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Randy lives in Wisconsin with his wife of 34 years, where they operate a bed and breakfast along with a catering business. He has 4 children and 4 grandchildren. As a former freelance photographer, he enjoys taking photos of all his international travels. 

When I was first asked to write and tell why I love missions, my reaction was, “WOW, I’d be honored to.” My next thought was, “WOW, what an impossible task!

For me, it starts at an early age growing up in a parsonage in rural North Dakota. I remember missionaries staying with us when they would visit and I would listen to their stories around the dinner table. I was fascinated by their recounting God’s provision and protection. They told stories of God moving in ways that I had never seen or heard of.

Moving ahead 25 years, I had the opportunity to travel with my father to Israel for 3 weeks. This trip opened my eyes to the historical background of the people and the places that Jesus interacted with.

Twenty years later, I was listening to our lead pastor talk about a leadership conference our church does for pastors and church leaders in Tanzania. When he said they were looking for others to join them the next summer, my heart about jumped out of my chest. I almost jumped out of my seat and shouted, “I’LL GO!!!!” At the time I did not understand it, but I KNEW I had to go. God captured my heart for Tanzania on that first trip with our leadership team from church. After 2 follow-up trips to Tanzania, I was convinced that it had become my African home and her people had become my brothers and sisters.

In 2011, I was given the opportunity to travel to two other African countries on a care trip for missionaries our church had supported for years. A shift began to take place that I was very uncomfortable with at first. I had the same passion in my heart and soul for these new places, especially the missionaries and how God had called them to serve. Was I being dishonest with my brothers and sisters in Tanzania? Was I forsaking them or betraying my love for them?

In the past few years, I have been able to lead several short-term trips to various countries in Africa, Asia and even Central Eurasia. These trips have caused even more shifts in my heart, as I see and experience the places, the cultures, the traditions and the people, many of whom had never heard the name of Jesus. My heart has been broken, yet it is full of so much love that it hurts.

Heart Expansion

The more my heart has shifted, the more I have begun to realize that “shift” probably has not been the best word to describe it. After my latest trip to Eurasia, things began to become clearer. I have come to realize that “expanded” is more accurate. My heart has been expanding into a facilitator/mobilizer.

As I have continued to process each “safari”, I am seeing a pattern of one building on the previous.

The more I see, the more people I meet, each new experience, God seems to be showing me more of Himself in the different people groups He has created.

I have had the unbelievable privilege to visit 18 countries. It has become awe inspiring for me personally. All of humanity is created in the image of God. As I mobilize and facilitate trips for and with others, I am reminded of the HUGE God I serve. I am humbled, beyond the telling, of the opportunities I have had to see new glimpses and reflections of our great Creator in the peoples I get to meet.

As I ponder all that I have shared, I am struck once again with the thought that all the people I have come into contact with over these last few years have been created with the unique image of our omnipotent Creator. He created each of us with a void or longing that can only be met within a personal relationship with Him.

I have been struck with the reality that there are whole populations of people in our world that have never even heard His Name, that have no understanding of how to fill that void.

He gave His Son for me and for them. A little time, money, maybe some inconvenience, maybe even desperate hardship, even in my life, seems so insignificant in comparison. I can’t NOT do all I can to mobilize, to facilitate, to care, to encourage, to love and TO GO!

Some send, some pray, some give, some go. We can ALL do something! Discover what that is for you, and realize a whole new understanding of His love for YOU! But be warned, the more you come to this realization in your own life, that more you will want to give it away.

This will ruin you for the ordinary!

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