...it has been a long time coming
From 2015 to 2020 we journaled our missional endeavors
with hundreds of you as a means of prayer and support...
Campbell Carrier vlogged our journey, one adventure after another,
across the states, and overseas...
It has been our joy to share these stories with you, and our hope
is that God has been magnified through each of these encounters.
Sensing that there was a seismic shift on the horizon,
We put a pause on the blog at the end of 2020.
Let me back up and give some perspective...
Our team in Northern Minnesota had laid the ground work
for 20/20 Vision - a year where we used the digital tools of
The Bible Project to take our church/student body through a virtual,
word-for-word, chronological, read on the scriptures.
Ironically we were 3 months into the 20/20 vision
when Covid-19 crippled our non-digital plans.
So we like many of you doubled down on our screen time.
The bonus for us - we had just locked in a 3 month habit of virtual classroom
before the "lockdown" making screen time our only means of surviving.
So we added Zoom, Google Classroom, amped up our Podcasts, YouTube,
and Social Media channels to do our work.
There were a lot of great, new, innovative, virtual ways
that helped us cope. Some survived while others thrived or took a dive.
So that by the end of 2020 the global culture was burnt out, numb,
from zoom, virutal mtgs, and sick of social media as a whole.
So that is the over~arching reason that we put
Campbell Carrier on pause at the end of 2020.
We needed to regain our own bandwidth.
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Little did we know that 2021 would be a deluge of difficulties
for the Campbell Clan to Navigate.
Pages worth of hospital visits, appointments, rehab. etc...
The compression of the last few years had caught up to us.
Our Family has been recovering from Vehicle Accidents, Financial Fumbles,
Health Issues, Surgeries, and tossed through a Tornado (literally).
~ We are extremely grateful for friends, family, and our church who
gave us extended care and support through great difficulties ~
We aren't out of the woods yet with all of our health concerns,
and I've learned to function at about 60%, which is my new 100%
...and so that is how we gauge a good day.
...and although we miss the excessive laughter of days gone by, and we
grieve more often than we care to admit, WE HAVE NOT LOST HOPE.
We are finding in this extended season of life a different sort of mercy,
a different sort of grace to lean into. After all it is in the crucible of life
that God refines our character, tests our mettle, and grants us
opportunities to recognize that we are mortal beings in need of a
great transformation, and by our vantage point ~
that transformation is outside of us.
Yet, if I may be so bold, I've tasted the immortality of the Spirit of God
transforming me into the likeness of the Son.
But, If Jesus endured such hardship,
then I know I'm not above carrying my own cross (daily).
...and so I will stop there,
and spare you the unwritten blogs of 2021/'22
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2022 after 20+/- years as a career pastor,
we have been lead to exit vocational ministry for a season.
[Decompressing from a couple decades of shepherding,
has been a challenge. Adjusting to different rhythmns, and having our faith
stretched in unfamiliar ways has been wearisome but we have not lost hope.]
...and so we are poised to experiment with a different paradigm
that has intrigued us for decades. Nearly every summer on mission we
have encountered folks who leverage their work to do ministry.
...and for the last 20 years I've sent students
on short term missions over-seas to pair work & missions together.
[Bonus: Anna & I have worked extensively with 2nd & 3rd world
mission agencies who equip students with [a] skill set & [b] the scriptures.]
It's become known is some circles as BAM or Business As Missions.
After a great deal of research, prayer, fear, trepidation, & counsel,
we believe more importantly by the guiding peace of God's Spirit
~ We opened up Vantage Point LLC. Consulting.
It will take another journal entry to explain the purpose and plan
behind the Name and the Business, but for now;
We extend our warmest gratitude, appreciation, and love
to all those who have in the past,
and continue in the present to support us.
You have helped to shape and launch this next adventure
in more ways than you know.
Stay tuned for more updates.
p.s. I will always be a pastor-at-heart,
and Anna & the kids will continue to contribute in
their unique and creative art forms.
Yet, our Campbell calling and contributions are ultimately
not to be invested in the systems (kingdom) of this world
which are fleeting and passing away. Rather we are willing
to seem foolish in the eyes of many - to take a posture that
invests in the systems (kingdom) of heaven - which is invading earth,
through the ongoing work of our boss, His Majesty - King Jesus.
...so though we leave behind, (surrender) the formal functions
of a "pastoral-role", we anticipate some greater story & His greater glory
through the valley of obedience, which takes a measured risk.
We are not guaranteed that Vantage Point will succeed.
It may very well fail - but to NOT journey through the valley
seems like disobedience at this juncture, and we are not keen on
standing at this crossroads and delaying our obedience.
To do so, would have steeper consequences than a failed business
by our vantage point...
~ Shalom ~