Let me back petal here just a little bit and give you some background information about us. Jake and I actually met on a missions trip. We were both on separate LST teams in Japan. We were in cities not too far from each other. Well, someone from my group knew someone from his group so we met up to do a FriendsCamp and the rest is history! During the past 7+ years (wow...its been awhile) between the two of us, we have done roughly 13 mission trips. We have always talked about doing some sort of long term work, but the right fit never came along.
Now jump to 2011. It was the end of July, Jake and I had just returned from 2 weeks in Mariupol, Ukraine on a Let's Start Talking (LST) mission trip. Our church, Woodland West Church of Christ, was hosting Operation Ecuador, a yearly conference for the churches and people who support the work in Ecuador. We decided to go since Jake is on the missions committee at WW, had been Guayaquil, Ecuador in the past and we had the days off work (we are those people that like to jam pack our schedules full!). But let me tell you, this was no coincidence.
I was sitting next to my dear friend Katy Thompson, who does a lot of medical mission trips to Ecuador, and Jake was standing near the rear of the gym trying to keep awake from jet lag. A guy by the name of Justin Snyder (great guy and current director of the SOH) went up on stage to talk about the Hacienda of Hope and School of Hope. He explained what the SOH was all about and then said that him and his family were wanting to transition back stateside in the next 3-4 years. His exact words were to start tapping shoulders of people who you think are potentially good candidates to become the new school director. That was when Katy elbowed me and exclaimed, "Jake!". But my mind was already there.
In fact, my heart and my mind already knew that this was for us. The Holy Spirit was stirring inside of me and I knew that God was calling us to move to Ecuador. I remember it so vividly and the overwhelming feelings that I had. I had a hard time keeping it together. In that moment, I almost burst into tears thinking what this meant for us... We have to leave all our friends, family, jobs and belongings. But it was also something really exciting. God was calling us to this amazing adventure.
In the mean time a couple people went over and actually tapped Jake on the shoulder. One of those people was one of our elders! Now Jake, being the logical guy he is, was very calm and rational about the whole thing. He wanted to gather more information. So we went to the break-out session meant for the HOH and SOH. We met with Justin and some missions committee members at Twickenham Church of Christ. They gave us a lot of information and it intrigued us more. A couple months later, Jake and I took a survey trip down to the SOH and spent 4 days there becoming acquainted with the work.
The more we learned and prayed about it, the more convinced we were that this was it. This was what we are supposed to be doing. All the factors were falling into place and everything seems to be perfectly tailored for us.
You know, it is amazing to see God's work at hand. He knows us each so personally and so well. He knew my emotional heart and how to touch me. He knew that Jake needed to be the rational one and make sure that it was a good fit. He also knew the perfect timing in our lives and in our marriage for us to go on this great adventure with Him. God served everything to us on this silver platter, uniquely prepared and designed just for Jake and Tanya Wilson. How does one dare say no?
God has a plan for our lives. Something greater than the "American dream" of a high paying job, large house and multiple cars. God is calling us to trust in Him... to rely fully on Him... and jump into a life fully revolved around Him. It is and will be an adventure.
We are so very excited and feel truly blessed by this opportunity and those who have supported us.
On our Wilson Support Sunday, Woodland West raised about $11,000 for our one time contribution and almost $500 of monthly support. There are not enough words to say thank you and how blessed we feel because of those who contributed.
We are still needing about $13,500 towards our goal of $40,000. Please consider donating. Monies go straight to Twickenham Church Christ.
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