Running with Family
It had been 11 years. Born and raised in East Africa, a young couple, Marcus and Maria, were carrying a burning zeal for the Lord. For the past 11 years, they had been teaching young adults to pray, preach, and worship across the Middle East. Yet, the feeling persisted that they were running the race alone. They longed for a spiritual family to run with them. The thought soon became a prayer.
As Marcus and Maria traveled in the region, they began to encounter MAPS Global missionaries. In fact, in three of the cities in the Middle East that the Lord led Marcus and Maria to, they discovered MAPS Global Mission Bases. They encountered long-term workers, placement teams, and local spiritual families. They began to witness a movement happening. It was a movement of like-hearted individuals running the same race together. It instantly felt like family. Marcus and Maria wondered…could it be the answer to their prayer?
Soon, Marcus and Maria discovered MAPS Global’s 50 Hours documentary. They went home and watched it, and their hearts were even more deeply gripped. It was as if their hearts had been yoked to the plans and purposes the Lord had for the unreached, right alongside the MAPS family.
As Marcus and Maria pondered this, the Lord wrote a divine appointment on their calendar. He led them to prepare for hosting a 50-hour gathering of prayer and worship on specific dates. Later, they discovered that these dates were the same dates that MAPS Global was already intending on sending a team to Marcus and Maria’s nation to have 50 hours of prayer and worship! When the MAPS team arrived, it was as if the final cords had been tied. They had found their tribe.
As a family, Marcus and Maria flew to America to be developed in the MAPS Global School Leadership Track. They desired to become more equipped for ministry in unreached nations, and to learn from those who ran before them.
Marcus and Maria were not only inspired by how MAPS is built, but were blown away by the culture they witnessed. Every day, twice a day, they gathered with the community before the Lord in worship and intercession. They also marveled at the full integration of the Church body towards one goal. Leaders didn’t just preach values; they lived them, with their families right by their side. The season was life-changing. Marcus and Maria soaked in the presence of the Lord, feeding on the Word day and night. They sat under anointed teachers who carried revelation and deep theological teaching and ran alongside equally yoked students. They noted that there was a specific emphasis within the culture of MAPS Global to equip healthy leaders. They realized that the emphasis was never about getting ministry done or maximizing influence, but slowly building deep-rooted, devoted lovers of Christ. They saw everything they envisioned building in East Africa. They could even envision more, as they were now running with a spiritual family.
They went from running a lonely race, to being yoked to a spiritual family. They transitioned from running fast to learning how to run deep. And, finally, they went from feeling overwhelmed by the vision to being equipped for the work ahead. Marcus and Maria returned home from MAPS Global School more in love with Jesus than ever before.
The language, tools, and fresh vision they picked up in Richmond are already spreading through their community in East Africa. Now, they are engaging in a 12-month plan to fully adopt their ministry into the MAPS Global family as the East Africa Missions Base.