Hey Everyone! Welcome to our blog!
We are Luke and Chelsey Duffney 🙂 Let's start out with some background info:
Luke was born in Minnesota and later moved to Wisconsin with his family during elementary school. He attended the University of Wisconsin River Falls and graduated with a degree in Speech Communications, then attended the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences to become an Xray Tech. He currently works at Gillette Children's in St. Paul. He loves kayaking, playing tennis, and live music concerts. He gave his life to Christ when he was 7 years old in a small church. Since then there have been many ups and downs but he's still following His Savior!
Chelsey was born in Wisconsin and lived in the same house her whole life until marrying her best friend in 2008. She went to Northwestern College in St. Paul and then graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Spanish. She works for Northern Dental Partners at the front desk and enjoys using her Spanish with patients. She is a Packers fan (you can imagine the rivalry between the two of us!) and loves playing tennis and running (a new hobby). She gave her life to Christ one night while praying with her dad in bed, at the age of 6. Since then her faith has grown stronger and same with her heart for ministry!
The two of us met on a mission trip to Mexico in 2002 and got married in 2008! We are so grateful that the Lord brought us together! He is so faithful! We have found such a great friendship in our relationship. Our first 3 and 1/2 years of marriage have rocked!! We have a Brittany Spaniel named Bentley who keeps us continually moving! It's going to be really tough to leave our little guy for a year…
Now let's get to the business of this upcoming year called The World Race!
We both found out about this great ministry opportunity Sept 2010 when a friend got accepted to do The World Race this current year. The moment we opened the website and watched their promo video, something stirred deep inside our hearts. It was like finding a piece that had been missing from the puzzle. From that moment until we actually applied to join this ministry, we spent about one year praying and dreaming of what God might do in us and through us if we did finally apply. If we are being totally honest, it hasn't been a simple decision. Even though we both knew that this was the kind of thing God could bless us with, we really wanted to make sure He has truly given us the green light to proceed. We fought with ourselves wondering if it seemed exciting to us only because of the adventurous nature of this trip. We wanted to make sure that we were pursuing this trip for God's glory and nothing else. After much prayer, many late night talks, and the council of others we trust, we came to realize that it really was without a doubt where God wanted us to be. We desire to see people come to know Jesus, be healed in His name, and for us to be the hands and feet of God to "the least of these" no matter where they live or what language they speak.
There's no doubt that we are just a couple of normal people trying to live for what truly matters. Not perfect by any means, but just trying to take the constant focus off of ourselves and have a more eternal perspective.
2 Corinthians 4:18
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
We can't wait to continue to share what is on our hearts with you all in the upcoming months, and then as we travel to 11 countries with The World Race! Thanks tons for getting to know a short version of our stories. Prayers are always welcome! 🙂
If you are looking to support us financially, just click on "Support Me" under our photo and the site will walk you through it.
In Christ,
Luke & Chelsey Duffney
