Tanner & Dominique's Mission Journey 2025 Goal
Goal:
USD $24,870
Raised:
USD $6,751
Campaign funds will be received by Tanner Stark
Tanner & Dominique's Mission Journey 2025 Goal
Dominique and Tanner’s Mission Journey
February 10th, 2024: That was the day that Dominique and I met during OM’s mission and discipleship training in Pretoria, South Africa. Yet, that wasn’t the beginning of either of our mission's journeys.
Tanner: For me, there was a pivotal moment in my life that caused me to leave everything behind to proclaim the gospel message. For most of us, there is a pivotal moment in our lives that changes everything. For the apostle Paul, his pivotal moment came when He was traveling to Damascus intending to persecute followers of Christ. Yet, on his way to Damascus, he encountered Jesus in a radical way that changed everything. Jesus appeared to Saul and said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Through this encounter, Saul is radically transformed and actually begins spreading the gospel message instead of persecuting followers of Christ.
My encounter with the Lord happened in early 2023 when a friend and I sat in a parking lot until 2 am talking about a few passages of scripture. One of the key passages we discussed was about a rich man described in Matthew 19. In this passage, a rich young man comes running up to Jesus and falls before Him saying “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” After beginning a discussion with the man, Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Although Jesus offered the man everything He wanted, the man turned away saddened because the cost of following Jesus was too much.
That night, as I was wrestling with this passage I told the Lord, “If you asked me to sell my possessions, give to the poor, and follow you wholeheartedly my answer would be no, so please change my heart.” Within 24 hours, I received a phone call about a tragic accident leading to the death of two friends. After that call, as I was crying out to the Lord, a reality sunk deep within my heart: Death is inevitable, and the gospel message is urgent.
The Lord had been working in my heart for years leading up to that event, cultivating the soil in my heart so that when this tragedy occurred He could redeem it for His good. The revelation resulting from this event caused me to sell everything I had, pack what I had left into a single suitcase, and head off to missions and discipleship training in South Africa to proclaim the gospel message.
Dominique: Before I entered into the missions world I had this idea to start studying right after school, but the Lord redirected my path. I remember sitting on the floor in my room asking the Lord if He wanted me to go and study that He’d please open the door and if not He would close it, and if He wanted me to work for Him then here I am.
Not long after that I received a message from my aunt asking if we could go out to have some coffee, as we sat in the restaurant I could see she had something to tell me, but she held back, instead, she asked me how the plans were going with the applications to go to University. I told her that I still haven’t had any responses from them. I shared with her the prayer that I recently prayed because it was heavy on my heart, and in that moment it was as if I saw her lighting up and saying that the actual reason she wanted to have a coffee with me was to share something the Lord has placed on her heart. She began sharing about a mission ship called the Logos Hope.
Before we began the application process, money just started coming in from different people. Once, a man gave my aunt some money and said she could use it for anything. These were the funds I used to begin my mission journey.
Our first steps: Both Tanner and I started our mission journey in Pretoria, South Africa at OM’s mission and discipleship training program. There we began to cultivate a deep friendship and ultimately went to Cape Town to serve together. From there we served individually in several different countries, interacting with orphans, widows, children in local schools, fellow believers, and many people of other religions.
Eventually, we both sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, from Sierra Leone to Barbados. After arriving in Barbados, we followed the Lord's direction, disembarking from the Logos Hope, and joined a short-term program at a local YWAM base.
For Dominique, this was a great act of faith. When she disembarked, she only knew where she would be staying for the next 37 days. And, the moment she stepped foot off the ship, the South African fund set up for her mission journey had to dissolve. Before dissolving though, they graciously were able to pay for her stay at this YWAM base. Put another way, she stepped out in faith, trusting the Lord would provide places for her to stay and provide for her physical needs.
For Tanner, this was something he had experienced a few times before. You see, there have been several times in his mission journey where he only knew where he would be for about a month and trusted that God would show him what was next. There have been times when Tanner went places without the full funding and watched the Lord faithfully provide, and recently, I joined him in that journey of faith, trusting that the Lord would reveal what is next.
A New Chapter: On February 3rd, 2025 a wonderful new phase of Dominique and my journey begins. You see, on this YWAM base, they are starting their DTS (Discipleship Training School) for married couples in early February. This program will focus on helping couples find their shared calling, and live it out well on the missions field.
Both Dominique and I have a desire to do ministry and missions for the long term. For us, this isn’t a six-month or a year-long endeavor. This is a lifetime journey with the Lord and with others. So when an opportunity arose to potentially join the couples DTS, spending three months in training learning how to do ministry along with your partner, followed by two months of outreach we were beyond excited. Ultimately we believe that the Lord is calling us together for something much greater than either of us can accomplish on our own and we are both so happy to have you all on this journey with us.
Prayer:
- That we would have peace and be attentive to the Holy Spirit
- That we would continue to grow deeper in our relationship with the Lord and that there would be no hindrances
- That He would prepare us for our shared calling
- That we would be an encouragement to other believers
- That we would walk in humility and dependence upon the Lord
- Provision financially
- Soft hearts for the gospel message
In light of our shared mission journey, we would like to invite you to join us in supporting us during this next chapter of our lives by joining us as either a one-time or monthly supporter.
God bless,
Dominique and Tanner
Recent Donations
God bless and keep you and all those that surround you.
