Going to Alaska this time is very different for me. The last time I was in the awe inspiring State of Alaska, I was with a good size mission team and I asked Sunshine to be my wife. Nothing will ever top that trip!
Let me tell you about GOD’S TOP SECRET meeting that lead to this mission trip. Scott Belmore happened to be in Tennessee for a conference and agreed to meet Sunshine and I for breakfast. That same day we were picking up Pastor Robert Gad Wafula of Uganda from the airport near where Scott was staying. This was a moment only God could have created and it was so cool for me! I was sitting at a table with my wife Sunshine, Scott and Robert. These men had no idea how God used them in mine and Sunshine’s relationship.
Alaska is a special place for me because I proposed to Sunshine there and Africa is where I fell in love with her when I saw her genuine heart for people. It is so romantic that God would write a love story about a young lady who found her way to Africa for the first time because God called her to Alaska to work with Scott. On her first mission trip to Alaska she met some people that invited her to join them on a mission trip to Uganda, Africa. That is how she met Robert. Several years later, God orchestrated Sunshine and I meeting in Cuba on a mission trip.
Sunshine and I became friends living in two different states 8 hours apart. I then said “Yes” to going to an island in the middle of one the largest lakes in the world to do missions in Africa with Sunshine and MMI. That trip changed the course of my life forever! Fast forward a few years and a few mission trips later together, I ended up in Alaska. I met Scott and within a few hours of meeting him I said, “Man you need to help me out! I am proposing to Sunshine while I am here. Want to see the ring?” No one but the guys on the mission trip knew this was going to happen.
Now I am sitting at a table with the two men who unknowingly played a part in my life when I made some big decisions that changed my life. At breakfast that day Scott shared how God was about to change his family’s life. He swore us to secrecy at the time. However, he needed a favor. He needed help getting his house ready to sell. I knew in my heart right away I wanted to help the Belmore family in whatever way I could so they could enter this new mission field God was calling them to. That is how this trip of 3 men with the gifts of carpentry came about.
God made some to preach and sing; others to encourage and evangelize; and some to serve with their hands. My gifts fall under acts of physical service. I am at my best for God when you give me something that is broken and allow me to make it new again. I love fixing homes and remodeling. That is my spiritual gift. I am so thankful to have the freedom to serve others with my gifts and am thankful for men in my life that have similar gifts and love for serving others. I am on this mission trip because Scott played a part in God’s plan for Sunshine and I and I want to play a part in helping him launch into God’s next chapter of his life.