Another story—John couldn’t speak long about what Hope is doing to make missional disciples without talking about what God is doing and has done in his life.  He was working in his father-in-law’s multi-million pound (I guess it was—instead of dollar) business and was active as an elder in his church in Glasgow when God “dealt with him over a six month period.”  The call to ministry was unmistakable; the only question he said was, “Would I have the courage?”

God gave him the courage.  He served in two churches in Glasgow before answering the call to come to Wisconsin.  (He said playfully, “Theology wasn’t as important as my accent—that’s what they wanted!)

John and his wife sold or gave away (he gave his library to Christian students) everything they had, left everything they knew, and in eleven weeks they had relocated to Wisconsin.  They put their house on the market in Glasgow in November—even though their realtor told them,  “Nothing sells in Glasgow in November!”  However, their house sold in ten days.  There were even two people bidding on it so that it went for $25,000 more than the asking price, which just turned out to be the amount they needed to buy new furnishings in the U. S.  John describes their life and ministry at Hope these last eight years as “rich.”

One of the statements that John made, that seems to me (I’m still struggling to discern what God is up to by placing in people’s minds and hearts a sense that authentic disciples are missional—I don’t think it’s simply new jargon, but that God is up to something—maybe “recalibrating” the American church) to be what God is all about, was this,  “When I was called to the church in Glasgow where I served for three years before I came to Hope, I knew I wasn’t staying there forever.  It wasn’t that I didn’t feel God called me there, I just knew from the first day that God was ‘loosening the soil on my roots.’” As Jack and I continue on our cross-country journey, I’ll be meditating on where God needs to “loosen the soil around roots” in my life so that I can become the kind of disciple He desires—one who has His heart for the world.