A Ramble About Our Vision

I started writing this blog four years ago upon the encouragement of several friends who liked what I had to say when I wrote and posted notes on Facebook. I have written what the Lord has laid on my heart in speaking about who we are, what discipleship looks like, and in writing about the Church. Today, I am writing about a vision which the Lord has laid on the hearts of my wife and I for several years now. We have discussed it at length, looked into it, prayed about it, and prayed about it some more. And now, we've come to understand that the Lord has told us that now is the time for us to start moving towards it and making it happen in a real and meaningful way.

When we moved from Idaho down to Arizona, my immediate plan was to find a job as quickly as possible. Since it had been a while, I thought the best and easiest place to start would be at the bottom in a service or retail job of some kind. So I started putting out applications to various places like Walmart, Home Depot, McDonald's, a vending job, and pretty much anything I could think of that should have been fairly easy for someone to get hired on with and something that would at least allow me to pay rent and bills.

Nothing has worked out. Instead, it seems like a concerted effort to keep me from employment. My phone ran out of service days right as I was waiting for a call back and we weren't able to reactivate it for a week. I found out that my two primary references weren't answering their phones when businesses were trying to call them. At an interview for McDonald's (of all places), the fact that I have degrees worked against me because they assumed I'd be leaving in less than six months once I found a better job. So, nothing, nada, zippo, no can do.

So now, two months in and we're struggling, praying and asking God what it is He wants us to do here when we can't even find work to provide for ourselves and it seems like we're being actively worked against in this regard.

In spite of my job problems, the Lord has allowed my wife, Heidi, to look into the foster and adoption situation here in Bullhead City and the surrounding area. Heidi, ever since I met her, has wanted to work with special needs kids, especially with a view towards fostering and adopting kids that no one else wants or will take. When we were living in California, she was a teacher's aide for a preschool with kids with special needs, and when she was younger she had hoped to go on and work in orphanages in Africa or Eastern Europe with this in mind. So, sensing that this is what the Lord wanted her to do, she began looking into it here and found that there is a great need for it in this area. Further, the worker she spoke with has begun us on the process towards becoming foster parents even though she knows we can't take in kids right now in the living situation that we're in. She said that the process takes a long time so it should work out. Heidi has already gone to the first class required for caring for foster kids, and I'm being sent the paperwork to attend the next class at the end of this month.

Further, things have been going well as we've become involved with a local church, City Bible Church. This has been a great blessing for us in getting our kids and ourselves used to people again after living as isolated as we were for so long. Our kids have been getting involved with their youth group and Awana programs and we've been trying to get involved with an adult group and to help out with the kids' groups on Wednesday nights. We and our children have been able to make friends again, and the kids especially have been very excited about that.

For several years now, my wife and I have envisioned a home for kids with special needs, but really it's much more than that. We've envisioned a Mission. We want it to be a place where we can take in kids, foster or adopted, who have moderate to severe disabilities and who can't find a placement anywhere else. We want to be able to offer respite care and day care to families who are struggling to care for their disabled children at home. Moreso, we have envisioned a ranch where those older residents who are physically capable can find work and help keep the place running. We want to do sustainable aquaponic agriculture to provide fresh food for the Mission and assistance for poor families. We also would eventually like to train service dogs and have horses for theraputic riding.

This Mission is where our hearts are. This is our vision, and we feel that the Lord has closed other doors for now and asked us to start moving towards this. But we also know that we can't do it alone. At the moment, we have no other resources but our faith. And the Lord has put it in our hearts that this is to be a faith Mission, meaning that we are not to ask anyone directly for the resources we need. If someone chooses to give then it needs to be an act of faith between that person and God and no one else.

We're still in the process of learning all of the laws and regulations which would apply to such an endeavor. And we're still trying to discern everything that we would need to move forward with it. We know for now that we need to have a proven, stable income which we can show to the state before we can start taking in foster kids or before we can adopt any kids. This is something we don't have yet. We also know that we need a big enough house or building with enough bedrooms not only for our own immediate family but also for anyone and everyone who would be coming to join us. Such a house or building would have to either be already set up with wheelchair access or be able to be set up that way fairly easily, and be within a reasonably quick drive to the nearest hospital. And if it is going to be here in Mohave County, Arizona then it has to be fully air conditioned because outside air temperatures can reach 133F (56.1C) during the summertime. We will also need a decent amount of land in order to set up and operate the kind of Mission we are describing. We think it will need to be on the order of between 40 and 80 acres minimum.

We need people to partner with us to make this a reality. We need prayer in particular. We also know that we can't operate a Mission like this with just the two of us and our kids. And we need the resources to do it.

Right now, I would ask for prayer especially for my family for the means to take care of our family as we continue to look for work and a stable income. And in everything, we ask for prayer that the Lord's will would be done in everything. If you are willing and interested in partnering with us in some way to make this Mission a reality, then please leave a message for me in the comments below.