And yet, while they share the same mission, the staff who serve here at GFA World’s Texas headquarters could all tell you a different story of how God called them to join the ministry. For Mike, Texas was not top-of-the-list back when he first felt drawn to share Christ’s love.
In fact, in his mind, Mike was going to Guam. Fresh out of the military and fresh to faith in Christ, he already knew he was called to missions. Tropical, interesting Guam seemed like a good place to start. Then, as Mike was preparing to be a missionary, he met Jessi, who was also a new believer.
Things fell through for the mission to Guam, but Mike and Jessi decided to get married. Shortly thereafter, as a young family with a baby girl, they headed to Nebraska so Mike could attend Bible college. During this time, the college sent Mike and Jessi to an out-of-state event focused on national missions. It was a new concept to Mike, and the idea captured his attention. Then someone handed him a copy of GFA’s classic Revolution in World Missions book, and Mike cracked it open to learn more.
As he read, Mike realized that this was just the invitation he had been needing—an opportunity to be part of something bigger than himself. Before he was even halfway through the book, Mike made a phone call to GFA: “What can I do? How can I help?”
As it turned out, GFA needed volunteers for an event only a couple of hours from Mike and Jessi’s Bible college. It was a perfect opportunity, so he and Jessi invited some college friends to join them and headed out to represent GFA. With that one experience, Mike was hooked.
Another Invitation
Mike and Jessi started volunteering at more events, and they got more college friends involved, too. Together, they passed out hundreds of Revolution in World Missions books, shared about national missions and invited people to be part of the exciting things God was doing through the ministry on the field.
After Bible college, Mike and Jessi moved with their little girl back to their home state of Iowa. Mike started working in real estate, and Jessi worked as a graphic designer. Their jobs gave them the flexibility they needed to continue volunteering at GFA events, and they kept recruiting family and friends as well.
Then one day, they got a phone call. It was Cindy, their contact person at GFA, inquiring if Mike and Jessi would consider applying for staff at GFA World.
Mike was thrilled at the chance to be more directly involved in missions. He and Jessi went to GFA’s Texas headquarters for the week-long Mission Support Team interview process. As with every potential staff member or family, GFA leaders prayed for direction throughout the week. Was serving as staff the best thing for this family and for the ministry? At the end of the interview process, it seemed God was saying, “Not yet.”
For Mike, the answer felt like a rejection. But for Jessi, it was a relief.
Why Texas?
Jessi honestly didn’t feel called to Texas, and she was more than happy to return to life in Iowa. But when she was pregnant with their second child and they had been serving as GFA volunteers for nearly five years, Mike got another phone call from Cindy. “Hey, Mike,” she said, “Would you consider applying again?”
Mike hesitated. They had already been told no. Why would he try again? But this was where his heart was—the mission he believed in. So, he and Jessi went back to Texas for another interview week. Again, the leaders prayed. Was serving as staff the best thing for this family and for the ministry?
This time, the answer was yes.
Mike was thrilled. He and Jessi started the process of raising support and they were quickly building a team of prayer and financial partners. And yet, even as they moved toward full-time ministry with GFA, there was a nagging question that begged to be answered.
Was God actually calling them to leave Iowa? They were accomplishing so much right where they were. Their garage was packed with books to take to events, they were building a growing network of volunteers, and they were leaders in their church. Plus, they were close to their parents and extended family as their own little family grew.
That question only grew more pressing, when, several months into the support-raising process, Mike and Jessi hit a wall. No matter what they did, no one else joined their support team. One month passed, then two, then three. The months turned into a year, and they were still sitting at only 40 percent of the support they needed to serve in Texas.
On top of their support-raising standstill, Mike and Jessi were still trying to work their regular jobs and volunteer at events. Also, Jessi was now pregnant with their third child—just one more reason to stay close to family.
As more and more time passed, it seemed God must be telling them He wasn’t in this. Many of their friends and family were saying the same thing. And hadn’t they already been told “no” the last time they’d tried to join staff? Maybe “no” really did mean “no.”
Ready to Throw in the Towel
One Tuesday night, as Mike and Jessi prepared to stream GFA’s weekly prayer meeting, they had reached their breaking point. Or rather, Mike had reached his breaking point. “We’re just gonna throw in the towel,” he told Jessi.
Defeated, he retreated upstairs. Was no one for him in his passion for this mission? He longed to accept the invitation to become more involved in something bigger than himself, but he couldn’t keep going like this. He started crying, overwhelmed by a deep sense of brokenness. Was he failing the Lord?
After a while, Mike composed himself and went downstairs. They would have to tell their friends at GFA that they weren’t coming—but they might as well join the prayer meeting tonight. As the meeting started, one of the leaders got up with an announcement.
“Hey, I got some updated news,” he told the staff. “We have a staff family out there that’s raising support right now that has decided to throw in the towel.”
