Following God’s leading
Dear One Hope Church Family and Friends,
It’s hard to fully remember the first time I walked into the Tipp City Church of the Nazarene as the Lead Pastor. Eight years feels like both a blink and a lifetime ago. We’ve walked through so much together—God’s incredible provision through pandemics, fires, and floods; His transforming grace through dozens of baptisms and changed lives; and more than a few bumps along the way. But through it all, the mercies of the Lord have been innumerable.
Lois Deskins, a saint of the Lord and One Hope Church, grew up as a pastor’s kid. She often reminded me that her daddy used to say pastors move on either by “people’s choice or God’s voice.” In this past month, Chad and I have experienced the unmistakable voice of the Holy Spirit leading in our lives. We weren’t seeking a new place. In fact, we’ve said no to opportunities that checked every rational box, but the Lord always closed those doors before they even fully opened.
This time was different. His voice was clear. And we are doing our best to follow faithfully. How do we know it’s Him? Because it makes absolutely no sense—unless it’s Jesus.
Luke 14:26 has never felt more personal. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” These words have echoed in our hearts as we’ve discerned this next step. Our adult boys are staying in Ohio. Our families are here in Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. And yet we are going. Not because it’s easy. Not because it’s comfortable. But because we belong to Jesus, and we trust His call more than we trust our own plans.
Chad, Hattie, Kolin, and I are following God’s leading to the Northern California District (NorCal) to work in church revitalization and nonprofit ministry. If you ask, we’d be glad to tell you the full story—it’s wilder than you can imagine—but for now, we ask for your prayers as we take this unexpected leap of faith to a place we’ve never been, trusting the One who goes before us.
In just one short week, Chad will move to California to begin teaching math at Foothill Middle School in Concord, outside of San Francisco. Hattie Jo will join him soon after to start school in August. Joel and Miles will remain in Ohio, working through their own next steps in life and faith. Kolin and I will stay here until the second week of October. He’ll attend Troy Christian while I complete my time with One Hope Church, finalize his adoption, and prepare our home for sale. In another sign of God’s grace, our sweet foster daughter will be reunified with her father this August—a beautiful part of this bittersweet season.
You, our dearly loved One Hope family, are part of our forever story. I pray we are part of yours as well. As I write this, gently rocking on a long Kentucky porch, finishing out a 10-day mission trip, my heart aches with love and loss, hope and uncertainty. And yet I know—without a shadow of a doubt—that God has great things in store for you. You have been planted in this community for a holy purpose. These people still need Jesus. Just as we were sent here for a season, so are you.
May lives be transformed.
May the hope of Jesus resound in the places where you work, live, and play.
May you hold tight to the unity of Christ through the bond of peace.
For you are loved beyond measure. You are sacred to our family. You are being lifted up to Jesus.
With unfathomable love and hope for the future in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Rachel Kuhn
