Never say never: a call to the USA
In 2010, God spoke to Nicholas and Amy in a way that profoundly shaped not only their lives, but the trajectory and future of the whole Lines family.
Since then, they have been on a whirlwind journey that took some unexpected turns. Nic shares the story of God’s direction and faithfulness over the last season.
As a young newlywed couple Amy and I dreamt of living as missionaries, both having spent time in the beautiful continent Africa - Amy in Kenya and me (Nic) in South Africa. We had a passion for mission and felt God was calling us to leave our comfort zone and leave England in order to share the gospel with those in other parts of the world. We had one caveat though - it couldn't be America. Not only did we not want to do ministry in the States, we had a conversation early in our marriage about having no desire to even visit!
A dream turns ‘no’ to ‘yes’
But God. He had different plans. Through a prophetic dream, God redirected our hearts from Africa to the USA. I still remember waking up from that dream, shaking, in tears and under the presence of the Holy Spirit, and I knew that God was calling us to these amazing shores. Amazingly, Amy felt the exact same shift.
Fast forward 14 years, and here we are, now permanent residents of the United States of America - and what a journey it has been!
We are family - through highs and lows
As we have reflected on the journey, one thing is clear: none of this would have happened without the generosity, prayers, support and encouragement from local churches that we have been connected with - both in the States and in England.
This is not hyperbole or a dismissive form of Christian kindness, but one hundred percent our felt reality. We have been lucky enough to have connected with different churches and leaders in the RM family and have always felt so supported and cared for as people have prayed for us, counselled us, encouraged us and even given to us financially or allowed us to stay in your homes whilst we were in between continents or cities! We have seen God's heart for the church outwork through many of you reading this letter.
Fruit that will last
After five years of ministering to south Brooklyn we felt the prophetic encouragement to close our doors, but I wanted to highlight the incredible fruit that we have seen as a result of your incredible support. The church plant in NYC didn't end how we thought it might - but that doesn't mean it wasn't a success.
The five years we spent labouring for the gospel in New York have been some of the most life-shaping years of our lives and we can only look back on them with gratitude, fondness and grace. We reached hundreds, if not thousands, of people through the church and multiple events and services we ran. We handed out ice pops to strangers, worshipped on the streets, joined in with neighbourhood fun days and welcomed Muslims, Jews and non-believers to our community over and over again. We also saw people saved, baptised and added to the church in these precious years of ministry.
New fields, ripe for harvest
Through the support shown to us, we are now able to live and minister in the USA on a permanent basis. In January 2023 we moved to Charleston, SC where I (Nic) am working for a faith-based soccer (football!) club called Impact City - a national club with five locations across the States. The club has a unique vision to offer coaching that is of remarkable quality, using qualified coaches and a well thought out curriculum, but is also exceptional in the way we care for and disciple our players. What that looks like for us is that we have a big focus on being holistic in our approach to the game. At every session, we don't just focus on technique and soccer skills, but we also seek to share something of the character of God and look to preach the gospel wherever we can. In the first eight months of our time here, we had already seen 33 young people give their lives to Jesus!
Amy is now serving as a 4th Grade teacher at a Christian school called Cathedral Academy. She has a class of 26 this year and will have the privilege of educating them not only in the normal educational needs of 8 and 9 year olds but also in the gospel, as they have Bible study together every morning and a worship service every Wednesday. We are beginning to feel at home here and have settled in a grace-filled church called Bright City - led by Nick and Jess Connolly, who have strong connections to the Confluence Newfrontiers sphere.
If you want to know more about what we are doing here in Charleston, how you can support us or simply want to stay updated, please send me an email. Also, Impact City is also a non-profit organisation you can financially partner with by clicking this link.
To end, we simply want to say thank you. It's not been an easy journey, it has been full of ups and downs that we can't fully share in a short update like this and it's not worked out how we had imagined. We have had to spend time healing and processing the journey, but God is good, and so is His Church - we simply couldn't have done any of this without you.
"Listen to this...stop and consider God's wonders that He has done."
- Job 37:14.
Blessings,
Nic, Amy, Joash, Keziah and Lydia