It’s a joy to watch you, Tanner, as you trust God to meet your needs, doing what He has purposed for you to do.
May the Lord put His protection around you both and keep your minds focused on Him, always helping you to take every thought captive that is not from Him. May He bless your marriage and your ministry as you serve Him. 🙏❤️
God bless and keep you and all those that surround you.
It’s a joy to watch you, Tanner, as you trust God to meet your needs, doing what He has purposed for you to do.
Congratulations on your wedding. Excited for you both as you start this new chapter together!
It's not much Tanner. I just wanted to support you to continue to do God's work and to be a blessing to others.
God bless your marriage
God Bless, Peter Chartier's family
God bless and keep you and all those that surround you.
It’s a joy to watch you, Tanner, as you trust God to meet your needs, doing what He has purposed for you to do.
Miss you friend! Praying for you 🙏🏼
It's not much Tanner. I just wanted to support you to continue to do God's work and to be a blessing to others.
Continue to pray for you and direction from the Lord.
Updates
A Time of Reflection - The Price of a Soul
November 26th, 2024
In this update, I would like to reshare an email update that I sent out recently. Even if you have read it, I would encourage you to stop, take a moment to ask the Lord to touch your heart, and then read it again, and reflect upon what the Lord reveals. Every time I read this update, it deeply impacts me and I hope it does the same for you.
What do you think a Soul is worth? Could we even begin to value such a thing?
Leonard Ravenhill wrote the following in Why Revival Tarries (p.32): “Charlie Peace was a criminal. Laws of God or man curbed him not. Finally, the law caught up with him, and he was condemned to death.”
“On the fatal morning in Armley Jail, Leeds, England, he was taken on the death-walk. Before him went the prison chaplain, routinely and sleepily reading some Bible verses. The criminal touched the preacher and asked what he was reading. “The Consolations of Religion,” was the reply. Charlie Peace was shocked at the way he professionally read about hell. Could a man be so unmoved under the very shadow of the scaffold as to lead a fellow-human there and yet, dry-eyed, read of a pit that has no bottom into which this fellow must fall? Could this preacher believe the words that there is an eternal fire that never consumes its victims, and yet slide over the phrase with a tremor?”
“Is a man human at all who can say with no tears, “You will be eternally dying and yet never know the relief that death brings”? All this was too much for Charlie Peace. “Sir,” addressing the preacher, “if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worthwhile living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!”
Although we may not be able to value the price of a soul, if we, as Christians, truly believe what we say we do, what would we be willing to give up in pursuit of a single soul?
A new journey recently began in the island nation of Barbados:
On November 15th, my ocean voyage with the Logos Hope came to a close without any major incidents. After arriving, I began venturing on shore to discover what the Lord had in store for me. I was wondering why the Lord had me leave Tanzania; what was my deeper purpose in this country?
In the first week onshore, the Lord provided opportunities to go to a local gathering of pastors and youth, share in a few schools, share at a community event, and be a part of a weekend camp - all things I did not search out on my own - they were opportunities that the Lord presented to me. Although these were all wonderful opportunities and deeply impactful for both the audience and myself, I still wondered “Is this actually why you had me come, Lord?”
Although those events may of been part of the reason I came, I believe the Lord had me come to this country for Joel. You see, the day after the Lord opened the door for me to begin staying on a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) base, we went to an impoverished village. I saw a man sitting in a chair and I felt compelled to talk to him. Although I didn’t know it at the time, two other members of my team felt the same conviction.
As we spoke to this man named Joel, we began to share the things the Lord was laying on our hearts. For the first 20 minutes or so, the man seemed very unreceptive, stern-faced, and argumentative, however as time progressed his demeanor began to change as we shared the words the Lord placed upon our hearts. We could tell that the words slowly began to penetrate Joel's heart - that day seeds were planted deeply. As I walked away from that encounter, a deep peace settled in my heart as I thought “If I came all this way for him, it was worth it.”
But some may say, Tanner, was it really worth it - spending money, a month traveling, and leaving an opportunity to minister to countless Maasai men in Tanzania for a single man? And my answer would be yes, it was more than worth it. You see, in the eyes of our great God, every soul is precious and worthy of being pursued relentlessly.
In Luke 15:1-7 Jesus was being judged by the Pharisees and teachers of the law because He was interacting with sinners, so Jesus began speaking in parables. This is how the account goes: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
“Then Jesus told them this parable: Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” Truly I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Jesus was willing to pursue relationships with the poor, lame, sinners, and tax collectors - people the Pharisees and teachers of the law were neglecting - because every soul is precious in the eyes of our God and He wishes none to perish. In a society obsessed with physical achievement and the number of people impacted, what would happen if we changed our mindset of seeing every single person as a precious soul worth pursuing?
Prayer: Please pray that the Lord will continue to provide opportunities to share the gospel message and encourage believers. May they have soft and receptive hearts to the words that we speak. Also, please pray that the Lord would give me the words to boldly proclaim His name and kingdom glory. May He give me wisdom, insight, and clarity in the midst of these encounters. Furthermore, may He continue to show me the way forward and faithfully provide all the finances that I need. Finally, please pray for anything else the Lord places upon your heart.
I would encourage you to prayerfully consider partnering with me in the pursuit of souls. And I would like to thank all of you who have partnered with me through prayer, financial giving, or both.
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