My wife Jenna and I have continually been broken for and drawn to the hurting and overlooked. God has equipped that passion with skills to journey alongside teenagers and we have been truly blessed to serve the students, families, and community of Grace Church since August 2007.
After a lot of prayer, discussion and affirmation of close family and friends, we feel God calling us to become more involved in the lives of hurting students. We have accepted a position to be houseparents at the Milton Hershey School. Milton is committed to help students grow up successful and healthy. Oftentimes the students in the program come from very hard family situations - whether they be abusive, impoverished, etc. As houseparents, we will have opportunity to be intimately involved in the lives of these students, sharing God's truth and love with them. This chapter for our family will present new challenges and opportunities that we are excited to see the Lord use for His glory.
Our hearts are heavy with the weight of moving on from our Grace family - You have meant more to us than we can express and we are incredibly grateful for the relationships and support you have blessed us with. You all hold a very special place in our lives and that will never change.
Although transition can be hard, the youth ministry will continue moving towards God's good purposes over the next few months and into the future. From a practical standpoint, we will still have our regular weekly gatherings, teachings and special events. Our last Sunday will be February 19, after which we will be traveling with the youth group up to Messiah College for the annual Dodgeball Tournament!
We have been touched by the presence of God within the family of Grace - a testimony of His goodness. It will be very difficult to say goodbye, but we celebrate the wonderful things God is calling our family to, and where He is calling the Grace family as well. We ask for your prayers as we embark on this new adventure. We pray for a season of fruitful relationships and ministry over the few months. We know the good work God has begun here and in us will continue to be multiplied by His good pleasure.
We wish we could have visited with each family individually to share this news personally, I hate that some of you might be reading this news for the first time. We are glad that we were able to share with more than 50 of our students directly between our Sunday morning and evening programs. We invite you to share questions, thoughts and hugs as you feel led - We will have opportunities for your involvement in the strategic direction of the ministry and will have a Parent Meeting on Sunday January 8, 6-7pm
Thank you. We love you all very much.
