New Staff Training
Explaining the silence.
I resigned from my job.
Since 2022 I worked in finance. Specifically in the tech industry. I studied finance at university, and have grown up loving technology. I have always observed the power we have at our finger tips, and have grown to respect the boundaries we need. I now know we must not become computers, technology must not rule our lives, and reign over our minds. These labor-saving but time-consuming, devices must be used as tools. We must retain control, for if not - they will control us.
“The thought process that went into building … Facebook ... was all about: 'How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’” (Sean Parker - Founding President of Facebook)
As we all do with many things, I swing back and forth on many topics. I often swing hard, and quickly with new topics. I had never questioned my technology usage until 2023. Before I got married, my tech could have been seen as my spouse. I spent 8 hours+ on my iPhone, and a couple more on my TV or laptop. In the last few months I now average less than 2 hours on my phone, and most of it is either maps, email, or iMessage. Woohoo, look at me. I don’t say this to boast, instead to show how dramatically I swing. I’ve debated getting a flip phone for years, and I recently decided to stop using an apple watch, trading it in for a minimalist Casio.
It has been a while since my weekly articles! Here’s why, I have been on a media-fast this month. Since mid-May my family has been at Ave Maria University in Florida. My wife, daughter, and I have been living in a dorm room, majority of our meals in a dining hall, while I attend classes, training for my new job.
I decided this Spring that I wanted to take my mission, and my ambitions seriously. To take a risk and step out into the unknown. I had a dream early on that I wanted to be an author, I have always loved writing - and University grew my love for public speaking - another professional dream of mine; sharing the gospel on the big stage. Going from tech finance to Christian speaker is a mile apart, so I needed to discern my trajectory. What is God’s will for my life? I wanted to share the gospel to the marketplace, and build leaders to share the gospel too - a kind of spiritual multiplication - yet not much fruit was borne, at times due to a lack of effort, or feelings of defeat overtaking me.
Late last winter, I began to ponder the question; “Is what I am doing changing the world?” (- a dear friend asked me) Alongside asking God if what I was doing was in his will? Through a longer period of prayer, conversation and discernment I realized I was trying to put God into my plan. I wanted to fit him into my desires. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice for him. My desires were somewhat good, but it wasn’t God’s call. So this begs some questions, what is God’s will for my life? Where does he want me? What does he want me to do with my time?
I knew my life was not made for scrolling through Instagram half of my conscious hours in a day. I knew my life was not made to be rich beyond my wildest dreams. I knew my life was made for more. Was it in going full swing to try to become an author? Was it to give it all up and move to China to spread the gospel?
God instead led me here. To Ave Maria University, where I am training to be a full-time missionary. I will be going out onto the college campus to share the gospel with 100% of my time through FOCUS. We will be going out to reach new students, welcoming students into our home, teaching students the gospel, and how to share it as well. My wife has worked for the last two years as a full-time missionary at Texas A&M, and now we will both be ‘on mission’ - full time. Through this decision God is sending us to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
I didn’t know that God would call me to something this radical. To give up a job that would likely lead to stability, in exchange for fundraising my salary. To give up our home in Texas where we have always lived, to be nomadic. To sell our possessions and follow him. If you had told me a year ago that my life would include this much sacrifice and self-gift to Christ, I would have laughed. We were mapping out a 15-20 year plan. Where would we live, where our children would go to school, and much more. Yet, still God wanted more than this.
I am thrilled to go on mission. I am thrilled to unite our family to Christ in this unique way. In 2 months, students are stepping into a warzone for the first time. A spiritual battlefield. A thousand ideologies fighting for control of their mind, their time, and their passions. At New Staff training, we are preparing to step into the same warzone. We are praying for the students we will encounter. We are learning how to love Christ Jesus, how to share in his beatific vision, and how to train warriors for the gospel, who will train warriors, to continue to do the same.
“and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Pray for our family in this risky journey. Pray for boldness in our mission. Pray for the entire organization to be courageous, to be soldiers for Christ (JPII). Most importantly, pray for the students we encounter to begin transforming now. For their hearts to become open to receiving the truth, beauty, and goodness of the gospel. With Christ, nothing is impossible.
I share all this as an invitation. We are called to be bold. We are called to pursue holiness. We are called to make disciples of all nations. If you’d like to partner with me in this journey, please send me a message. Or you can support us through a monthly gift here: Jacob Avard - FOCUS