The unexpected happened with a family attending our Family Discipleship Training School; what a testimony of God's faithfulness! [4:18 video]

MOVING. I couldn’t believe it when my parents told me we were moving. My family and I were living in a beautiful, mountainous valley in North Carolina at the time. The view of the Smoky Mountains from our house was breathtaking. Relocating to Texas with my parents did not sound like a good idea to a stubborn eleven-year-old like me - especially when I heard we were going to be missionaries and live in tight quarters for a season.

One of the things I have always desired for my kids is for them to know God . . . like really know God. I don't want them to just read about Him in the Bible or hear about Him in other people's stories. I want them to walk and talk with Him for themselves. They've always had a relationship with Him for sure, but honestly, prior to 2012, they had only "experienced" Him as much as suburban America allowed.

Gigi and I met in ministry in Brazil and were best friends. Now, we still are best friends and married too! When we first started talking, we realized we had the same dream: to be a family in missions and a lighthouse to other families. We didn't know yet what our family would look like, but we committed that to Him.

At YWAM Tyler, we are hearing amazing stories of God working in unforeseen ways. The Currey Family recently had such experiences with the Lord while on their Crossroads Discipleship Training School (CDTS) outreach to New Orleans. As a family, they obediently came to YWAM Tyler to get to know God, and it's exciting to see how He  has expanded their horizons and worked in and through their family.

So many times I didn't think we could do a YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS) as a family. We have made a lot of mistakes as parents; we didn't grow up in a church; we were rough around the edges, and my children still had a long ways to go. What would people think? Would they judge us because of our past? Would they pick apart our parenting and our children? Would they expect us to be perfect? Oh how the enemy had a field day with these thoughts.

God has placed an urgency in my spirit to create opportunities for entire families to be trained, equipped, and filled with a passion to live a lifestyle of missions wherever God takes them. With the grace of God, my wife and I have been able to do just that here at YWAM Tyler.

I've often wondered why there is such an urgency in God's heart to do something like this. Having a family myself and seeing what God continues to do in us, I can sense His desperation. God is yearning to wake up families to stop settling for the things of the world and to seize their God-given assignment.

Seven years ago, our family found ourselves living life the only way we knew how. We owned a business, worked really hard, lived in the home of our dreams, and were very involved in our local church. However, like many Americans, we had tons of debt, and the job was literally killing me.

MOVING. I couldn’t believe it when my parents told me we were moving. My family and I were living in a beautiful, mountainous valley in North Carolina at the time. The view of the Smoky Mountains from our house was breathtaking. Relocating to Texas with my parents did not sound like a good idea to a stubborn eleven-year-old like me - especially when I heard we were going to be missionaries and live in tight quarters for a season.

YWAM Tyler is a ministry where all ages encounter God. When we came to do a training school and join staff, I was homeschooling my daughter and had no intention to do differently, but then I started feeling a stirring within my heart to pay attention to Christian Heritage School, a ministry of YWAM Tyler for Kindergarten to 12th grade students from around the world. After asking many questions to those around me about this school, I quickly discovered not only is this place influencing minds, but they're shaping hearts with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Surely God is in this place!

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) has been globally championing children and families as central participants in the Great Commission for more than forty years. We believe passionately in the capacity of children and youth to know God intimately and walk in a living relationship with Him, which can eternally impact those around them. In short, kids are not only a key target group for missions but also key players in reaching the world for Jesus!

Last summer our family of four embarked on a new chapter in our lives as we arrived with great anticipation at YWAM Tyler, ready to begin family missions training. We came with no expectations - just a willingness to learn and grow in our faith. Now, I can look back and say we made the best decision for our family by taking that leap of faith. During our five months of training we grew closer to God and to one another, as our marriage and family relationships were strengthened. We now have God in the center of our family’s life, where He belongs!