Bringing Meaning to Life - 2019 Spring Vision Dinners

“I’m not the one with passion to go deep into parts of the world…Those are the ‘arrows’, but Mike and I are senders, the ‘bows’. That brings meaning to my life.”

Laura Gouveia wrote this after attending the first of two Spring Vision Dinners in March 2019. For Laura, this ministry is more than a great cause; it is something that brings meaning to her life. The GO Fund is one way that Laura is obeying The Great Commission, it is her way to invest in eternity. Why? So that the unreached would hear the name of Jesus!

Laura and Mike Gouveia at the 2019 Spring Vision Dinner in Redlands, California.

Five years ago, Claude Hickman shared a powerful metaphor at the first annual Vision Dinner. Those who go are the “arrows” and those who send are the “bows” that launch them into ministry. Founder and Executive Director, Luke Womack, reminded the 2019 guests that we still need many bows and arrows to accomplish the task of bringing the Gospel to unreached people groups. Laura and her husband Mike are two of these “bows”, and they see their role as vitally important.

Founder and Executive Director, Luke Womack, addressing guests at the 2019 Spring Vision Dinner in Redlands, California.

Laura writes, “Here’s what happens… Young, bright, passionate people go to college, get their degree and then desire to go to the ends of the earth to tell people about Jesus. However, along with their degree comes A LOT of student loan debt. So, naturally, they start working, next they find a spouse, next comes the kids and so on goes life while they chip away at loan debt. Next thing you know, “life” has gotten in the way of that passion to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and while the yearning to go burns on, so does their debt. The dream, the calling, the passion gets set aside and we lose the opportunity for Jesus to be known.”

Laura and Mike see the problem and they feel the weight of the issue. However, they have found the solution: The GO Fund!

The 2019 Spring Vision Dinners brought in a total of $230,092, funding 45 years of missions work! That is the solution. Champions like Laura and Mike have made it possible for missionaries to go and remain on the mission field. The burden of student debt, or as one applicant put it, “the only barrier I have right now,” is the one thing keeping most missionaries from the field. That does not have to be the case. The GO Fund exists to remove this barrier so that the gospel can be heard in every tribe, tongue and nation.

The first GO Fund missionary partners, David and Emily Rimestad, shared with guests that the only reason they are on the field today is because of The GO Fund. After five years of living among the Malayali people in Papua New Guinea, David and Emily are close to fully comprehending and speaking their language and will soon begin creating a written language and Bible for the Malayali people. The gospel will soon be heard for the very first time. Champions, “bows”, have made this reality possible.

Justin Pardee interviews David and Emily Rimestad at the 2019 Spring Vision Dinner in Redlands, California.

At the second Spring Vision Dinner, Keynote Speaker, Brooks Buser, shared his story of his time in Papua New Guinea. While Brooks has been able to see the gospel flourish in a place that had previously never heard the name of Jesus, he reminded guests that there are still hundreds of people groups desperately asking for a missionary to come share “the talk” with them. The task is still vast, and it will take many bows and arrows to accomplish it.

Keynote Speaker, Brooks Buser, addresses the guests at the 2019 Spring Vision Dinner in Santa Ana, California.

Laura longs to see the task accomplished and writes, “I loved hearing the vision all over again. How important it is to re-visit why we focus on the things we focus on, isn’t it? They gave us a little wooden chip at the end of the night as a reminder to keep praying. Mine is taped into our budget book so that every month I keep the vision alive so that I may be faithful to what God may provide to continue supporting this organization.”

Laura and Mike are just one example of the bows that are helping to launch missionary arrows onto the field, and that brings meaning to their lives.  

Will you join Laura and Mike in bringing meaning to your life by sending missionaries to the unreached?

Vision Dinner 2018

Watch the video below to learn how God moved through our champions at our Vision Dinner 2018 in Chino and Santa Ana.

At the End of Your Journey

The Celestial City is beautiful. Encrusted with jewels and gold-paved roads, it’s where real treasures are stored and never fade. It’s where the Lord resides and where the main character in The Pilgrim’s Progress journeys to find. He knows he won’t get there right away, but it will be his last destination and the place he can finally see Jesus, the one who took away his heavy burden.

This 340-year-old, allegorical novel follows the story of a man who is appropriately named, Christian. It opens with the author, John Bunyan, who says he fell asleep and dreamed. In his dream, he sees Christian standing with a large weight on his back and a Bible in his hand. Bunyan watches as the man becomes distraught over the reality of his sin and how he might be saved from it.

As Christian commits to his quest toward the City, he experiences a myriad of trials and meets several aptly-named characters – all of which appear as relatable metaphors for any believer’s faith.

Similarly, those who are followers of Christ are woven into an intricate story in which we daily walk a path laid out for us. Unlike Christian, the decisions we make along our individual journeys are not confined to the pages of a novel. We have been invited into a more complex, more stunning narrative, and it’s one in which we know the ending.  

“I prefer to be where I shall die no more, and in company of others who shall continually cry, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’”

The GO Fund’s annual Vision Dinners are themed after these beliefs. As we move toward the Celestial City, we want to celebrate the ending we know comes for those who put their faith in Christ, the one who takes our burdens. We also want to link arms with brothers and sisters whose paths have lead them to the farther reaches of the world.

Matthew 6:19-21 tells us to store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven where they can not be destroyed. Followers of Christ can rejoice that there will be a reward for the work that often shows little return here on Earth. The beautiful currency we will be given at the end of our journeys are small tokens that further reveal God’s goodness and character – the ultimate provider and Father who delights to give his children good gifts. This truth is paired with the stronger, underlying reason we so desperately desire to reach the Celestial City. It is the same as Christian’s in The Pilgrim's Progress:

“There at the Celestial City, they say there is no death and there I shall dwell with such companions I like best. For, to tell you the truth, I love Him because He released me from my burden, and I am very weary of my inward sickness. In view of this, I prefer to be where I shall die no more, and in company of others who shall continually cry, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’”