It Makes No Sense!

We sent our letter out in early November and pretty soon we started finding letters in the mail….kind notes from friends and family that expressed an excitement about how God was leading us.  We were repeatedly humbled and awed by each and every financial gift that we received.

We prayed regularly as a family for His continued provision as a confirmation that we were following His will.  Humanly speaking, this trip made no sense at this time in our lives.  We were a little over a year into a church plant and heavily involved in our kids’ school life.  We didn’t have the money in our savings and would have to rely on the generosity of our loved ones and the provision of God.  But we knew, from deep down in our hearts that God was leading us to take this trip.

The children began saving their pennies (literally) and they decided that birthdays and Christmas presents should all be either forfeited or trip-related, and by that we mean travel games and books, airplane pillows, carry-on bags, clothing we’d need for the culture in Bangladesh, etc.  Each of these seemingly insignificant gifts demonstrated a giant step in the growth of our faith.  With each special occasion our family celebrated we were all saying, “We believe.”

We hope that by our return we are in a position to share with you how God has confirmed again and again why this is the right timing for this trip.  We are excited to see His mighty hand working in ways that are beyond comprehension and yet, we find ourselves shaking our heads in wonder and saying, “It now is making sense…THIS is why He has led us down this path.”  Suffice it to say that when God says He knows better than we do…He really, truly does.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts your thoughts.”- Isaiah 55:9

Support Letter

We sent this letter out in November, 2011 – six months prior to our projected mission trip date:

It has always been a burden of ours to expose our children to the work of and need for harvest workers around the world. We have prayed through a prayer card album for years and have had the opportunity to take a number of domestic mission trips.  As a couple, we’ve also prayed often about visiting Diana’s childhood home at Memorial Christian Hospital in Bangladesh.  Along with her heart’s desire to share that work with her family, both of us have also hoped to one-day visit our friends who live in China.  While this has been a personal prayer of ours for more years than we can remember, the obstacles of getting a family our size to travel internationally have been more than daunting.

However, over the past year or so, friends of ours have repeatedly challenged us to step out on faith and obedience and ask the Lord to provide.  They have encouraged us to invite you, our friends and family, to join us in our journey of faith.  We have prayed at length, are confident that the Lord has been burdening our hearts to do this for many years, and we feel the timing is finally right for the children to all be old enough to participate.

In May of next year we plan to take a service trip with another like-minded family who shares similar goals.  We will travel toChina to simply visit our friends who live there.   The second half of our trip will take us to Bangladesh where we will seek to minister to the servants at Memorial Christian Hospital in a variety of ways, visit the villages, and hope to be a blessing to the brothers and sisters there.

We have no choice but to trust God to provide the necessary funds to take a trip of this size.  In our own strength it is impossible.  We estimate our costs to run over $20,000 for round trip airfare, lodging, ministry expenses, etc. While this price tag seems insurmountable, we know that He is faithful and we trust Him to provide.  We humbly ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with us.  Any monetary donation will help make it possible and can be submitted via the enclosed self-addressed envelope.  Whether you join us in prayer or in financial support, we need you to hold us up during this endeavor.

We have no idea the lessons He will teach us along the way or how He will use this trip in each of our lives. However, we do know that as we are faithful to encourage, build up, esteem and serve those who are involved in the global work of the Great Commission, He is also faithful to accomplish His perfect work in each and every one of us.  (I Thessalonians 5)

Mike & Diana Durrilll
Michael (14), Morgan (12), Bryn (9),  Kenlee & Josiah