Our motto for C2C and our greater Salt and Light family is “God’s Family Together On God’s Mission.” This pretty much sums up the creation mandate (Gen 1:26-28) as well as being a central theme of the story of the Bible. It begins with His family together on mission and ends with the culmination of that mission at the great family event, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). This is where the bride of Christ enters into our eternal family state with Him and each other (Revelation 21:2,9,22:17).
While Jesus walked on the earth He sent His spiritual family on mission (The Seventy in Luke 10, and the Twelve in Matthew 9-11). He sent them out in family units and later the rest of the family joined them in the work. Christian Life Fellowship Church in Raleigh recently sent part of their, and our family on mission to Tucson. Scott Woodard gives the following account of the sending and you can see the anticipation of the rest of the family being involved in the future there.
June 7th and 8th, 2014, were two days in Raleigh, North Carolina filled with great anticipation, promise, sorrow and tears for Christian Life Fellowship Church (CLF). What began on Saturday as a church family fellowship around the faithfulness of God would end on Sunday with the sending of leaders, the sowing of great friends and one large step of faith to obey the Lord and serve a city named Tucson.
Sunday morning was electric with Holy Spirit’s presence. Father had spoken. The Markeson’s were to be sent back to Tucson to help spearhead a church plant and to fulfill a personal 20 year dream. This day, which had been foretold eight years earlier, was clearly marked in the minds of the CLF Church family as Rich and Janet Markeson’s 2006 prophetic word seemed to echo like thunder in the hearts of every church member – “You have come to Raleigh to go back to Tucson.”
Sunday, June 8th became the fulfillment of this eight year word as elders and presbytery laid hands on Rich and Janet Markeson and their four children Kailene, Shayla, Richie and Jocelyn releasing them as local elders from CLF Church and sending them in the power of the Holy Spirit to the mission field of Tucson, Arizona.
Now, after two months of settling, we are happy to announce the Markeson’s have successfully settled into their new land and home on the east side of Tucson. They are fully enjoying the reconnection of family and friend relationships and have begun to discover God’s new direction for their lives in Tucson. As of July and August, Rich and Janet are beginning to open up their new home to individuals, as the lord opens opportunities, and minister God’s healing power and grace to their individual lives and marriages. A love and grace the Markeson’s have always carried.
Friends and family continue to plan to visit Tucson, Arizona to support the Markeson’s in the middle of their new transition. Raleigh’s Paul Kidd and Rich Fisher along with other friends from Kirksville are scheduled to visit the family in August to support and strengthen this wonderful couple and their children.
As part of the C2C family, we ask that you would join us in prayer for the Markeson family as we all work together to discover God’s will for them and the City of Tucson.