It was July 28, 1982, exactly 35 years ago to date, when Keith Green and others took off from an airstrip almost walking distance from where I am sitting now, leaving the earth behind never to return. The airplane accident that took the life of singer songwriter Keith Green, shook the lives of the evangelical Christian community around the world.

I used to say street evangelism wasn't something I was called to do. I didn't like the way I'd seen it done or been pressured to do it. I had no interest in shouting at people on street corners, telling them they were going to hell. I also didn't enjoy awkwardly handing out cheesy tracts. Things have changed for me though. Now, I love street evangelism and find myself addicted to it! I cannot help but talk to people about Jesus and pray for people everywhere I go. I even tell people that it's what I do for fun! What changed for me then?

In July of 2015, David retired from working forty-five years in the IT world. Our grandchildren were moving away, and we were still healthy with plenty of active years ahead of us. With a wide-open schedule, one question loomed in our minds: what do we do now? We had lived typical American lives focused on our family. When missionaries came through our area, we had always been supportive but never thought about missions for ourselves. Upon retiring, we knew it was important to spend this next season of our lives serving the Lord but were still very unsure of what that would look like.

Six 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.