Where It All Began

by Lacey

Seth and I have been ministering together at Cookeville Free Will Baptist (CFWBC) since September 2019. The way God brought us to CFWBC seemed like a miracle in itself and we are so thankful for the opportunity we’ve had to serve there. We’ve made some of the best lifelong friendships that we will cherish for years to come. It has also helped us to network and see that the world was bigger than what we could see.

Joining the Liberty Association of Free Will Baptists meant that we were a part of the state and national association for the first time. This fulfilled a great longing within me to be a part of something greater. I grew up in a tiny box of Free Will Baptist churches and never knew the worldwide impact of our association. God’s mission is a global mission and there are so many people that need to hear the gospel!

We first learned of North American Ministries (NAM) after joining the Liberty Association. NAM sends church planters to develop churches in areas of need. Before the planters are ready to go to the mission field, they spend some time raising funds and supports in area churches. That is how we met the Hampton family, who have a work in Missoula, Montana. Seth and I were both drawn to the mission work they were planning to do there and decided to support their ministry by giving a monthly donation. This was the first seed that was planted in our hearts for the people of Montana.

Montana is a state of one million people, less than 10% of those people claim to be evangelical Christians, and Summit Church, in Missoula, is the only nationally affiliated Free Will Baptist Church in Montana. Our family happened to be vacationing in Montana at Glacier National Park this summer so we decided to check in with our church planting family. It was exciting to meet up with Josh and hear about the work that he was doing in Missoula. Seth and I felt drawn to the west and Montana in that moment.

It wasn’t the first time, however, that we had considered being a part of North American Ministries. Back in November of 2022, Seth and I were able to visit Colorado together for the first time and fell in love with the mountains. A few months later, Seth mentioned his love for the west and had a friend of ours try to get us to commit to moving to Colorado and serving with NAM. After some consideration, we decided that working for NAM would be a good fit for us sometime in the future (like 10+ years), but right now wasn’t the right time. We moved on from the thought and continued serving faithfully in our current church.

This time was different. We sensed it coming, but never thought it would come this fast. Seth met with a mentor from NAM and somehow here we are, starting the process of becoming church planters in Montana. We later found out that Josh Hampton had actually been praying for another church planter to come and start a work alongside him in Montana for a couple of years.

God’s timing has definitely taken us by surprise. We don’t claim to understand or know why the time is now, but we do know that God’s plans are greater than our own. We also know that we feel certain about His calling. There are so many factors and details that still need to be worked out at this time, but we feel assured that God will take care of it all.

Right now I’m hanging on to Proverbs 16:9 which says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”