AUSTIN //
So I figured this would be important simply because it is very relevant to what we are about to step into for the next year. This is a little back ground on me (Austin) and I intend for it to not only get to know me and what the Lord has been showing me personally over the past few years, but also in some ways it may challenge you to ask tough questions and see what the Lord may be calling you to! I want to say this has been for me PERSONALLY and don’t intend for it to make any one uncomfortable who may be where I was because I understand the Lord calls all of us in different ways, but I also trust that the Spirit moves in each of us in different ways and can move in ways that I cannot WHICH IS SO GREAT! So here it is:
I remember very specifically my junior year at The Citadel (a very prestigious military college in Charleston, SC) me praying “Lord, this is MY plan….what is YOUR plan?” My plan was to goto the Citadel, get that higher education, go back home and work a job with a salary and be COMFORTABLE. Well when you pray sincere prayers and truly ask for the Lord to move HE DOES…and HE DID. Through certain circumstances I decided to transfer to another school in Charleston (which leaving the Citadel after your freshman year is unheard of and I still get that “you made it your JUNIOR year AND THEN LEFT?!” look everytime i tell some people) but through a peace that comes from Jesus I don’t really care 🙂 I ended up meeting some of my best friends to this day and also could easily say I would not be where I am in so many ways today if I wouldn’t have stepped out of that comfort zone. So prayer and giving my plans over to God and seeing Him open doors was awesome as far as school….BUT THATS JUST THE BEGINNING.
I graduated in 2012 and was leading worship at the schools on campus worship gatherings. I knew worship was a huge part of my heart and music in general. I am a drummer who has always wanted to be a guitarist, but drums have come naturally 🙂 so anyways- I knew I was graduating and still desired to lead worship and at this point I was planning on moving back home to Greenville SC. I again remember a specific time and prayer just laying out where I was to God saying “God you know I have this desire to lead others to worship you with this talent you have given me so please provide a group of individuals with the same heart and desire…and please let them be talented (i don’t think it hurts to be specific, He already knows haha) I randomly decided to go visit a church one sunday that was closer to campus with some friends and just so happens on that Sunday a team from the upstate was transitioning down here to plant a church and their worship team was leading worship. I believe heaven ordained that interaction because it was as though angels were shining lights on the angelic voice of the worship leader who my friends at the time made fun of me for having a man crush, but seriously he had a great voice and as a musician i respected him cause you don’t hear that a lot. So I just had it on my heart to go and encourage him. He was very inviting and told me they are planting the church and he spit the vision in such a clear way and he said “we are looking for a drummer if you know anyone” so from there I was in! It was about 2 weeks after that the handful, maybe 11 left that transition church to venture on their own to plant the church and I made 12 haha before my friends even really know I was up in front of the church getting sent out with this team!
Over the next three years I would be able to see the Lord provide in ways I NEVER would have seen if again i just stayed in my comfort zone…I knew the Lord was calling me to help plant this church. I have been able to lead worship as well as lead small groups. Its been incredible to see the Lord provide. So all the while I did say that I graduated in 2012 so I was needing to find a job…..here we go….its about to get real…
To just cut to the chase I can say I had the salary, benefits, retirement plans and all the while leading worship and still able to plant this church. The job I had was in law enforcement as a probation and parole agent. I could have easily rode that out and had that job forever, but over time I could literally feel the Lord calling me to something else, honestly something alittle more “uncomfortable”. I found myself relying more on my salary and the comfort of benefits than I was on the Lord. I knew overtime my heart was being called to something else. It was hard because I just got married and all that I knew about this life in America was college, job, married, house, retirement, be as happy and comfortable as you can….
