I have a sending church!!!!!!!

Last Wednesday, I got the news from University Church of Christ in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  I first met Bob and Kelly a year ago at this dinner for Missions Resource Network.  A couple of weekends later, Craig and Merschon went to Alabama to present the vision for our work in Dublin.  Soon after, UCC signed on as the Hutson's sending congregation.  The Hutson's left in August to join the rest of the team in Dublin, leaving me here all alone.

Fast-forward a few months.  Craig and Merschon made a visit to Alabama to check-in with their UCC family when they came back to the States for a few days after Christmas.  During a coffee-conversation with Bob and Kelly, Bob said "What if University sent Jo, too?"  That began a month of scheming, dreaming, and praying on the part of the Hutsons, Bob, and Kelly.

Fast forward another month.  While I was in Dublin for a two-week visit, Craig and Merschon let me in on the conversation.  Bob had sent them an email saying that UCC would like to move forward with the possibility of becoming my sending church.  When I got home from my trip, we made plans for my own visit to Alabama.

I have never been around a church with a more generous heart, a more unified spirit, or a greater involvement in discipleship.  Everyone I met was genuinely excited about the work that is already happening in Dublin.  What a great cloud of witnesses!

A tentative timeline: I'm going back to Alabama for one more visit the 1st weekend in June. The plan is to leave for Dublin shortly after that, sometime around June 8th or so (excited squeal)!!!!

"He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it"  --1 Thess. 5:24

And He has!