End with the Beginning in Mind

2008-09 Evangelism Class

I don’t like goodbyes. But ever since we got back from the World Missions Summit 2, we’ve been receiving reminders that our present time on the field is winding down.

It started at our home church where, during a planning meeting, I had to step down as coordinator of the Missions and Evangelism Team because I would not be able to finish out the year. Following that, I finished out the semester at the Bible Institute and was thrown a touching going-away party from my evangelism students. When I finally got over that reality, my itineration packet arrived detailing the steps that we need to take to return to the States.

So it’s real; our stay here in Mexico is coming to an end, but one thing is for certain, our call is for a lifetime. Yes, our cycle may be coming up but our career has only begun. So, I’ve been reflecting on our time here, but I’ve also been thinking about the future and our on-going work here in Mexico. We are returning to the States, but our stay will be limited because our call, and our heart remains here in Mexico.

Steven Covey repeats the phrase, “Begin with the end in mind.” It has to do with visualizing the goal, setting forth objectives in order to reach them. I’ve decided to modify the phrase just a bit in order to describe our goal for our remaining months and our upcoming itineration cycle: “End with the beginning in mind.”

Yes we are saying our goodbyes, but our goal in the remaining months is to strengthen the relationships that we have formed in order to begin our new term in 2010 with a running start. Concerning our return to the US, our desire is to immerse ourselves in our itineration, utilizing a broad array of means available to reconnect with current supporters and welcome new friends who would like to partner with us as we continue our work in Mexico.

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the sidebar of our website, you’ve seen that one of those means of generating excitement and raising awareness for our work will be the running of Marathon for Mexico 2. Last itineration cycle, I ran the Springfield Marathon, raising funds to help us get to the field faster. Recently, I’ve been blogging about my recent weight loss and my training for the Bass Pro Marathon which will take place on November 8th of this year. It’s our desire that this marathon will serve as an even bigger part of our support-raising effort, so keep an eye on our Marathon Page for more information and updates.