“The Coastlands Hope…”

We have moved to Australia! Why? Good question.

If you enjoy back-stories, here is the journey that led us to take a leap of faith. 

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During a leadership summit in April 2021, I (Jus) was prayed for by a group of pastoral leaders. Several shared words of encouragement and guidance for me they felt were from Yahweh. Amongst other things, one of them shared: “I see a picture of you holding a brochure of “coastlands” in other parts of the world and longing to go there but not being able to… But… the Lord’s call on you to the coastlands is real. I don’t know how the coastlands are going to be impacted by you, but I sense there’s some sort of a call to the coastlands that has not yet been fulfilled in your life… I just feel a certainty that it shall be.”

Honestly, at the time I didn’t hear this entire prayer. I got totally caught up in the first part. The man who was praying for me didn’t know anything about me. He didn’t know that my hometown is the “Gold Coast” (Hello, “coastlands”) nor did he know that my Mum who lived there had recently had a stroke and, because of covid international travel lock downs, I was unable to visit and help. His words “longing to go there but not being able to,” were so timely. I felt so seen and comforted by God. And I didn’t hear much of the other things prayed for me that day.

Fast forward 16 months to August 2022. We had been feeling our season in Seattle was coming to an end and it was time to prepare to move. We just didn’t know where. Josh felt it could be Australia. I didn’t agree.

Over time, Josh became fully convinced we should move to Australia. I still had a lot of reservations and needed Yahweh to speak to me personally about it. Moving internationally and starting over at our age isn’t a wise idea! We would both be giving up jobs we love to go to a land where we don’t have career connections. And, as much as it would be wonderful to have time with my family, I didn’t understand why God would take me back to the place He had sent me from 24 years earlier. None of it made sense to me.

I felt led to read Isaiah 51.

“Give attention to me, my people,
and give ear to me, my nation;
for a teaching will go out from me,
and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
My righteousness draws near,
my salvation has gone out,
and my arms will judge the peoples;
the coastlands hope for me,
and for my arm they wait.” (Isaiah 51:4-5)

COASTLANDS!? Suddenly, I remembered the prophetic word from over a year before. I had the audio recording on my phone so I grabbed it and listened. “I saw a picture of you holding a brochure of “coastlands” in other parts of the world... The Lord’s call on you to the coastlands is real...”

Graciously, Yahweh gave me the personal confirmation I was looking for.

Isaiah 51: 4-5 is our commissioning. Pay attention. Listen. A teaching is going out from Me and I am sending you to be part of it. I am at work there and I’m sending you to join the work. The coastlands hope for Me. They are waiting. Go.

“Hearing God” is a nebulous thing. How can you know if you’ve really heard Yahweh? Of course, He “speaks” through the Bible but there are also times when He “speaks” directly and personally about specific things. There have been a few times in my life when I’ve known without a doubt that God is talking to me, and this “coastlands” experience is one of them. By Yahweh’s Grace, this was the personal message, confirmed in multiple ways, that I needed in order to have the belief and courage needed to make this move with our family. (Our kids have their own stories of how God spoke to them about this move. They aren’t my stories to tell, but they all had personal blessings and confirmation about the move.) And, after almost two years of sensing we were to move into a new season somewhere, we knew that Australia was our next place.

And that’s how Josh’s long-time sense to move to Australia plus the poetry of Isaiah, an ancient prophet, propelled us to jump out from our stable life in the US and follow a sense that we are being sent to the “coastlands” of the Gold Coast, Australia.

Since the words of Isaiah propelled us forward, we’ve had a wild series of conversations and connections with people already serving Jesus in Australia. We are amazed at the possibilities God is giving us to love and serve the people of this region.

On December 5, we arrived in Australia! We are so excited to be here and to join the work Yahweh is doing in the “coastlands.”

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Current projects:

— Jus is training with Foursquare Missions International

— Josh is waiting for his visa and work permit. Jus is looking for work.

— We are connecting with ministries and leaders already working in this region.

Pray for us:

— For our house to sell.

— For Josh’s visa to be processed quickly. Current wait times are up to 2 or 3 years. This visa affects Josh’s ability to get work and many other things he needs in order to build a life here. We are asking Yahweh for favor and speed.

— For our kids launching into the new school.

Thank you for praying with us as we step into this new season.
With love and hope, Jus