BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
Dear Friends and Family,
It is with great joy that I share an exciting milestone in our lives! On January 21, my family and I will be commissioned and sent by our church to serve as full-time missionaries in Kenya. We will be partnering with a local Reformed Baptist church to assist in planting biblical churches.
This has been a longing of mine since I first became a Christian, and after much discipleship and growth in Christ, the church has recognized our calling and gifts, and they have chosen to send us to fulfill this mission.
For my Christian friends and family, this will come as no surprise. Jesus has clearly commanded us in Matthew 28:18-20:
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We go because we are compelled by His command and love for the world.
To my non-Christian friends and family, you may wonder why we are willing to leave behind the comforts of life in America—our friends, our family, our security—and move to a place of uncertainty, hardship, and danger. You may ask why we would take our children to a place where they could be at risk. These are very valid questions, and I want to share the one simple answer: Love.
First, God’s love for us and therefore our love for God. I cannot even begin to describe how incredible, overwhelming, and undeserved God's love is. Both my wife and I grew up in Christian homes, and we professed faith early in life. Yet, we also lived lives of sin and rebellion, hiding behind the facade of being “good Christians.” We were hypocrites—saying we loved Jesus but living for everything He calls sinful. We were lost, and if we had remained in that state, we would have faced eternal judgment in Hell.
But in His mercy, God opened our eyes to our sin and pointed us to the Savior—Jesus Christ. He, the perfect Son of God, came to live the perfect life we could not live and die the death we deserved for our sin. He took upon Himself the full weight of God's wrath in our place, and He rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death. Jesus offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe in Him. This truth has transformed our lives. We believe John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Now, with the eternal life and forgiveness we've received through Jesus, we cannot help but desire to live for Him, to obey His commands, and to share this hope with others. Why are we willing to leave behind the comforts of America? Because we have an eternity of joy awaiting us in heaven, and we want others to have this same hope. We are compelled by the love of Christ—He died for us, and now we live for Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). We are willing to sacrifice comfort because the message of forgiveness, hope, and eternal life is too important to keep to ourselves.
Second, we go because everyone who has not heard and believed this Good News is in danger of Hell. Our heart’s desire is to share with them the way of rescue through Jesus Christ.
If you’d like to receive updates on our ministry and life in Kenya, you can subscribe to our newsletter here. We’ll also be posting brief updates on this Facebook page.
We are fully supported by our church for all our ongoing expenses, but we do have upfront costs for items like a vehicle, furniture, and other necessities. If you would like to give you can do that HERE. We trust that God will fully provide for us, and we ask you to prayerfully consider whether He might call you to support this mission or another one. Our goal is not your money, but your obedience to wherever God would direct you to give, whether that’s to us or not.
Above all, we ask for your prayers. Pray for our family, for the work in Kenya, and for the people we’ll have the privilege to serve.
We thank God for His grace and are filled with joy as we embark on this journey.
To God be the glory for the great things He has done!
“So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, who yielded His life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in.”
With eternal gratitude and joy,
Matthew and Callie Lincoln