Meg Foster

A Mainer by local standards, I happened upon Missio Dei after God had brought me full circle to a place of forgiveness. My earliest memories are of running around the aisles of the old white steeple churches with the deep tones of the organ bellowing in the background and sound of my father preaching from the pulpit always under the watchful eyes of the local balding, white, haired parishioners. It is there where I gleaned spiritual truths.

At the age of ten I was diagnosed with Leukemia. I screamed the questions of why, in my confusion of wanting to understand God’s nature: His mercy, goodness, and love. But even in my confusion and pain I came to have deeper understanding of His peace, His steadfastness, and how He enables and strengthens us.

And while my family was fighting this disease, my church family was having their own battle. Arguments I didn’t understand in which words flew without love and grace and left me angered and hurt. It’s why for several years I didn’t want to go to church or at least didn’t go willingly and God has done a lot in my heart to get me to a place where I could forgive. Through a Christian university, work at a worship institute, and missions work around the world, I began to see and learn that we are all broken but that God never stops extending grace and love and that he is continually redeeming us drawing us to Himself.

One of my favorite stories is the bleeding woman and her interaction with Christ. She’s forgotten and ignored by the crowd, but she works her way through to Jesus knowing that He can heal her. She grabs hold of his cloak, perhaps that’s all the strength she had, maybe hoping not to be seen, ashamed not only of her state but perhaps her sin, and Christ stops everything. She can’t hide and can’t go unnoticed in Jesus’ eyes. The very heart of the Gospel why we are called to go forth and live out this good news, to comfort the poor, the hurt, to share in each others pain, and to no longer stand alone but be in community with one another.

This story is very much apart of the vision and mission of Missio Dei. And since I’ve been back in Maine it is the first time as an adult that I have wanted to be apart of a church, to not just be in the background or to sneak in out of the crowd, but to actively be apart of the community and ministry to once again trust in the body of Christ to be vulnerable and real with my brokenness. As I continue to flesh out what it looks to live out the Gospel and discover who I am, whether through my love for art and music or my interactions with the beautiful kids of MDC I am continually amazed by the blessing and refreshment that this community has brought to my spirit.

Rob Woodman

My wife Jessi and I have been attending Missio Dei Church for about 3 years. In this time we have been immersed into a great community of people who are serious about Jesus and also open and honest about the brokenness we all possess. A highlight for me has been regularly meeting with guys from MDC who are serious about doing life together. When life seems to be falling apart at the seams – there is a community waiting to embrace me and make the journey smoother. There is also a great bunch of kids who love each other and love going to kids church.

Mellisa Bryant

My name was Melissa "Pelkey" and my journey towards Jesus began when I was a little girl

I attended church regularly with my family, but it wasn't until I was an early teen did I realize that the journey could/should be my own. I began to pursue Jesus whole-heartedly but stilled struggled with what life brings to a teenager in this fallen world. Jesus has reshaped myself life by showing me that I have purpose and should allow His love for me to touch others lives. He died for my sins and reshaped my heart by opening my eyes to see that He is not just a bible story but that He loves me and He is real!

Missio Dei played a nice part in my life journey by bringing me my husband, Wade. Some still can't let go of "Pelkey", but now I'm known as Melissa Bryant!

My relationships and the community at Missio Dei have taught me in my spiritual journey to let go of a lot of hang-ups in my life. I feel more free as a Christian, and feel that I don't need to recommit myself to Christ every single time I screw up.

My biggest dream as this time in my life is to add to the ever growing Children's Ministry here at MDC, by adding one of my own. Hopefully soon that will become a reality!

Amy Eubanks

My journey began when I had exhausted all power that I had to handle life, marriage, kids, jobs, etc. I was slowly dying inside and I desperately needed to fix some things that the self-help industry couldn't touch. As Dajuan and I sat and filled out yet another budget to get us "back on track" on January 1st of 2006 I declared that the budget was step one and step 2 was to find a church. Little did I know that "finding a church" meant turning our feet towards Jesus and that it was the ONLY step we needed.

In every way shape and form my life is nothing like it was before turning my heart over to Jesus. Our marriage has been revolutionized by following Jesus and learning what it means build a marriage on biblical principles.

Missio Dei began as our landing pad when we were searching for a place to understand what God was doing in our hearts. The Sunday worship times were simple and raw and fed my hunger to learn the Gospel. Over time, Missio Dei has become a lifestyle for our family. The community is woven into every facet of our existence. It has begun to take my personal faith journey on a path towards living in a missional way.

My greatest passion is my family. As a Mom my purpose each day is to introduce the wonders of life to my 3 girls. I am passionate about making life an adventure at every twist and turn and showing the girls how to forever be kids at heart. I dream of growing old with Dajuan and traveling the world together while enjoying our girls in their adult lives.

Wade Bryant

My faith journey began on March 21, 2001 between 7-9 pm. No seriously it was very night and day! I bumped into a friend from high school that afternoon who invited me to a service at his church that night. I declined, said goodbye and later that day felt the need to go. That night during the service everything changed. I haven't been the same since.

Jesus has reshaped my life by revealing to me my own personal depravity, His complete pardon of my sin and by giving me the power to live for his purposes though I deserve nothing.

The role MDC has played in my spiritual journey is one where truth meets freedom. My experience in Christianity prior was one where people followed lots of rules and acted pious. MDC has been a place where all truth is God's truth and being flawed is normal.

Some of my biggest dreams and greatest passions would include starting a family with my wife, being in a band, building a house and maybe starting a church someday.

Becca

One day when I was about 15 years old I decided I wanted to go to church. I was in the front row of a small Baptist church on Sunday morning listing to a guest speaker from the Brooklyn tabernacle choir share her story. She spoke of her encounters with god. She spoke of this man jesus and all he did to save humanity. In a moment's time, there was a strong tug in my gut and a presence I had never met or known before. It was then that I responded to chrit's wooing voice and was saved from myself. And still, the journey of redemption continues…

He challenges me everyday to face the depravity in my heart and to intimately know the power of his blood. He has reshaped my life by weaving himself into every fiber of who I am and never letting go.

Misssio dei was the first church I went to that didn't try to fix me or force me to be someone or somewhere I wasn't. when I found mdc I was on the internal hunt for true conviction and authentic faith. I had come from many years of scrabbling around churches, institutions and ministries clinging to rules and religion while never grasping that raw and real connection in the person of jesus. My first years at mdc were difficult. Difficult because god was gutting me out and reshaping my understanding of who he was in relation to church, the culture and myself.

It is simple: missio dei shaped my spiritual journey by giving me a place to organically and authentically settle into the arms of Christ, which in turn guided me into a true understanding of who I am.

I have a great passion for making music and art, the human body, childbirth, nutrition and fitness. My hope is to become a certified personal trainer, massage therapist, life coach and continue to pursue my birth doula training.

I want to support women in the different seasons of their lives. More specifically to address the emotional, physical and spiritual well being of women who are pregnant, laboring and embarking on motherhood! I am passionate about women being healthy, strong and secure in them selves. I long to support woman coming into who they are as wives, mothers, friends, and most importantly who they are as daughters of the king.

In addition, one of my dearest and biggest dreams is to flesh out all these passions in my own life, as a wife and mother. I hope to have the opportunity to work out the love of the Father through a marriage and family of my own.