And Now It Is Over

Yesterday was the last day in Lubbock for this year’s AIM class. After a tearful, two-day send off, the AIM students will be returning home for a month or two then traveling to mission fields all around the world to do what they came to do. We are proud of them and can’t wait to hear about all the great Kingdom work that will happen because of what God will do through them.

Yesterday marked an important moment in our own lives as well. For the last eight years the Adventures In Missions program has been an integral part of our lives. For five of those years our full-time job has been to help prepare college-age young people for short term mission work and for a lifetime walk with God. If it weren’t for AIM I would have never known Ukraine or the wonderful church planting team we are a part of now. If it weren’t for AIM, I would never have met the woman of my prayers. If it weren’t for AIM, I would not be the Christian man I am today.

And now it is over.

Because an AIM assistant’s role is so unique, it has been practically impossible to explain to those who have not worked directly with this program what it is we have done for five years. “Glorified camp counselor” was the definition that came to mind the most, but unfortunately that does not convey the seriousness of the position. “Student mentor” falls too close to the line of “math tutor” in my opinion, and simply telling people, “I’m an AIM assistant” makes it sound like you work behind a desk and make copies for a living. For a while now I have just decided to describe it rather than give it a name: “We help train missions students for the mission field.” Though that probably comes the closest, anyone who has ever worked with AIM knows even that definition fails to capture the role in its entirety.

For five years I have worked in the spiritual trenches next to the people I love most. I am a better man because of my co-workers and a better husband because of the godly men I have been privileged to serve alongside of. Through my own success and failures, I have learned what it means to be a teacher and what it means to be a leader. I have been looked up to and down upon. I have confronted when it hurt and been confronted when I’ve hurt others. I have had a job that has required me to push young Christians out of their comfort zones and into the often-uncomfortable image of Christ, and whatever success I have had was only achieved by pushing myself into areas of discomfort as well.

Of course I know in reality my involvement with this program will never completely cease. In fact our team in Ukraine is hoping to host a team of AIM students a year from now and will help lead them in their second phase of training as missionary apprentices. I am excited about our continued connection with this little school in Lubbock, but I will miss the direct connection we have shared for so many years. It is always so hard to leave home.

We will still be in Lubbock for a while longer, so I refuse to let these thoughts get the best of me just yet. In a couple weeks we will leave for Ruidoso, New Mexico to have our annual end-of-year AIM Staff Retreat, and I am sure that will be our most emotional goodbye to this wonderful work. But to all the staff and to the 300 AIM students we have been blessed to work with, thank you for the time of our lives. And to all of those who have supported us over the years to do what we love, a simple thank you is not enough. I hope that one day in heaven I will be able to introduce you to all the lives your gifts of love have influenced.

It is time to move on, but we do so reluctantly. Thank you for making this so difficult.