What inspires someone to just give up their whole life as they planned it? To enter a foreign land with foreign people and customs and language and simply trust God for this new start? For Willy and Denise, it was the clear calling of Christ to come work in Mexico with Pastor Tomas and his ministry.
Willy and Denise were much like any other young married couple out there. They were busy living their lives in Pennsylvania and planning their future together, saving money to buy a house and turn it into their dream home.
They had been working with their church youth and began to notice there was an epidemic of selfishness and shallowness amongst the teenagers. When the biggest thing going on in the lives of these kids was getting the latest CD, Willy and Denise decided their eyes needed to be opened and they organized a youth missions trip.
It was a success, and the next year they organized a second trip. However, as the time drew closer, all but one youth backed out. Instead of doing a youth trip, Willy and the young man planned to join an Alliance Men’s missions group to work with Pastor Tomas in Mexico. Then that guy also backed out, leaving Willy to go alone with the men’s work team.
The experience was good and Willy ventured back again, this time with Denise, to work with Pastor Tomas and the Tarahamaran Indians.
Growing up in Indonesia as a missionary kid, Denise had seen what poverty does to people. But in Mexico she noticed something disturbing. Never before had she seen such hopelessness in the eyes of the people she met. Denise and Willy returned home and started discussing a future living and working with Pastor Tomas in Mexico to help bring hope to this lost people.
There were tests of faith for the couple as they looked to the mission field God had prepared for them. They went to Mexico several times and were stretched in them when it came to finances, giving up secure jobs and leaving their families to answer God’s call.
They are now living full time in Rio Chico, working with Pastor Tomas’ ministry and raising two beautiful young daughters. They have given up a lot to work far from home, to raise two daughters in a foreign land. They have now gone almost three years without a steady paycheque, yet God has provided for all their needs.
They have seen lives changed, not just in the Mexicans and Tarahamarans but also with teams members that have come to help. One man, a doctor, came on a missions trip when he was not a Christian. He was greatly impacted by his time in Mexico, and a week after he went back to the States he accepted Christ. He now brings medical and construction teams down annually.
Every day Willy and Denise once again give up everything to the Lord all over again, trusting Him to provide, to expand their faith and to guide them.They have been blessed with safety in a place with limited health care.
Denise shared with us a story that illustrates what has happened in their lives as a result of answering God’s call. She and Willy had the opportunity to take their young daughter on a trip into the Copper Canyon to help the Tarahamarans. She watched as her daughter talked with the kids there and handed out candy. Denise recalls just thanking God over and over again, praising Him for giving her this gift of allowing her daughter to experience real ministry at such a young age. Like any mother, Denise wants the best opportunities for her child. But, she asks us, what better opportunity is there than to have her daughter see and experience ministry and to be a blessing to others? For Willy and Denise, there is nothing better than to raise their kids where God wants them to be, living within the will of God.
Tags: People
Lorene
I found your story so beautiful and moving. Willy and Denise are amazing people.
Willy and Denise are an amazing, selfless couple and are such an inspiration to many!