Me and my beautiful wife Faith have made it a habit to continually ask ourselves “what have we been promised” by God in His word, and the answer isn’t always the easiest to hear as Americans. We have never been promised to have “this house, or drive this car, and to have this family, and to have this or that job”, but we as Americans have just seen that modeled for us our entire life so its hard to not expect those things. I do have to say those things are not all bad, but the pursuit to find joy in those things other than our Lord are. I left law enforcement in September of 2014 to pursue more of this church plant. I encountered the frustration of odd end jobs that still hindered my involvement at times but still prioritized the church. I have currently found a local non profit working with young adults with special needs and I love it. It is very part time and I am OK with that because it is so rewarding.
To catch up to right now I believe it is a true blessing what the Lord has done in me over these past few years. It has taken me say and pray “here is my plan, what is your plan for my life Lord?” That prayer has been prayed several times over the past four years. I have seen my pursuit of comfortability diminish in such a beautiful way. I have seen bold specific prayers answered in His perfect timing. I have seen my own eyes as a follower of Jesus opened even more to what He calls us to. Its not comfortability but honestly He will give us situations that may be uncomfortable, but ultimately will make us rely on Him more! AND ITS INCREDIBLE TO BE A PART OF! I find myself now about to leave another comfort zone of this incredible church plant I have been a part of and have helped plant, see roots form, and see growth! This is challenging in the sense of what could the Lord be telling us to leave or give over to Him in order to see our relationship with Him grow? What could we be pursuing before the Lord? What are our plans versus what are the Lords plans? I ask all of these questions out of first hand experience, if that are challenging GOOD, I hope the Spirit continues to reveal how you can see more and more of Jesus. If they are just good words of encouragement GOOD I truly desire to use what the Lord has shown me over my life to help others! If this has just been a whirlwind of words thrown together and you have just simply learned about some random guy who desires to follow Jesus, be changed by Him daily and be on mission with Him, thats also GOOD 🙂
To God be the glory forever and ever!
until next time,
Austin Fowler
FAITH //
I have lived in Charleston the past three and a half years. My main reason for moving away from my family was to be in the same town as Austin. When we were dating it was important for us to have community together and for people to know us as a couple. We have really enjoyed living here, for myself, my hope was not to move to Charleston, then a few months after, move back up to Greenville. Three and a half years later, I am still here. I have built some of the most amazing realationships and also have had such an amazing community of believers along side with a creative aspect of people to be around. I have been a nanny, manager of a local coffee shop, wedding and family photographer since I have been here. Three years have felt so long, but also so short. I am eager to see what else life has in store for us as we go on another adventure and journey to many unknowns.
I grew up moving to different states and when I was twelve I went to live overseas. I moved to Romania, a country most people hear of but not listed as a tourist attraction in Europe. My family and I went to love and minister to orphans in the county we lived in. At that time, there were several orpahnages in our town and near by. The need for those babies and kids was overwhelming. Romania changed me as a young teenager and growing up. I was not confident in who I was and who I was in God. Now looking back I still wanted to be involved as much as my parents were. I was not the missionary kid, but the missionary as well. I spent a few summers in high school there as well doing summer camps. I am eager to go to different countries but it will be ten years since I have been back to Romania, back to part of a home in my heart.
I would say I did not take ahold of what I believed until my senior year of high school. I knew I believed in a God, and needed a Savior. I am not perfect and need grace daily. I was not apart of a healthy community that poured into me and knew how to hold me accountable and challenge me until I moved from my parents church to my own church and community. When you are apart of ministry your whole life, you need to also set up your own community and identity not in your parents, but for yourself. I have the freedom to choose what I believe, God gave us that ultimate decision. I chose to do that my senior year of high school, and in that, God blessed me with some amazing people who taught well and poured into me so I could do the same for others.
I am now at the place where Austin and I are looking for the next step, we encourage the people that are close to us to ask them the same. What is the next step? We have been praying and seeking God in asking what do you have for us? We are willing. Willing to sacrifice careers, our belonging, our fur babies, our comfort, our community.
As we move forward with fundraising we are still asking for His wisdom, provision, and for him to lead the way in the direction we are suppose to go. I could not be more excited in where God is leading us and what He is teaching us through this process to go.
-Faith
