Both Ed and Tracy are graduates of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary but the call to “be a missionary” came individually to each of them at an early age. God has used the years to prepare Ed and Tracy for the work He was calling them to do.
Before surrendering his life to fulltime ministry in 2007, Ed was never comfortable preaching and being up in front of people, so God used music and singing to prepare him. He went on several mission trips throughout the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong and Australia ministering in song, testimony and drama in churches, schools, jails and malls. (Ed served with CTI Music Ministries between 2002-03.)
During Tracy’s single years, she went on stateside mission trips and an overseas mission trip to Romania. She also served as a North American Mission Board missionary to Vermont to help plant a student church on the campus of the University of Vermont.
In 2005 Ed and Tracy met. Their first conversation involved missions. They were married in 2006 and their individual “calling” to the mission fields became shared and stronger.
Ed completed seminary December 2011 and in February 2012 he became First Baptist Vivian’s Minister of Music and Outreach. During one of the first services there, Ed and Tracy learned that Burkina Faso was the country chosen by the church for their international missions’ emphasis and that the church would be planning a trip in the future.
Five months later, their hearts were stirred, and Ed and Tracy prayed about a move to the mission field. Was God leading them and if so where? They began to look at Africa for the first time together: Sudan, Tanzania and Burkina Faso were all considerations.
The church’s trip to Africa became a reality the end of December 2012... During Ed’s short week and a half in Burkina Faso, he felt affirmations to God’s international missions calling and that Africa could be that destination for his family. While in Burkina Faso, he overheard Ms. Lynn Kennedy, his host and missionary/founder of Shattering Darkness Ministries in West Africa, tell one of his team members about a ministry position for a couple that was open. The position calls for both husband and wife to play significant roles in the ministry.
Back at home, God continued to work in Ed’s heart, using situations and circumstances in his ministry position to move him and Tracy closer to His will for their family.
On January 21st, 2013, after much prayer, Ed realized it was time and he and Tracy began talking about and planning for the move to a ministry in Burkina Faso with Shattering Darkness. Ed wrote in his journal that evening, “May Joshua 24:15 be my family’s life verse: ‘. . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’” – Cindy Flanagan
On February 3rd, we announced to our First Baptist family in Vivian God's call on our lives to the international mission field. Two months later we had moved to Mississippi, from which we plan on basing ourselves while in the US. This is Tracy's home state, and we also have significant church ties here. We look forward to seeing how God continues to unfold our story in His. Thank you for joining us on the journey!
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