THE MOST CRAZY THING I DID IN FAITH
Kate and I got married in December 2005. Seven months before then, I was ordained Minister of the Word and Sacraments in the Christian Reformed Church (CRCNA) and Associate Pastor at Bridgeway community CRC, Haledon, NJ. While I served as Associate Pastor under my coach, friend and Senior Pastor, Rev Andy Systma, I also managed my small telecommunication company- Line One Communications. In addition to this, I also was doing a Master of Arts online program at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids. I began this course because I knew that part of why God sent me to the States was for me to be trained so that I would go back to Africa and train others. Life was busy but good. I was living the American dream
When I got married, life even got better as Kate occasionally joined me in the telecommunication business. A few months after we got married, we got pregnant with our first son John. We began to renovate our house in Irvington, NJ. By July, we had completed renovations- new roof, newly painted sidings and interiors; new flooring with a solidly built entrance steps adorned with bricks. I built the entrance steps by myself and supervised the whole of the renovation, making sure that the best materials were used and everything was plum. I remember bragging that if an earthquake wanted to lift that house, the structure of the entrance steps will hold it down. Our house was ready. We brought in our first brand new furniture. Kate and I were ready to enjoy our newly improved home and excitedly looking forward to welcoming our first son.
And the phone rang. It was a call from Grand Rapids Michigan. It was Rev Richard Systsma, the Dean of Students, Calvin Theological Seminary and the father of Andy, my friend and Senior Pastor. “Joshua, would you prayerfully consider switching to a Master of Divinity program this fall? School starts after Labor Day weekend” He said to me after we had exchanged pleasantries. The fact that I told him to give us three days to think and pray about it was crazy. The craziest part was that Kate and I shut down Line One communication (there was not enough time to sell the business), packed our things and moved to Grand Rapids to become a full time Master of Divinity student. When God calls you, he does what is necessary to equip you, giving you the willingness to consider what you would have thought as unthinkable and sometimes making your to place little value on things which the carnal mind would consider invaluable. That is the God we serve! An awesomely powerful God
While studying at Calvin, my son John was born and the Lord blessed us with two more boys – Chib (short version of Chibueze meaning God is King) and Isaac whose pregnancy put so much laughter in our hearts. I completed my Master of Divinity in 2010. That crazy move from New Jersey to Grand Rapids has been used by God to do many great things, things way beyond my imagination.
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