Led Back to the U.S.A. (by Jacob)

After seeking counsel from the Lord in prayer and Scripture, as well as seeking counsel from role models in our lives, we have decided to take a step back from being free lance foreign missionaries in Nicaragua in order to build up the necessary spiritual and human foundations for a successful domestic Church.

What sparked the actual making of this decision was a lot of family discussion and wrestling in prayer. This came to a moment of decision when we believe to be supernatural peace surrounded us thickly as we were holding hands as a couple just before going to bed. What came out of me was a cry to Jesus for Him to lead our small and young family to where he wants us to be.

Upon waking up we were bombarded with doubts such as, ‘you gave in’, ‘you failed’, or ‘you are letting the people down.’ We were also experiencing a natural human sadness at not being able to officially say goodbye to many people that we were able to meet and befriend in Nicaragua. Seeking out the Lord’s voice in all of this I grabbed my Bible, prayed fervently to the Holy Spirit to send me a message to confirm that we made the right decision, (or correct us if we didn’t) and I opened to a beautiful scripture which led me to tears:

Since reading that and sharing it with Calena, we have sought out that path. We see this transition as a shift in our call of discipleship… like the Holy Family being led out of Egypt and then back to Nazareth. So we are going out of Nicaragua back to Wisconsin for a period of ‘quiet and ease’ so as to form our identity as a family.

God has already blessed me with employment at Best Version Media and my family with an apartment in Oshkosh. We have been trying to attend Mass daily and visiting Jesus in the Eucharist. We are reading our favorite Catholic books (Michael O’Brien, classic fiction, and family spirituality/homeschooling) and I have been writing new songs on the guitar about my family and our faith. I am hoping to put time into developing my music more formally and discerning God’s will in regards to starting a family apostolate called ‘Families at His Feet.’

We have learned and experienced a lot during our journey across the U.S., into Mexico, and Nicaragua. It has shaped our family’s identity and spirituality. Pray for us to have the right disposition and trust in Jesus as we put the next chapter of our lives in His hands.

More so, we have a great appreciation for all the people we have met and who have helped us out along the way. We give many thanks to those who have welcomed us into their home sometimes for a night, sometimes for months. We give many thanks as well to those who have supported us financially or spiritually over the past year of us leaning on His providence.

For your information (especially those who have supported us financially), half of the money in which we had remaining from the support of your donations is going to support Guadalupe Gardens and their mission in Nicaragua and half is remaining with us to help us support ourselves as we begin our work with Best Version Media. We have prayerfully considered this matter and Guadalupe Gardens is in agreement with this decision. We took into account the fact that this new job does not start out with any income and can remain like that for as many as six months.

Also important to note is that a large amount of our fundraised money had already been spent on our living expenses, construction projects, service to the community and travel while we were in Nicaragua.

As we transition, we may take a break from posting on our blog. However, we will not delete this blog in case God opens the door for us to be more involved in music, our family apostolate, and missionary activity. We also want to keep the blog as a photo journal of our journey across the U.S. and our time in Nicaragua.

With all the Saints,

Jacob