Family goes from sunrise commute to Spice Islands calling

Drew drove his usual route to work. Yet, on this one day, he felt unusually connected to God.

There was a gorgeous sunrise directly in front of him. The rays shined on a man living a life with plenty of craziness.

He started a business, and he was an intern at his church. He was raising four kids with his wife, Jane. Plus, he was working toward a college degree.

At the same time, a daughter developed a form of epilepsy. Now, the family juggled sleep studies and frequent doctor visits to discern treatment.

Yet the sunrise opposite him, at least for a few minutes in August 2018, made his commute a moment with God. He was simply appreciating the beauty. Then, suddenly, he imagined a new future for his family.

“My imagination erupted with thoughts and images of my family overseas together,” he said. “I didn’t know the destination, but my mind was locked in, thinking about us overseas in a very powerful way.”

To be clear, Drew is an ideas guy. Was this imaginative flourish his normal? Not in the least.

“I have ideas all the time,” he offered. “This was quite a bit different. I couldn’t forget it. It was strong and present.”

God, what am I supposed to do with this?

He went about his day, asking God whenever possible how to respond. He started researching ways to live and work overseas. He even considered returning to the country where Jane served before they began dating.

Eventually, Drew formed an entire presentation on his laptop. Loaded with bullet points, images and references, he’d ‘geeked out,’ he said. Now, it was time for him and Jane to talk about what he saw during that sunrise.

“She felt a peace that it could be OK,” he said after hearing his ideas. “That was the starting place.”

After that, the two started praying and reflecting on which organization to choose and where to go.

God supplied the answer: this past spring, Drew, Jane and their children moved to the Spice Islands. They lead a Converge initiative among the least-reached people there.

Related: New frontiers: The Spice Islands Initiative

At least 234 unique people groups in the Spice Islands have yet to meet, know and follow Jesus. Nutmeg, mace and cloves are exclusively found among the region’s 6,000 inhabited islands. Drew and Jane’s community is hot and has plenty of trees. But their life is more urban than you might imagine for a place named after spices.

Near their home, there’s a road built around a tree. Literally around a tree: The concrete formed right up to the edge of the tree’s bark. The entire road curves around the tree, all to save the tree.

Living in the heart of a bustling city, there are many homes under construction. Almost all are made of concrete and metal with water tanks atop the roof in case of floods. Small minivans and lots of mopeds and motorcycles fill the streets.

“You’re watching out for those,” he said. “I like driving here. Here, everything is fluid, everything just moves and flows, and you rarely ever stop.”

That, plus learning a language, leaves him ready to rest sometimes. But he still loves this place and feels like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

“I like my mind to be very engaged in things,” he said. “I like it when my mind is active.”

Preparing for the tremendous opportunity has given Drew and Jane plenty to ponder.

What makes the Spice Islands such an opportunity for Converge?

Approximately 90 percent of the people are Muslim. Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and ethnic religions do have some representation. Most people in the Spice Islands do not even know someone who follows Jesus.

So, the effort of Drew and Jane and the other Converge global workers is to make friends and disciple them. Then, the plan is to start small groups, which turn into house churches that, in turn, create more small groups. That’s how Converge hopes to see a movement develop among the 250 million people whom Christ has not yet reached.

Marie is one of those Converge global workers. She retired from her career as an engineer. Now, God uses her science background to talk with young Spice Islanders who find great fulfillment in deep conversations about science, religion, family issues and politics.

A group of Spice Islanders loves to speak English. So, they gather on the steps of one of the island’s largest mosques to speak English together in semi-formal conversations. They are hoping to get scholarships and attend colleges in Canada, England, and the U.S. Marie talks with Muslims there who will listen because she has decades of experience as a scientist.

“Almost any technical conversation has a spiritual component,” she said. “They love to discuss things.”

Related: English teachers making a gospel impact in East Asia

The first person Marie saw come to Christ there was an engineer. He saw her on a boardwalk near a beach and immediately told her what beach she should visit. Over time, she saw God bring this man to himself.

That’s not to say the man’s change in heart and mind happened immediately. On the contrary, he had many questions, especially after seeing videos of a Christian pastor who converted to Islam. But Marie prayed that her answers would bear fruit in the man’s life. God answered over time; Marie had the privilege of baptizing him earlier this year.

