First kicks and first steps

Two weeks ago Justin and I were sitting in our hotel room waiting for the time our counseling interview with Pioneers would begin. Having landed in Orlando only a few hours before we were excited but nervous about what the night and whole week ahead of us would bring! As we waited I laid on my back and told the baby I was ready to feel him move for the first time now, a habit I had developed over the last few weeks :) Justin laid his hand on my stomach, almost jokingly since I was still only 19 weeks. Then, out of no where, *BAM*! Justin and I jumped, stared at each other in disbelief, and said “you felt that right?!” Our little Luca gave us the amazing joy of being able to feel him kick for the first time together, completely unexpectedly! We both laughed, I cried, and we thanked God for this fun and new chapter in our pregnancy. Little did we know that God was only giving us a taste of the exciting and unexpected experiences that we would have over the next week with Pioneers!

Documenting our reaction after feeling baby move for the first time!

For those of you that don’t know, Justin and I feel called to serve longterm overseas to help plant churches and teach people about the love and grace of Jesus where He is unknown. Pioneers (http://www.pioneers.org) is an organization that mobilizes teams to glorify God among unreached peoples by initiating church-plating movements in partnership with local churches. During our week spent in Orlando with Pioneers we learned more about the organization and they leaned more about us. We had two interviews, one with a counselor and another with a committee from Pioneers. We attended many sessions about the vision and values of Pioneers, life on the field, and what Pioneers teams were currently doing all over the world. We were able to speak with multiple missionaries who were home from the field for a short time and leaders of all the different regions where Pioneers currently has teams. 

Our first full morning of the week began with worship and a time of prayer. As I worshipped with the 45 other individuals going through the same process as ourselves I was floored by how big our God is! Over the next few years God will scatter this room of people all over the world to many different peoples and cultures. He has given each of us, while broken and sinful, the opportunity to join in the work He is already doing! I had never felt so humbled or so excited about what was to come through the power of God! 

We went into the week as “undesignated” meaning we did not know what country or people we wanted to work with overseas. Pioneers does not assign us a country rather they work with us to find where God is calling us and with what team we would be a good fit. During the week God really stirred our hearts (mainly mine) in an unexpected way. While Justin has always been interested in serving in Europe, I felt very neutral about this possibility. I assumed that during the week our hearts would get sparked by somewhere that was in more obvious need as I called it- think rural tribes or impoverished third world countries. However, God had different plans. As we spoke to missionaries that were currently working in Europe, my heart was breaking for the spiritual darkness that was present throughout so many European countries. I had no idea how little access people had to true gospel preaching churches! While many of the countries are historically “Christian”, there is little current presence of evangelical churches. 

So, after much prayer and hours of talking about the needs in Europe, Justin and I feel strongly that we would like to serve God in Europe. We are so excited that God used the week with Pioneers to open our hearts and minds to the need in Europe and the opportunities where we can serve!

Feeling our little baby kick for the first time was an amazing experience, but only the first glimpse into what would come. More kicks will come and soon our little boy will be born and the exciting, scary, overwhelming, amazing, life changing journey of being parents will begin! After our week in Orlando we were officially appointed into Pioneers and can begin the rest of our process! Our exciting, scary, overwhelming, amazing, and life changing process of becoming overseas missionaries has begun! We are so thankful about all that God has in store for us over these next few years. We are trusting his timing and praying that we let Him be in control of every step!

So, where in Europe? When? What about our little baby on the way? What does being a missionary in Europe look like? What does it look like taking our kiddo overseas? Have more questions about why Europe?

All great questions!! Due to possible future security issues, sensitive information, and wanting to share more personally without it being plastered on the internet, we will be sending out an electronic news letter to keep people updated on our process and from the field one day!

*If you’d like to receive the newsletter please send us your email! Leave a comment, message me on Facebook, or email me at JuliePearson818@gmail.com*

Our official name tags as Pioneers appointees! 

Thank you to everyone who has and is continuing to pray with us over these next exciting stages of our lives. We are so grateful for your love and support! We are excited for all of you to be a part of this journey with us!