Our Story

When Patrick and I were thinking of getting engaged, we talked about the possibility of serving together in missions. We were both involved in student Christian organizations at Ball State University in Indiana and loved how serving together not only brought us closer, but helped our individual relationships with the Lord.

After we were married, we started newlywed life in Louisville, Kentucky, where Patrick has served with Presbyterian World Mission the last two years. Through his job, Patrick got to meet missionaries as they came back into the States for training. Though we had had the idea that missionaries were ‘super spiritual’ people, we realized that they were just regular folks who were trying to obey the call of God – and why couldn’t we do that, too?

So, it was Patrick who pushed us to seriously consider going into overseas mission work. And even though we had talked about the possibility of serving before, when it came down to it, I was reluctant to think about leaving the comfortable life we had started. I thought, though, that the least I could do was pray about it.

I started to do so, and the Lord slowly changed my attitude toward mission service. I started to think that if the Lord had provided us with everything – so many blessings – then if He asked us to give a year, two years, or 20 years to working in His service overseas, then we needed to obey. If we didn’t, then did I really have the faith I claimed to have as a Christian?

Another influence was the death of my grandfather around this time. He had lived a good Christian life, and we were able to celebrate him and his ‘graduation’ to heaven. But it reminded me that our lives are short and temporary; if we want our lives to count, we can’t wait to take action.

With me finally on board, we started looking into where we might be able to serve. Where could we help out with the gifts and talents we had?

Patrick came across the baseball ministry through OM simply while searching online. A lifelong player and lover of baseball, the ministry resonated with him as a perfect combination of serving the Lord and playing and coaching baseball. God clearly revealed a role for me as communications officer for OM Hungary, which aligned perfectly with my background in graphic design and journalism. We felt like God had made this plain to us: He was calling us to Hungary.

It’s been a journey for us since then. We learned about the need in Hungary and took a vision trip to check out the ministry in October 2015. We loved how OM focused on building long-term relationships with Hungarians and creating not just converts to Christ, but mature disciples. We just hope to contribute to what God is already doing in Hungary.