What the Wind Does in the Moutains

Afternoon winds whip up massive thunderstorms over the mountains near Furcy in Haiti (above).  Some of these storms have dumped six inches of rain in thirty minutes on our home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

We got soaked by this afternoon rainstorm forming over the mountains near Breckenridge, Colorado.  The rain was a lot colder than in Haiti!

Those who live near mountains, whether those of Haiti (where we lived) or in North America (like the Rockies pictured above), know that the weather in large part depends on the wind.  Every afternoon the wind blows air over the mountains, condensing moisture in the form of fog, rain, thunderstorms, and blizzards.  These weather changes can happen unexpectedly and spectacularly.  In mission, the Holy Spirit really functions much like the wind blowing through the mountains.  Despite all our best efforts to plan, create strategy, motivate, and connect people to the Gospel, real change only happens when the Spirit blows through us and our efforts.  At those times, the change that the Spirit makes is often immediate and spectacular.  Through this dramatic action of the Spirit, Christ draws people in our families, neighborhoods, and cities to a life-changing encounter with the Gospel.  For this reason, our biggest and most pressing item of prayer is that we will be attentive to where the Holy Spirit is leading the Christian Reformed Church in mission.  This is, without a doubt, the most important task of Zach's job description as Director of Resonate Global Mission.  However, human nature constantly resists the direction that God longs to give.  Please pray that we will be attentive to the movement of the Spirit in mission.

New Steps

Segaar-King Family in Colorado for a Re-Entry Program

Our Twins at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs

Each day we take a new step by God's grace.  Yesterday was the day our three youngest children began their new school-year at Grand Rapids Christian.  In years past, the children would have left at the end of February to return to Haiti for our field service.  Now that our service in mission will happen in Grand Rapids, the children face school with a sense of permanence.  At the beginning of August we moved into our new home in Kentwood, MI.  For many people, moving in to a new home is exciting and joyful.  While it certainly has some of those feelings for us, it also marks a sense of loss because it means that we have put done long-term roots in Michigan and will not return to former friends and colleagues.  We are finally beginning to plan our supporting church visitation which will last over the course of a year or more.  Resonate's Church Relations department will be contacting your church soon to set something up.  One thing that hasn't changed is that we are still involved in mission for the Christian Reformed Church, but in a different way.  Now we see church planting, church renewal, campus ministry, international missions and missional leadership development from a different angle.  While it is a privilege to be involved in strategy and high-level leadership, we miss the "earthy" mission experience in Haiti.  Please pray for our family as we take all of these new steps.

Segaar-King August Update

Zach spent a few days in August getting to know the new team of regional leaders for Resonate Global Mission (pictured above).  These regional leaders coordinate ministry in the US, Canada, and throughout the world.  Please pray for them!

We escaped to beautiful Colorado to spend a week reflecting on the transition from Haiti back to the United States.  This thunderstorm reminded us that the tempest can teach us about God's love.

Our children loved getting back to the mountains of Colorado.  It will be so hard living without our Haitian mountains.

Dear Friends and Family:

Greetings from Michigan.  It seems that God conspires to place us in situations where we are overwhelmed by change.  That is where we are now as a family.  After a few short weeks of adjustment in June, God has launched us.  In July Zach started his new job as Director of Resonate Global Mission, we have traveled to Colorado to participate in a “reentry” program for returning missionaries, and we have moved into a new house in Grand Rapids.  One thing we learned in our reentry program is to accept that our new life and new job will feel overwhelming for a long time, possibly years.  The sense of loss for the ministry and people we left behind in Haiti will continue.  But God can use this experience to launch us into a new life and ministry better connected to him and his Holy Spirit.  This is our primary prayer request—that God will use this experience of readjustment to bring us closer to him and closer to each other.

Please give thanks for:

-A successful trip to Missionary Training International’s reentry program in Colorado.  We spent a week praying, sharing and discerning what God wants in this new epoch of our life.

-We have moved into a new house in Grand Rapids.  Though chaos abounds on so many levels, we are glad to be in the place we will call home.

-The opportunity to continue to serve in mission.  God has given us a great opportunity to grow the mission of the Christian Reformed Church.  In a few weeks we will begin setting up times to visit you, our supporters, and share about what God has done through us in Haiti and what we will be doing in mission in the future.

Please pray for:

-Our children’s adjustment to school that starts in a few weeks.

-The anxiety surrounding this transition for all our family.

-The Zuiderveens as they serve in Haiti in our absence.

-God’s wisdom in understanding how he is using us in ministry.  For Sharon this means discernment for new opportunities to serve.  For Zach this means allowing the Spirit to guide him as he gives leadership to Resonate.

FOR MORE PICTURES, STORIES, AND INFORMATION ABOUT OUR MINISTRY AND FAMILY, PLEASE SEE OUR BLOG AT segaarking.blogspot.com

Thanks for your prayers and support,

Zachary, Sharon, Hannah, Vivian, Isaiah and Esther Segaar-King

Serving with Resonate Global Mission (a ministry of the CRCNA)