“We were ankle deep in seaweed,” she said. “There were quite a few jellyfish.”

How did God bring together the Spice Islands Initiative?

In January, Jane and Drew met with Panji, a name chosen for his safety. Even among Spice Islanders, there is threatening skepticism toward people who leave their island and travel to other islands. People, Drew said, question the legitimacy of such travel.

Panji told the couple how he and his wife agreed to lead a ministry in 2013. The ministry faced insecure finances, a very small influence and a lot of strife among the team. Why would they join, much less lead, in such circumstances?

“They both felt God calling them,” Drew later recalled. “The first thing they did was bring the entire team together for a time of intense prayer and fasting.”

Related: What missionaries desire most

That same year, Converge global workers visited the Spice Islands and found themselves in Panji’s area. They met him, and he updated them about God’s work and the people’s spiritual needs.

Later in 2013, Drew and Jane were going to quit their jobs and move out of state to be closer to family. They’d already moved out of one home and found temporary housing toward their relocation goal.

“However, I began to feel unsettled about our move, and I didn’t know why,” Drew said. “We began to pray together again regarding our plans.”

God was still responding to Panji’s prayer and faith, thousands of miles away on America’s East Coast. Detailed, driven Christ-followers were rethinking what they thought was pleasing to God.

“Jane came to me later to say she felt we were supposed to stay where we were living, in Maryland,” Drew said. “This confirmed what I was feeling as well. We didn’t know why.”

“Rather than collecting art, I’d like to collect souls.”

In 2016, a thousand miles west of Drew and Jane, a very extensive Spice Islands art collection stimulated Mark Bjorlo to love the islanders.

He was born in the Spice Islands while his parents worked for an oil company. As an adult, he found himself in possession of more and more creative works made by Spice Islanders.

“Rather than collecting art, I’d like to collect souls,” he realized.

The regional president of Converge North Central wanted to know how to start an initiative to serve the Spice Islands. So, he contacted Converge leaders around the world.

It would be another two years before Drew saw the sunrise and a new future for his family. But, eating ice cream with Panji last year, Drew saw more of God’s perspective. God’s global influence threaded lives together for his purposes.

“I sense God telling me that us staying in Maryland was directly connected with Panji and his team praying all those years ago,” Drew explained. “In that moment, God showed me yet again, this is His work.”

In all, seven years passed while God orchestrated what is today the Spice Islands Initiative. Some encouraged Panji and his wife to quit or move on from Converge. But Panji’s faith has been rewarded.

The opportunity in the Spice Islands is growing as more are going

Drew and Jane joined other Converge global workers in the city on one of the Spice Islands. Still, in their first year, they are learning the language and building friendships.

Bjorlo hopes to travel there next year to meet with initiative leaders. He explained this is a ministry where success has to be redefined.

“The sheer volume of opportunity in one of the hardest places to go and easiest places to ignore mean we’re looking for people who don’t want accolades,” Bjorlo explained.

Difficulty and indifference haven’t dimmed anyone’s hope or confidence in God.

“I think we’re really close to seeing some first converts in this ministry,” he said.

Moreover, the team is working on a project that may be well received across the Spice Islands, helping overcome the hostility toward outsiders. Such a change in posture could very slowly open doors for more people to know the love and hope of Jesus.

An opportunity like that would be something beyond what Panji or nearly anyone else could ask or imagine. What’s typical in the Spice Islands is Islam fused to many varieties of an animistic spirituality.

The Spice Islands need fervent prayers. The team requests prayer for what to focus on as they serve Christ and others. They also need the hand of God to take down barriers so that true relationships can begin.

So, what God does next, though, includes more Christ-followers and churches.

“We need partner churches that would learn, be part of and pray for one of the least-reached regions of the world,” Bjorlo said. “It’s got to be a nameless, accolade-free, very hard, time-consuming project with nothing on this side of glory for you.”

Related: Connecting sending churches

Even so, Converge already has global workers on the ground who know the language and have years of service. Plus, still more are raising support to go into the Spice Islands.

The great deceiver has actively worked and succeeded for centuries upon centuries to keep people from following Jesus. But Christ continues to build his church, including through Converge global workers and partner churches. Together, they start churches, so more people know the God who makes the sun rise.

“There is a desire to worship and seek ingrained in the culture,” Drew said. “It’s beautiful on the one hand, but you see the sadness of that.”