Happy official first day of spring! Here the weather is getting warmer and the grass is turning a vibrant green color. We have also had a couple of unseasonably strong storms whose winds have brought down some trees in the forest across the street. Speaking of winds, there have been some trans-Atlantic winds of change blowing in my direction over the last several months and I am excited to finally get to share about what is happening.
Last May, I began to feel in my times with the Lord that there was a change on the horizon. I prayed for more clarity and none was given. At the time there were no obvious open doors around me, and things here were going wonderfully. So, I told the Lord I was open to anything but that I wasn’t going to go around looking for other opportunities. Rather, I asked him to just make it very clear when the next door opened and put the matter to bed.
On my way back to Switzerland from my trip to North America this last fall, I boarded my first flight from Kalispell to Salt Lake City. It was a fairly small plane with just 2 seats on either side of the aisle. I sat next to a woman who had brought her lunch on the plane (we were taking off a few minutes before noon). As she went to open the Dr. Pepper accompanying her salad, it fizzed up and spritzed a bit on her. As she tried to dry the spill, I quickly flagged down a flight attendant for some napkins and handed them to the woman.
She was thankful for the quick help and began to strike up a conversation. Being quite the introvert, I almost never speak to people on planes, but I felt obligated. She asked me what I do, and I explained a bit about what I do for the mission. Her eyes got large and she said “No way! Just before boarding this flight, I wrote and email to my team saying we need to find someone like you and now I am sitting next to you.” Come to find out, she is the CEO and founder of a legal tech firm working to make expungement more accessible. We hit it off quite well from there and talked for the rest of the just over an hour-flight.
As we were coming in for a landing in SLC, she asked for my contact details and if I would be willing to do some work for them remotely. I said yes. I have always done a bit of work on the side to help make ends meet and was excited about the blessing of a new project. 3 days after I returned to Switzerland I began to work with them. I found myself working with a wonderful team whom I connected extremely well with. I felt quite blessed.
In December, the CEO asked to meet over zoom one-on-one. She told me that eventually, they would like to turn what I am doing into a full-time role and asked if I would be interested in being considered. I said I would be interested. Over the coming months, we continued to dialog and I continued to pray and seek out counsel from the spiritual leaders and mentors in my life. With a great sense of peace, I decided to accept their offer to start with them in July as the new Director of Digital Marketing for Rasa.
Now, this of course means I will be transitioning out of being a full-time missionary. I want to thank you for your prayers and financial support over the time I have been here in Switzerland. Together we have left a lasting impact into eternity. The work that we’ve accomplished has left a permanent mark in the forms of people who have given their lives to Christ, young people who have engaged in missions who wouldn’t have otherwise, courses & materials that will live on to encourage and uplift others for years to come, and the lives of other creative people who have been championed to reach their full God-given potential with their gifts.
I am in awe of how the Lord has orchestrated doors and opportunities so beautifully here over the last 3 years or so. I recall how clearly the Lord spoke that I was to go to Switzerland all the way back in 2018. Then shortly after I arrived, as we went into lockdown, how key my skills and equipment were to the live streaming we needed to do to keep the community functioning well. It was such a wonderful confirmation that I was right where I was supposed to be. I don’t fully know why the Lord is leading me in this new direction, but I trust that he has a reason for it and I am excited to discover what he has in store.
However, there is still much work to be done here in Lausanne in the next few months. There is still the residency program with the students from the communications course, the Going course to produce, and many other projects to complete and hand off. I will continue to keep you all updated as usual with these monthly updates but wanted to share the big news of what is coming this summer.
As always, thank you for coming along with me in this adventure of faith,
Ben