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Sunrise Hike with our Church Family getting to pray in the New Year as the sun rose.
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Hello!
There have been a lot of things that the Lord has been doing in and through the lives of the Byrd’s. We are so excited to share with you that we are starting seminary TOGETHER this Spring semester at Westminster Seminary California to prepare for long term overseas ministry!! With that, we will be launching a website soon and the format of these updates will be changing. We are moving towards a very short update email with summaries and then links that you can follow to the website to read full stories. We are incredibly excited about this!! But for now, we will send an update that more like what we usually send.
Some background: In New Zealand, we saw the depth of need in both of us for further teaching and study. Both our minds and hearts need a deeper knowledge of the Lord. When looking at long term effectiveness in the kingdom, we realized that we could be much more effective in ministry and communication if we took intentional time learning from the centuries of saints that have come before us. In NZ, I found that the questions I was asked living in a post-modern culture were things I didn’t encounter in America nor in the middle eastern contexts I have served in before. And for many of those questions, I was not prepared with a good answer.
I have great love for the Lord but had trouble holding conversation with many people deep in post modern thought. While Stephen could answer and discuss many of these things he expressed being left with a deep sense of dissatisfaction. He was convicted with the desire to not only be able to understand and answer questions, but like Christ be able to understand the heart of the issue and the heart of the person. To be able to as Christ did, respond with the Truth that hearts needed to hear, not only the truth the question inquired. We were not prepared and saw the necessity of training in our knowledge -both head and heart- of God in a community of like-minded disciples of Christ.
We spent the fall traveling around the country visiting many different seminaries of all backgrounds and thought. I (Sage) had a pretty intensive remote location job and the plan was for me to work and Stephen to do school; however, the more seminaries we visited, the more I heard the Spirit urging me to do school with Stephen. After all- we are going into ministry together! I knew I needed equipping as well. So in a step of faith, I quit my job so that I could attend seminary with Stephen.
Through months of prayer, fasting, and seeking wisdom, we felt the Lord leading us to Westminster Seminary California and we began pursuing what the Lord desired for us. Since that decision, we have seen so many things fall in place with details. We needed on campus housing to be able to afford living there. Living in California is incredibly expensive, and we knew our only option was to live in the discounted apartments on campus. There was the possibility of one room opening and we found out that it did not open for us. BUT God. The seminary decided to turn their fully furnished guest apartment into student housing- just for us and so that we could attend. It keeps getting clearer that this is the step God is leading us to, in order that we may grow together in Him and then step into His Kingdom ministry overseas with greater effectiveness.
We are really excited for this next step and you can be looking for another email soon in our new format!!!
Prayer Requests:
- For the Lord's will to bo done with our car in the shop
- For good good-byes with people here in Lynchburg that we love dearly
- For my mom and dad as they grow in Christ and learn how to live as children of the King (we are now reading through Acts together!)
- Divine rest over me (Sage) as my sleep has not been high quality which has left me a bit tired
Thank you so much for being a part of our lives! We love each of you dearly!! It is a joy and delight to get to share what the Father has been up to in our lives and to have you as our support team :)
Much Love,
The Byrd's
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The Love's
This family is so dear to us and will be some of the toughest goodbyes as they transition into full time ministry and we move to prepare to do the same!
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Joelle
This girl has been one of the sweetest blessings in my life. The joy of getting to disciple her over the past years and getting to send her out is unlike anything else!
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