Will & Jenni www.thelaffertys.com
We met in college while working in student ministry at Liveoak Bible Church, a campus church associated with Great Commission Ministries (GCM). Jenni was studying Marketing and Will was studying both Architecture and Architectural Engineering. A month following Will's graduation, we were married in January of 2001 and Jenni graduated a year later. Will worked for an architectural firm and volunteered as the church’s worship leader. Fulfilling Will's long-term desires to reach out to Dutch relatives and the lost younger generation in The Netherlands, God led Will and Jenni to serve as missionaries in Amsterdam, Holland. In March of 2006, we sold our house and cars, packed up and moved to Amsterdam to participate in a two-year program where we would serve a church plant. Six weeks after our arrival overseas we found out that we were expecting a baby. Our son Adriaan was born half way into our two year stay. We served the church plant through outreach to young people, worship ministry, graphic design, and helping to establish a second church. In February of 2008, we moved back to the states with plans to head back to Amsterdam long-term. After a year of raising support, we learned that we were expecting again, this time with twins! Half-way through the pregnancy we clearly felt God leading us to stay in Austin and to re-invest in our sending church, Liveoak Bible Church.
Liveoak Bible Church www.liveoakaustin.com
Liveoak had been looking to make structural changes and Will was a great person to step in and share many of the methods and lessons learned in Amsterdam. As part of his new position with Liveoak, Will has four main ministry roles: worship, design, church leadership and young adult ministry. He leads worship and actively trains additional worship leaders for future church plants. He is involved with the design of printed materials and website. He will also play a large role in the remodeling of Liveoak’s new building. With church leadership, Will is being mentored and discipled by Liveoak's pastor, Mark Hagen, with the hope that he will one day become a pastor. The young adult ministry includes responsibilities such as leading homegroups (10-15 people), lifegroups (2-4 people), discipleship and evangelism. The long term goal of our ministry with Liveoak is to help start a family of churches in Austin and central Texas. God has blessed us with experience in this area by through our time in Amsterdam. We are currently raising support to continue our ministry to young adults through planting churches.
Great Commission Ministries www.gcmweb.org
Great Commission Ministries (GCM) is a nondenominational, evangelical mission organization that trains, employs and serves missionaries as they raise a team of supporters. We mobilize missionaries to serve campus, urban, and international churches through evangelism, discipleship and church planting. GCM employs over 270 missionaries who work in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America in nearly 60 churches and 10 countries. GCM was founded in 1989 and is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, CrossGlobal Link, The Mission Exchange, and the National Association of Evangelicals.