrust Bank, as he begins the church residency program. Besides saying “good bye” to our Central  church family, stepping-out of full-time ministry for a season to move to the land God has called us to, is the hardest part of this obedience. It truly breaks our hearts, as we love serving in pastoral ministry. But, in God’s sovereignty, He opened one position at SunTrust in Beaufort County the month Dustin began looking. So, we know He has a reason for him working there.

Our house was on the market for ONE DAY and was Under Contract. Everything was moving forward smoothly. Just Saturday the buyer on our house terminated the contract, one month before closing (really for no good reason!)! Two lessons...First, when God calls us to a mission it is not always smooth or easy. And secondly, His ways are not always understandable! But, we know His way is best for us and His glory! He sees the whole picture, so we pray He will SHOW OFF His awesomeness as people watch our obedience!

We have prayed for months for God to do AMAZING, God-sized work as we move to Beaufort, SC. Oh, he has!! I will write that post after we're settled! 

Please pray for us. It's been super stressful keeping our house staged for showings with two toddlers. Many house projects. K.J. editing a 500-page novel. And, all the moving and job details that can (and have) caused anxiety. But, we are AGAIN resolute to trust the Lord for each step as we go. 

South Carolina...get ready for us! We're coming soon. 

May God’s Glory shine in Beaufort as He transforms one life at a time…and uses our family in this process!

**I shared this information on our old family blog, because I didn't want to share such personal information on our ministry website: www.AbsorbedinHim.com.**