Geoffery

My Story

     I grew up in Northeast Kansas. My mom raised my twin brother and I in the Christian church and I became very aware of the spiritual warfare that we fight against every single day. Mom was faithful and she taught us the stories of scripture as bedtime stories growing up. I knew that the sin that was in me was enough to justify God in sending me to hell. However, I also knew from scripture that God had a plan to save me from the very beginning. He loved me so much that He sent His one and only Son Jesus to take my place on the cross. I knew that Jesus was my Lord and Savior by the time I was 8 years old, and I decided to be baptized.   

     As I grew up, the Lord allowed me to go through many trails in order to bring me closer to Him. He created me without a left hand and without toes on my left foot. This was something that I was very insecure about, and I questioned God about this for a very long time. However, despite creating me different, the Lord did bless me with a lot of natural talent, and I was very athletic. This quickly fought for my identity. I began to hide the way God created me behind trophies, medals, accolades and crowns that are perishable. I was ashamed of the way I looked, and I thought that if I was successful in sports no one would focus on my physical differences.  

I was a three-sport athlete in high school, and I decided to play football in college. I have played at 5 different colleges throughout my career. The Lord was placed on the back burner at this point. I wanted Him as my Savior, and I wasn't ashamed to say that He was Savior, but I wanted to be the lord of my life. I led bible studies, and listened to worship music, but football was my passion, and I wanted to become a professional athlete. I made my decisions based on the best route to the NFL. There were a lot of good times and a lot of bad times during my collegiate career. My decisions were influenced by coaching changes, setbacks, pride issues, and "better" opportunities rather than what God wanted me to do.  

     Thankfully God's grace was on me for my last decision. With my final year of eligibility in 2018, I hit my knees for the first time in a long time. I was tired. I was tired of chasing. I was tired of being disappointed and hurt by my decisions. No matter how hard I worked against Him, God worked harder for me. Willing to let it all go, I asked the Lord what His plan for my life was. He led me to Central Methodist University. Here I decided that I only wanted for my life what He wanted for my life, and I wasn't going unless He went with me.  

Praise the Lord. My life took a 180 degree turn and I began walking with the Lord again. I met my wife in the cafeteria in passing. Her smile is still one of my favorite things about her. Relationships though were an area in my life that I definitely wanted to let the Lord have. I remember praying in my room on my knees for courage to ask this girl out. The next day I walked into that cafeteria with boldness and confidence that was unmatched! I began to walk towards her and her friends beat me to it. I quickly looked around for someone to save me and I saw a friend that I could sit with. I said a quick prayer to myself and got up to pursue her again. Little did I know that if I had not spoken to her that day that my odds of seeing her would have decreased significantly as it was her last free meal and she didn't have a meal plan. 9 months later I asked her to marry me and 9 months after that we were husband and wife.  

     Rachel graduated in May of 2019 and went on to play professional "football" the next fall in Finland. I had to take one more semester of online classes and graduated in December of 2019. We got married in England in January 2020. In March of 2020 Covid19 was beginning to take the world by storm and Rachel and I had to part ways because we were residents of different countries. After 6 long months Rachel received a graduate assistant offer to coach soccer and get her master's at Grace college. So, we packed up and moved to Winona Lake, Indiana. We began going to Warsaw Community Church in January 2021.  

     In September of 2022 I went to a little retreat called Wayumi with WCC. The teaching at Wayumi that was presented reminded me so much of how my mother taught my brother and I all those years ago when I came to the faith. I knew almost immediately that I would give the rest of my life to be a part of God's plan. I knew that there was still work to be done because Jesus hasn't come back yet. But what I didn't know is that there are still Unreached People Groups in the world that have little to no access to the Gospel.  

     I called my wife and as soon as she picked up the phone she asked, "Are we becoming missionaries?" Without hesitation I said, "You already know that!" How can I spend the rest of my life doing nothing, knowing that everyday there are people dying without having the opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ? He gave it all up for me and He gave it all up for them. In October of 2022 I signed up for Bible school and have committed the rest of my life to taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth with the Lord Jesus Christ. 

     In February of 2023 I went with a group of men to Honduras and partnered with Humanity and Hope to host a Men's retreat. Men from 5 different villages there got to come spend a Friday and Saturday hearing about God's love and the gospel. In June 2023 my wife and I went to the Philippines with Ethnos360 Encounter and got to spend time with over 160 missionaries and their kids. We hosted a VBS for the missionary kids and the second week we learned what Equipping 2 (learning national culture and language) is like and then had the opportunity to go into a village that had a church plant that is 7 years old. 

     On February 18th, 2024, Rachel and I had our first son, Roman James Vaughn! I am so grateful for this life that God has given us, and I am thankful that He is allowing us to partner with Him in taking the Gospel to every Tribe, Nation, and Tongue.