A country we could not stop thinking about

We noticed in our lives the United Kingdom was a recurring theme that kept coming back to us.

Here is how it played out:

Mason

For Mason, there have been many different events and aspects of his life where you can see how all of this adds up. To start, Mason has grandparents who are from the UK, so he was exposed to some of the culture as he was growing up. In his sophomore year of high school, he went on his first missions trip to Mexico, where God opened his eyes to another culture and to people who were very different from him. This trip planted a seed in his heart for more.

In high school, Mason felt a call to vocational ministry but did not know specifically where God was calling him, so he decided to attend GCU to study Christian Ministry. Originally, part of his plan was to complete an accelerated MDiv program, but halfway through the program, he decided it was preventing him from pursuing something he believed God was calling him toward: missions. From that moment on, a consistent prayer Mason would pray was, "Open my eyes to see the people You want me to serve: wherever, whenever, whatever."

In his freshman year at GCU, Mason believed God was drawing him toward a summer-long overseas internship experience in the United Kingdom. It was actually during this internship that Mason and Rosie came together after first meeting in middle school and becoming friends in high school. There is much that could be said about how this trip came together so supernaturally and how God opened doors to things that seemed impossible. For many of you, this trip is where you came along—partnering with Mason in prayer and finances and seeing what God was doing in his heart for missions.

This UK trip changed much for Mason; he just didn't realize it until he returned home and met with a few pastors on staff. There, they talked about what God had opened his eyes to: that God is a global God, that there are people worshiping the same God in every area of the world, and that there is a great need for workers to be sent out. This was the moment when Mason realized he needed to go down the path God had laid before him.

Mason would then proceed to drop out of the MDiv program mentioned previously and finish his bachelor's degree. He also completed a semester-long internship in Global Outreach at his church, where he learned more about what goes into missions and reaching people for Jesus cross-culturally. He would then spend each summer going on a different missions trip to serve the people there and discern whether God was calling him there long-term.

Rosie

Similarly to Mason, Rosie has had many events throughout her life that would point to this decision. From a young age Rosie’s parents have supported missionaries in their lives, so she has always known about global workers for the Kingdom of God. While she was aware of the concept of missions, she never really thought of it as something that was for her. That is until 2021.

Shortly after graduating high school, Rosie heard about an organization called AT3 where she learned the desperate need for the gospel in the United Kingdom. She was sitting in a young adults gathering at her church and was listening to someone share on their experience as a summer intern with this organization. While listening, the Lord started to do a work in her heart, creating a subtle burden to shift that 3% Christianity rate to a higher number. Her mindset was no longer “that’s not for me” and was now “Why not me?”

A little while later, Rosie was training to spend 10 weeks in England for her own internship experience. However, as it so often happens, God had different plans. Rosie’s visa was delayed and she was deferred to the next year’s internship. In this year of waiting, the Lord grew that burden for the United Kingdom that started it all. She spent the year cross cultural training, working the mission field that God had her in, and even got to go on a short trip to visit churches in the UK.

Finally, it was time to go! With two carryons and a backpack Rosie made her way to the UK. During her trip, God opened Rosie’s eyes to the work He was already doing in the world to reach His people. Rosie spent nearly every day that summer at the church, gathering with women from the church, or meeting people who had never heard of the church. While she didn’t change any lives, she does believe she planted some seeds in the hearts of those she met. In all of this, the Lord was subtly showing Rosie where He was calling her.

Following her internship, Rosie knew God wanted her to be a part of the mission field somehow, whether that was giving, sending, or going she didn’t know. Throughout the next couple years, she and Mason would figure that out together.

Mason & Rosie

The first missions trip Mason and Rosie went on together was to Zambia in 2024. While they had a great time and loved the people there, they believed God was calling them elsewhere. In 2025, Mason and Rosie went to Poland for the first time as a married couple, where they partnered with other missionaries across Europe to serve their families by watching and caring for their children. Ironically, it was in Poland that both Mason and Rosie individually realized God had been doing something in each of them for most of their lives to shape them for ministry in the UK. They were pleasantly surprised to discover that what God had revealed to each of them was the same thing.

From that moment in Poland, they believed the next step was moving to the UK. With no idea of what that would actually mean, how long they would be there, or what they would be doing, they continued forward, trusting God. In the summer of 2026, they took a short-term trip there specifically to meet with Rock Point partners and determine whether this truly was the place they believed God was calling them. It was a scary trip because they both felt this calling individually, but they had never been to the UK at the same time together.

During their time there, they were really hoping for some "writing on the wall"—clear evidence that God wanted them to move there, especially because it was such a big change. Instead, they realized God was speaking to them in a much simpler way: through people. They connected with church pastors and members of the church, some of whom they clicked with more than others. But after a few days there, they had a conversation with the Director of Mission Essex and his wife to ask whether they would even be interested in having Mason and Rosie move there. To say this conversation was an answer to a prayer Mason and Rosie had been praying for years would be an understatement.

Mason and Rosie felt peace about the idea of moving, despite it being such a significant decision. They also realized that this move was not something they would necessarily be committing to for the rest of their lives, but could instead be a commitment for just a few years. They remember going back to where they were staying, looking at each other, and smiling because they both knew: they were moving to the United Kingdom.