Dyer Communitas Engage Trip

One year of marriage later, and the adventure is just beginning! And we want you, the people we love so dearly, to play a part in what could potentially be next for our story.

Since our honeymoon, Amy and I have been dreaming about what we want our lives to be about. We are currently living in Austin, TX and are surrounded by amazing friends and a strong church community, however, as we look ahead, we do not see settling down here in Austin as what's next for us.  As of late, we have felt the nudge to go.

Where? We have been asking God that question for the last year. Soon after we began asking, we heard a sermon that caught our attention and evolved our question from "should we" to "where" and "when." Here's the passage that was read:

"Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped."  (Numbers 9:17)

That same day at church, a couple who had previously been living in France spoke about an organization they are involved in called Communitas. They explained that “The mission of Communitas is to establish churches who follow Jesus in transforming their world.”  (http://gocommunitas.org/)

Something happened in our hearts that day, as we listened to this couple talk about their time in Southern France. It's like the Spirit had been preparing us for that very moment. Dale and I looked at each other, with tears in our eyes, and wrote down the name of the organization to look into later.

After researching the vision and mission of Communitas, meeting with some of their staff members, receiving counsel from mentors and close friends, and praying a whole lot, one thing has led to another, and we now have two major trips planned to determine if involvement with Communitas really is a good fit for us.

The first of the two trips will be held at the end of October in Denver, CO. The conference we will be attending is called Engage - a four-day, in-depth process of learning more about the organization, letting the staff get to know us on a deeper level, and spend intentional time praying and discerning whether or not this is what the Lord has for the next chapter of our lives.

Our second will be in January and will be an exploration trip to London, England as a potential city we would move to! We were strongly encouraged to plan a trip to Europe, in order to get a feel of what we are stepping into. While we are there, we will explore the city, connect with some of the Communitas staff who live in London, and listen carefully to the Spirit. 

As you can imagine, the next few months will be pivotal and should provide a great deal of clarity for us. Now, here's where you come in. 

1. pray --
We first ask you to please pray for us - for our time at Engage and in London - that we will be given clarity and discernment. Wherever the cloud (God) is moving, we want to follow.

2. faith --
There's a chance we go to Engage and / or London only to leave with the answer "no" or "not yet," and in this case, we invite you to have faith that God's ways are greater than our ways. If we never go for it, we will never know what could have been. So we ask that you step out in faith with us.

3. give -- 
We were strongly encouraged to start raising financial support - even for Engage and travel costs - in order to prepare us for the support raising we will be doing down the road if we end up working with Communitas full time. The total amount we believe God will provide us with is $2,000. Here's the cost breakdown: 

Engage Conference: $1,300
Travel: $600
Crowdfunding Fees: $100

Most of you have been walking with us through this process, but if you have not and would like a bit more context, please reach out to us. We would love to talk over the phone or meet with you in person to tell you a bit more about this journey.

We trust that God has us exactly where He wants us. Our greatest desire is to be obedient and follow Him wherever He is leading us. We pray the same is true for you!

Thank you for being in this with us!