God Dreams

Serving as the hands and feet of Jesus to equip and empower. This is the mission statement that God wrote on our hearts as our team prayed for direction for our ministry two years ago.

Five Lights as a team began to take shape in 2015 when Scott and I traveled to Thailand on a mission trip. But before the “team” came together there were 4 years for Scott and Danielle that were exciting, frustrating, and downright confusing. The dream was put into their hearts in March of 2011 during and after the first mission trip Scott had taken to South Africa. When God gave him this vision, the “when” and “how” weren’t made clear just yet. As time went on, they faced many new life challenges. They helped a nephew get through high school, a niece walk through a battle with cancer and a daughter get into college, all the while raising a total of 7 children. Over this time they began to question the dream and vision placed into them. These were their “Wilderness Years”. They were a time of perseverance, seeking God’s truths and more than anything else a time of preparation and patience. But they didn’t just sit and do nothing during those years. They worked in ways they were able to from where they were at to do anything they could to help with missions. They were able to start an Outreach feeding program to help organizations that were already working in the mission field to raise funds to provide meals to children. They were also able to take many trips to be a part of other organizations and were able to learn more about what full time mission work really looked like.
It wasn’t until Scott went on that mission trip to Thailand in 2015 that everything started to come together and God began to show them what he was doing and wanted to do with this dream. He and Danielle were never meant to do this alone. God wanted a TEAM. God wanted more than that though; He wanted the Keefer’s and the Young’s and the Thabethe’s. He wanted FIVE LIGHTS.

On that same Thailand trip, God showed me through the missionaries and their children that we worked with there that He wanted ME to go out into the world with MY family to care for His children. I had no idea what that was supposed to look like though. I only knew God gave me a new dream. And it was terrifying.
A few months before that trip, my husband Shaun had done his first mission trip to South Africa. From the time he arrived home, he knew that God had given him a new dream and purpose. I wasn’t ready for it at the time though. I mean, I was comfortable. We were living safe, financially stable, and well established in our friendships and church community. We were “living the dream”...
But God had bigger plans. Over the next 2-3 months, He changed my mind and my heart. Shaun and I knew of Scott’s dreams to live and serve in South Africa, and I came to realize that God was bringing our two families together to make those dreams happen. Because they’re actually God’s dreams, not just ours. He wove our families together and brought us all close in ways that only He can.
A few months after that, God brought Chris and Leslie into our team. They had both known since before they met or were married that they wanted to be missionaries. Like the rest of us though, they had no idea what that would look like. They only knew God had given them a dream. God then took them on a journey across the country for Chris’s job. Eventually, he brought them back to Wylie where they began attending New Hope Church. Then, He brought them to us. Chris and Leslie began attending the life group that Shaun and I were leading out of our home. We knew immediately that they belonged there and that God had meant for them to be there. I can only describe the feeling God gave me the first day they came as “Yes. This is who you were waiting for. They’re supposed to be here. This is who you need.”
The first day they attended, Chris shared with us that they had recently learned that he had cancer. In the same moment of confirmation, we were given this news that we may already lose them. Never before that had my heart so quickly been torn over friends I had only just met. Our life group walked alongside during their family’s battle with cancer and joined them in battle through prayer. They were never alone in that fight and neither were we. God had dreams to fulfill. He was NOT going to let the enemy win. Chris received his last Chemo treatment on August 22, 2014. He has been in remission ever since. Glory to our awesome God!!
While they attended our life group, they were able to see Shaun and I experience short term mission work and hear our testimonies and experiences from it. We also shared our plans to make the big move to doing it full time. They knew that they wanted to pursue the same things as a family and live out the dream God had given to both of them, and so they asked to join our team. We were completely floored! It just showed us even more how God had been working all along to build this team.
Meanwhile over in South Africa, a young couple with big God dreams to serve and empower their own community had been forming a relationship and close friendship with Scott. That young couple happens to be Sifiso and Gugu Thabethe. And God showed us that He had done His amazing work once again.
Some people would say that it all just kind of fell perfectly together, but all we can see in it is His divine design. In a thousand tiny moments and a million small and perfectly timed experiences, He brought us all together and gave us all this dream. His dream.

OUR purpose and plan for this most recent trip was to work at building relationships in the church and community of Mashishimale, and to look at homes for our families so we could get a better idea of what we need and where exactly we will live. God’s plan for this trip was so much more. It always is. On this trip he gave us new beautiful friendships. He gave us even greater purpose. He gave us more unity as a team. And he gave us even more DREAMS.
The Full Gospel Church in Mashishimale, the Crèche operating out of the church and the people we have met in the community of Mashishimale have shown us exactly what our ministry and mission will “look like”. We don’t need to wonder anymore. It will look like a community of beautiful, hard working, humble, God-loving people working to do whatever they can to build up their community and build The Kingdom. And it will look like our team stepping up alongside that community to serve, equip and empower them in any way that God gives us dreams to do it.

One tiny moment. One handshake. A bag of cement. A pile of plaster. A wheelbarrow. Spending time with a teacher and her sweet children. Days spent encouraging a new friend in need of prayer and encouragement. It will happen one day at a time. One act of love and service at a time. One dream at a time.
And in a thousand tiny moments and a million small and divinely timed experiences God will weave it all together, just the way He has done with our 5 Lights team.

As a team, we can no longer be satisfied with just “living the dream”. God has given us a new dream. He has shown us the “Where” and the “Who”. He has shown us HIS dream. And we’re ready to go and live it. We’re All In.
Are you ready to join us?

-Andrea