All blessings by nature are wonderful, but double blessings cause abundant overflow. God truly is a good gift giver, and two of those gifts to our ministry are Joel and Betsy Eyestone. Having previously served as missionaries in the Philippines for 33 years, Joel and Betsy are now active mobilizers with our Pacific Northwest mobilization team since 2021. They currently serve with World Venture and utilize Simply Mobilizing tools to mobilize their communities in the state of Washington.
In a uniquely formatted opportunity, Joel and Betsy were approached by Shoestring Valley Community Church to partner in an effort to run both The Unfinished Story and The Unfinished Story for Youth simultaneously by engaging about 40 combined participants towards biblical worldview transformation. One big takeaway for the adults included seeing immigration as an opportunity and not a threat. Another big takeaway for the youth was integrating what they were learning into their lives and realizing that they could be on mission with God in the here and now. In their own words, Joel and Betsy wrote:
“We were approached by one of our supporting churches and asked how we might incorporate one or more of these [Simply Mobilizing] courses into their missions emphasis month. That resulted in a decision to run both The Unfinished Story and The Unfinished Story for Youth during their Sunday morning discipleship hour. For 8 weeks, we had the privilege of participating in the life of that church, Joel facilitating a class of around 35 adults, with the assistance of the missions team chairperson, and Betsy facilitating the youth course for about 15 teens, with the assistance of the youth pastor and another church leader.
The course evaluations from the adults spoke with appreciation of having their eyes opened to cultural factors, people groups, and the need to reach them with the gospel. They loved the discussion time and wished for more! The young people expressed appreciation for the teaching videos, the activities and the small group discussion times, too. To quote a couple of the teens:
"It helped me to see what I hadn't before and [encouraged] me with something I hope will happen in the future."
"I really liked how it challenged me in my thinking, and the way I view the world."
[There was] "information on how the church is spreading and how there is still much to do. It showed there are still people to reach, still a mission that needs to be done."
We praise God for this opportunity. May He guide each of the participants into greater engagement in His Kingdom purposes!”
Amen! It’s a beautiful thing to see people catch the vision of being “on mission with God.” It’s even more delightful when that vision is modeled by couples mobilizing every generation together towards that goal. We may never truly know how deep those seeds of faith are planted within the hearts of believers for the calling on their lives. One thing is certain, God is faithful to grow that seed in ways that help finish His Story.
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