Delighting in Prayer

How a Tennessee family is stepping out in faith to plant a church in New York City, led by the Spirit through prayer

All summer long, we’ve been focusing on the theme of savoring or finding delight in the moments and things that matter. In Psalm 37:4, we’re instructed to delight in the Lord, and one of the key ways we can do that is through prayer. 

Recently, I got the opportunity to sit down with a couple from my church, who recently moved to the East Coast with their two young children to serve as church planters for a particular South American people group. Samuel, who is Kichwa, and his wife, Mikaela, spoke so frankly and beautifully about how prayer has guided their lives, so I wanted to share a little of our conversation here. 

On praying for direction in their relationship

Samuel: When we were dating, we established from the beginning  that we wanted to serve the Lord. When I asked Mikaela to be my girlfriend, I knew I didn’t want a normal boyfriend-girlfriend relationship where we we’re trying to see if this relationship was going to work. So we pray about marriage from the beginning. From the very beginning, we were talking about God calling us to missions, we just didn’t know what the mission was going to be. 

On praying for God to reveal the next step of faithfulness

Mikaela: We lived in Colombia for the first six years of marriage. We started to feel like God was calling us back to the United States, but we didn’t know what that would look like. 

Samuel: We spent a whole year praying and seeking God’s will about where he wanted us to go. I said, “I think God has opened the door to the United States.” It was a whole year of praying and seeking God, and he showed us where he wanted us to move. 

On their call to missions and process to serve on the field

Samuel: About two years ago during VBS, we were both helping with the missions emphasis. We knew that God was calling us to missions, and we knew it was imminent. A couple of months earlier, our pastor had preached about when God calls you and if you’re going to say yes or no. We held hands that day and said, “Yes, we want to go.” It was in my heart to minister to my people, the Kichwa in New York, so I started to research how many Kichwa people lived in that region. 

The couple connected with the Send Network, which is a network of church planters across the United States, and underwent an evaluation and assessment process to help confirm God’s calling and determine their readiness for church planting. After their initial assessment, the couple knew they needed to work on a few things to be better prepared for serving as missionaries. About a year later, they underwent a second assessment and got the greenlight to head onto the field. 

Mikaela: Our reassessment was in November of last year. We knew that if we got the green light, we could start planning. November came, and our prayer was, “If you want us to do this, you will make everything go the way it needs to go.” We prayed for the right words to be able to express what we’ve learned, and the reassessment went well. We felt at peace and felt like God had given us the right words to express what we’ve learned and what we want to achieve in New York.  roles. They gave us the greenlight the next day. It was a really quick decision. 

How you can pray for Samuel and Mikaela:

• Pray for their family as they navigate a big move, new city, new circumstances and new schools. Pray for clear communication with each other and that they would be focused on God and his plan for their lives rather than any stress or fear. 

• Pray for Samuel as he prepares to minister to Kichwa families in the New York City area. Pray that he and Mikaela will rely on God to help reveal the strategies and techniques they need to employ to engage people. Ask God to give them wisdom and words to speak the gospel in ways people understand. 

• Pray for Mikaela specifically as she learns the Kichwa language. 

• Pray for the family as they explore where exactly in New York God would have them plant a church. 

• Pray for the family to be a light in their neighborhood. 

• Pray for Samuel as he juggles his job (teaching Spanish) with his ministry work.