Jones Family Endeavors

How We Got Here

We’ve always had a desire to serve overseas, but substantial student loan debt and God’s perfect timing kept it from becoming a reality. In 2020, God worked in miraculous ways to bring our family to a place of financial freedom but impressed upon our hearts that His purpose was not for us to become more comfortable or chase the “American Dream.”

In February 2021, it became clear that God was calling us to leave behind our home, family, friends, and successful careers in industrial manufacturing and marketing to serve Him with Mission to the World in El Salvador. We attended a missions conference at our church, First Presbyterian Church in Macon, Georgia, and felt the pull towards foreign missions through the testimonies shared by multiple missionaries who were zooming into the conference remotely. Each of them said the same thing:

“It doesn’t matter what your gift or skills are, if you are willing to GO, God will use you.”

Clay heard these different missionaries and realized God was speaking directly to him. He didn’t have any experience in full-time ministry and had never been to seminary, but Clay was convinced that God could use the skills he had for God’s glory in another country.

God had also been working in Hannah’s heart at the same missions conference. On a date a few evenings later, Hannah shared with Clay her desire to go on a short-term mission trip with their church. His response was, “…or we could go long-term!” This shocked her at first, but after a couple weeks, she felt complete peace about the idea. If you want to hear more about her internal struggle of choosing missions over their comfortable life, watch her testimony video here.

As Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you,” we believe that God had been preparing the way for many years so that our family could follow His call to El Salvador.