Mike and Jessi heard the gasp of disappointment and sadness that rippled through the gathered staff. But Mike hadn’t told anyone his decision yet! How did they already know? Then the leader mentioned the name of the family, and Mike realized he was talking about someone else. In that moment, God affirmed His calling for both Mike and Jessi.
“I can’t do this to them,” Mike said out loud.
Jessi put her hand on Mike’s. “We’re not going to do this to them.” They might not understand why God was calling them to leave their life in Iowa, but now they were sure that God was calling them, and they needed to press on to Texas.
‘The Mission’s Not Done’
Mike and Jessi’s renewed confidence in God’s calling didn’t mean everything was easy from then on out. It was still hard to leave their community and family in Iowa, especially when they had to move into a two-bedroom apartment in Dallas with no backyard for their kids—ages 8, 5 and 2—to play in. But, at the same time, their kids got to be part of a missional lifestyle in new ways as they attended weekly prayer meetings, went to the GFA office with Mike and Jessi and watched God answer prayers.
Over the coming years, that pattern of the hard with the good would repeat over and over for Mike and Jessi and their family. When Mike started serving in the Church Relations department, he had to be away from home for several days at a time as he connected with congregations across the country. But even as he missed his family, he was grateful for the privilege to meet and encourage so many amazing brothers and sisters in the places he visited.
That sense of privilege only grew after Mike and Jessi visited the mission field a few times. With each visit, Mike was blown away by national missionaries’ commitment to know Christ and make Him known. Back in Texas, he counted it an honor to support those brothers and sisters with the supplies and prayer they needed to continue in the work God was doing.
That role—the role of supporting national missionaries and connecting them with their partners here in the West—is what the Mission Support Team (MST) is all about. Although behind the scenes, their service is vital. Each MST missionary serving at GFA World enables approximately 100 national missionaries to bring Christ’s love to people still waiting to hear.
Sometimes, MST missionaries serve in their areas of expertise, while at other times, they learn brand-new skills. Soon after Mike and Jessi joined staff, Jessi worked as a graphic designer. In more recent years, she has learned admin skills as she serves in the Ministry Partnerships department. Mike has utilized the logistics training he received in the military to oversee several special projects, and his years of experience in real estate prepared him for the communication and interaction necessary for his current role as a member of the Recruitment department.
No matter what department they’re serving in, however, Mike and Jessi’s years of volunteering have perhaps contributed the most to their ability to serve as Support Team missionaries. Volunteering taught them flexibility, trained them to embrace hard things (and bring the kids along for the ride!), and built in them a willingness to serve and do whatever is needed to fulfill the Great Commission.
For Mike, serving on the Mission Support Team has been a chance to make a far greater impact than any he could have imagined back when he decided to go to Guam. But it does come at a cost. As Mike put it, “Life can be difficult, but in ministry it seems like it gets amplified 10, maybe 100, times.”
About six years after they joined staff, Mike and Jessi hit a particularly difficult season. Jessi had just had their fourth child, and the family had moved with GFA to a new campus in Wills Point. Then, faced with a particularly challenging time in ministry, Mike seriously considered throwing in the towel and leaving.
At the height of that hard season, it was Jessi who became the core reason the family stayed. As difficult as it had been for her to accept and follow God’s call to Texas, she was sure now that God had called them. She encouraged Mike to pause and seek the Lord. If God had called them here, He needed to be the One to call them away.
In the end, they stayed. As Mike put it, “I’m former military, and you don’t leave until you’ve been relieved of duty and/or the mission’s complete. … The mission is not complete, and we haven’t been relieved of duty, so we’re still here.”
The rest of us on the Mission Support Team thank God they stuck it out.
Inviting Others As They Were Once Invited
These days, 15 years into their time on staff, Mike and Jessi continue to pour themselves into the mission God has given them. Jessi divides her time between serving as an administrative assistant in the Ministry Partnerships department, investing in her two children who are still at home, and building relationships between GFA World and the local community in Wills Point. Mike works in the Staff Recruitment department, inviting others to join a mission bigger than themselves just as he was once invited. He can encourage potential staff members who face similar obstacles to those he and Jessi once faced.
“If you sense God calling you—not to say an audible voice, but a yearning to be a part of something bigger than yourself and to partake in the Great Commission … just know that there is going to be sacrifice, but it’s worth it,” Mike says. “… One hundred percent worth it.”
What about you? Are you sensing that yearning in your own life? Are you hesitant to step out in faith and follow the Lord’s leading? Or are you not sure why God would ask you to leave the ways you’re already serving Him? If that’s you, here’s Jessi’s advice: “You’re not going to know all the answers. It’s a process. … When you see the Lord’s doing some great things, and people are coming to know Him (and we’re seeing that happen), jump in with that and partake with it and see what He does.”
To learn more about serving on the Mission Support Team, click here.