My Kids, My Heroes

I didn’t take my first missions trip until I was in my 30’s.  I guess you would say I am an unlikely candidate to be serving full time with a missions organization.  Tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor.  Those of you reading this, that are kind-hearted, might be thinking, “That’s okay, maybe you just were not exposed to missions.”  In answer to that, allow me to introduce you to the three amazing children Marcy and I have been blessed with:

Our oldest is Evan (pictured to Jenny’s right).  An accredited pastor with Assemblies of God, he can marry and bury, but his heart and call is the mission field.  He is currently involved in short term missions until he can live full time in the field.  He speaks Swahali and has spent months at a time in Tanzania, Africa.  His dream is to be a full time missionary to the Islands.  Meet Evan: http://islandministries.com/ and http://mission-trading.com/

Our middle child is Craig (pictured to Jenny’s left).  He is an attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  He has been on missions trips to Cuba, Mexico, Romania, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Nicaragua, etc.  He spent seven hard years in school to become an attorney.  His mission field is the marketplace.  He has a heart for missions, too.  It’s ones like Craig who make full time missions possible for others.  Meet Craig: http://www.panzamaurer.com/Dawson.htm

Our youngest is Jenny.  She took her first missions trip when she was 11.  She did discipleship training with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Australia, then served there on staff for two more years.  After returning to the States she found AIM and became a “World Racer”.  Meet Jenny (Mrs. Eric Hanson), wife of our new son and also a “World Racer”, Eric Hanson.  Eric and his family have been a blessed addition to our family: http://jennydawson.theworldrace.org/ , http://erichanson.theworldrace.org/

Funny how often we can actually learn from our kids in life.  God has been very patient with me, and for that I am eternally grateful.