We are amazed and overjoyed that we are now missionaries-in-training with AFM. A year ago, such a possibility wasn’t in our thoughts. Six months ago, it seemed highly unlikely. Now it is very much a reality. We can only say, “Praise the Lord!”

About a year ago, we took stock of our lives and realized we needed to take some steps to make sure we wouldn’t get sucked into living for this present world and forgetting the needs of the billions of people who don’t know Jesus. We were expecting our first child and were getting caught up in a daily grind that was sapping our mission spirit. We were working at our jobs, landscaping and teaching, and we were making more money than we ever had. We had taken out a mortgage, bought a house and were beginning to live like our neighbors, friends and co-workers.

Jason: Nevertheless, life was unsatisfying. I couldn’t get Africa out of my mind. I had left the States in January 2000 and headed to Tanzania, East Africa. I spent three of the best years of my life at Kibidula Farm where, among many other things, I preached, taught, and enjoyed uplifting Christ.

There, I met Maggi when she visited Kibidula for three months on a mission trip with her school from Norway. After she returned home, we wrote lots of letters. As our relationship moved toward marriage, I decided to move to Norway to learn her language and culture. I planned that it would be only a temporary sojourn away from Africa, thinking we would return after we married. However, some life-upsetting events took place that caused us to delay pursuing this plan.
After leaving the Norwegian ministry where we were working, I got a job with a landscaping company. Every day, I thought about returning to Africa, but I didn’t see how it could happen. We didn’t feel called to work at a large mission station, and we didn’t have the money to start something on our own. I believe God was speaking to my heart to bring us back to His plan for us and away from a self-centered existence. In spite of the distractions of my work environment, I couldn’t forget that God had given me talents to serve others, and I had discovered that I fit best in Africa.

After our precious son Reuben was born in September 2008, I began to contemplate life more seriously. Did I want to live in the rich country of Norway, building up a home and wealth that I could one day pass on to my son, or should we instead build a legacy of mission service?

Maggi: As I was growing up, I heard a lot about Africa. My grandparents had been missionaries to Ethiopia for 26 years, and my father was born there. My grandfather was a doctor, and I remember seeing slides of him operating on patients with huge goiters and other ugly diseases. Not at all interested in medicine, I distinctly remember praying at about age eight, “God, please don’t make me go as a missionary to Africa.” At that time, I had the misconception that God’s will for my life was whatever I didn’t want to do. Thankfully, not long after that, God helped me see how wrong I was about His character.

In the ministry in Norway where I grew up, we were often short of staff. In my teens, I thought it made sense for me to stay and help because I had grown up there and knew the ropes. That thinking changed after my trip to Africa and meeting Jason.

After Jason and I got married, he talked more and more about going back to Africa. I knew that one of the things he had appreciated about me when we met was that I was so at home in Africa and enjoyed being with the people. But, at that point in my life, I was hesitant to go. I prayed that God would help me surrender to His will. One Sabbath, I heard a sermon by a young lay-person about the need for missionaries. God spoke to my heart, and it became a turning point in my experience with Him. I was now willing—even wanting—to go. Amazing!

One Sabbath, we took stock of our lives and realized we were in danger of never returning to Africa if things continued as they were going. Though we were earning quite a bit of money, it seemed like it was never enough, and we were losing our focus on service. We decided to do something to at least make sure we had a continuing dose of modern-day mission stories to help us keep our focus straight—we subscribed to Adventist Frontiers magazine.

That was a very good decision. The more we looked into AFM, the more we were drawn to their focus on reaching the unreached, their comprehensive support network for their missionaries, and the smaller size of their teams in the field. The AFM office contacted us regularly to encourage us to pray about serving as missionaries. A few months later, Brenda Kiš was interviewing us in our home in Norway, and then we found ourselves in Berrien Springs attending AFM’s orientation. We were accepted as missionaries to join the team of Suzy Baldwin, Toussaint and Ulrike Baur and the student missionaries who are serving the Otammari in Benin.

We didn’t expect to be in this magazine preparing to return to Africa so soon. We believe it is God’s will for us. The peace in our hearts, the encouragement of friends and family, and the generous gifts that have already come in for our project all confirm God’s call to us. We have a house to sell and a significant amount of support to raise, both for our launching budget and our monthly needs. However, we trust that, before we know it, we will be back in Africa. The Otammari people need help that we, by God’s gracious enabling, can provide. He has led us this far, and we are confident that He will continue to bring us closer to Benin as we trust in Him and obey His leading. God has already amazed us, and He’s not finished yet!

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