Who they are: This is Ryan and Jessie Durban! They are a beautiful couple, inside and out! Jessie and Ryan met at Texas A&M. Jessie was pursing a degree in Education and quickly became a 3rd grade teacher upon graduation! Ryan majored in Petroleum Engineering and also landed a job in Fort Worth shortly after graduation! Where they serve: Ryan and Jessie serve in Ioannina, Greece with Cru, a ministry dedicated to serving college students. For this couple, this was a big change in their lifestyle that they were used to in Fort Worth, Texas.
How they got there: Ryan and Jessie both became Christians in college, so they knew that they wanted to do something that would further the Kingdom through college students! In their final year at A&M, they served on a mission trip to East Asia, and quickly realized that they wanted overseas missions to be in their future of their relationship. After a ton of prayer, they decided to apply to Cru, saying that they were willing to serve anywhere that a married couple would benefit the team. Cru responded with Ioannina, Greece, and they promptly quit their jobs, sold their house, and moved halfway across the globe to serve college students!
What they do: This couple mainly works with students at the university in Ioannina. Their main line of work is to build relationships with the students and help answer questions and be an outlet that lets this primarily "Greek Orthodox" country explore their faith. Their goal is to be used by the Lord in whatever way the students need to learn more about the Gospel.
How our paths crossed: My freshman year of college, I started working with the high school ministry at my church in Fort Worth! I was placed with the freshman girls as their small group leader, and had a multitude of other small group leaders constantly surrounding me! Ryan and Jessie were the small group leaders for the seniors at the time, so I was able to spend an incredible year learning from the way that they led their small group on a weekly basis! I loved the way that they constantly were going to soccer games, plays, and band recitals for their students in their small group! They truly showed me what it looked like to do "full-time ministry" without going somewhere to do it! Ryan and Jessie also displayed for the students what a healthy, Christ-centered relationship looked like, which for high schoolers is something extremely needed! In the Spring of 2015 when Ryan and Jessie made their announcement that they were going to move to Greece, I was AMAZED at how they were so willing to be used by God! They had no agenda, no particular place in the world in mind, and just said, "God, here we are, send us where you need us!" This attitude of being a clean slate and allowing God to use you in a way that fulfilled His plan truly inspired me to start praying for that same kind of direction in my life...a direction that led me to opening Treasured Heart Events!!
Long-term vision: Ryan and Jessie have no idea how long that God has called them to serve the students of Greece, but all they do know is that they are willing to stay as long as He needs them to! This is the sixth year that a team has been serving in this city in Greece, but the pace of ministry is very slow. The level of apathy among the university students is very high, so their prayer for Cru is to see the students there break through that apathy to ask more questions! The long-term vision is to see many university students come to know the Lord and to help their friends and family explore their faith as well!
How you can help: You can read more about the Durbans on their page of the Cru website: https://give.cru.org/0749334 ! If you are a praying person, you can pray for their daily ministry and for the students that they have been faithfully working to build relationships with!
No comments:
Post a Comment