Geoff and Joy have an in depth conversation with Paul and Karen about their years of experience living oversees and working in various contexts to love and serve people. Their wisdom helps us understand how to balance internal and external focus, what metrics we should and shouldn't be measuring, and the ways we have gotten to such a pivotal point in time.
About Paul and Karen
Paul and Karen came to faith in very different ways. Paul was raised in a home that prioritized faith and church, and Karen was raised in a loving but agnostic environment. Paul engaged in church ministry as a child, a young teenager while Karen didn’t come to faith until she was 15. At different times and in different ways, their hearts were drawn to the possibility of cross-cultural ministry. When they met in our adult years in Germany, that common vision was foundational in their friendship. As often happens, their road was circuitous.
After their wedding in California, they headed out to Illinois for Paul to attend seminary, in part to fulfill the requirements of his longtime denomination. Eventually, a difference in ministry philosophy led to a parting from the denomination and a reboot in California where they served in Missions but from the other side of the desk.
Eventually, their path took them to Poland (with 3 kids in tow) and to a new adventure in language and culture learning and then vision casting and training in the area of starting new fellowships. Fifteen years into their time there, they began to be drawn to ministry with those on the margins of society-at risk children and youth and people experiencing homelessness.
In addition to leading Discovery Bible Study groups and training within a Polish non-profit, they were able to start a project helping Polish citizens experiencing homelessness in Birmingham, England, and eventually they were able to start a church community in one of the non-profit’s shelters in Southern Poland. That little community was for them the simplest, purest and most beautiful form of church they had experienced. They miss it!
Now, family needs have brought them back to California and to a new position within Communitas, Directors of Pre-Deployment. They work with staff from the moment that they start their journey with Communitas until they are released to their new ministry location on the field. It is a joy for them to companion new staff, investing in people as they prepare to transition to their new place of ministry.
Life is full of changes and adventure but the presence of God holds them tight through it all.
Connect with Paul and karen
Connect with Communitas:
- Website: https://gocommunitas.org/
- Instagram: @gocommunitas
- Podcast episodes and more: https://linktr.ee/communitasinternational
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