Greetings from Bogota! Have you ever wondered about the future? We sure have! In ‘missions’, wondering about the future is a daily occurrence. In missions, we live in the most uncertain kind of Godly certainty you can possibly imagine!

Did you read that last sentence closely? You see, we never have our path clearly defined, whether it be in our finances (all of our money comes from people who send offerings for our family), the place we live, our next projects or even where we are going to serve (country wise).

No, we have no plans to leave Colombia, after all we have been serving here for 24 years, but we always have to be ready and willing to hear God’s voice and follow it where He leads. Right now, our family challenge is about taking next steps, not in location, rather in projects and career paths.

 First there is James. Our oldest son James turns 17 on May 30th. He is in grade 11 and only one year away from finishing high school. We are so very proud of him and very scared at the same time! Scared because that means he will soon be going off to university — in another country! He will be in Canada and we will still be in South America.

 And what is he going to be studying? We are not totally sure, but James dreams of being a pilot — a big dream that only God can open the doors to make happen. That means that we need to be thinking about where he will go to school and where he will live.

We are also praying about maybe having him do a gap year – spending a year doing a Youth with a Mission Discipleship Training School or maybe attending a year of Bible school. These are big decisions and we can really use your prayers for James; that God will make it really clear to us which steps we are to take.

Then there is Darien. What do next steps look like for him? “Squishy,” (our affectionate nick name for him) is now 13. He still has a few years of school left, but now is the time to look forward, to pray, to dream and to develop his talents. Darien is an artist and a creator. He is learning piano and taking martial arts. How does all that fit into God’s plan for his life? He is thinking about Engineering. What kind of engineer? Good question! If God gives you an idea please let us know! Maybe be a self-serve ice cream engineer? Darien really likes that thought!

As for Patty and I, what are next steps for us? We have had an exciting year of ministry. We hosted outreach teams that ministered to thousands of students in schools, 2500 people in a secular concert, more in public parks and in churches. As for our “big ticket project,” The Susa Church and Community Centre, this year we will be doing the official opening once we complete the first of two floors of Sunday school rooms. So now what? We pray and dream and listen for God’s voice. We will continue to host outreach teams, but we are looking forward to our next big, hairy audacious goal! And we have an idea that you can pray about.

Patty and I have “adopted” 25 boys! Sometimes there are only 22 and other times there are as many as 30! We would like to even adopt another 20 or so. Curious yet?

For the last few years we have been working with a home for troubled boys called The Refuge. They have become our kids. They are children that we love and that we love to help. When we first met them the house where they live was falling apart and so we started to make repairs. We replaced the floors that were broken, we remodeled the bathrooms, we replaced the leaking roof and spent a lot of time just hanging out and loving on them. It has been our great pleasure to see how God has loved them through our family and the dozens of people that we have brought to visit.

And now we have a bigger dream for The Refuge. We want to build two more dormitories so that the staff can take in more boys who are hurting. But more than that, we want to help hundreds of children in the community that are not getting enough to eat by also building a Community Kitchen as part of the expansion. So, for Patty and I, our “next steps” are designing the new building for The Refuge, praying it through and seeking the approvals that we need to start raising the money for this new dream.

And now we have a bigger dream for The Refuge. We want to build two more dormitories so that the staff can take in more boys who are hurting.

Will it happen? We don’t know. That is part of missions. We pray. We dream and we listen for God’s voice. Then we start walking, we take steps and trust that He will guide us. And you can help!

Pray for us, for the boys at The Refuge and for God to open all the doors so that His vision becomes real in our lives… and in yours! After all God has some “next steps” for you too.

Please join us in praying for the McCrea family. We invite you to connect with them by email/mail and social media too. Here’s how you can stay connected:

dmccrea@paoc.org  |  www.ourlovingfather.com  |  https://www.facebook.com/ourlovingfather/