Hello...Meet Pete!

Pete grew up in Austin, Texas and is a University of Texas grad from a family of University of Texas grads. Pete was raised in the church, choosing to follow Jesus at a young age and gradually growing in his faith as he grew in his understanding and knowledge of who Jesus is. Even as a committed believer in college, Pete did not have a vision for being a Goer himself, but after working for a year after he graduated, he had an early life crisis and God graciously revealed to him how he had made his own plans and the American Dream an idol in his life. After repenting of that He led Pete down a path through various interactions with pastors, roommates, etc., first to considering missions, then to focusing on unreached peoples, and finally to the engineering placement with GoCorps.

>>Tell us about where you served and a general overview of your two-year placement

Pete: I served in an impoverished Middle Eastern country, living and working for a Christ-centered business start-up in an urban context trying to create sustainable employment for local people in rural agricultural contexts. I served on the engineering track and worked to solve practical challenges facing the business start-up, such as creating an environmental impact assessment report for the business to present to the federal government in my country of service. My ministry included conducting business in a Christ-like manner (refusing to pay bribes, keeping regular business hours, and generally working with a high value for ethical conduct). It also included developing relationships with local people and sharing stories about Jesus in the local language, ultimately seeking to plant churches among the local population.

>>Why are you glad that you tithed 2 years in your 20's?

Pete: I can honestly say my life has never been the same. I gave up and risked much to serve in my context, but what I gained in return has been worth all of it. My experience was a little unique, but I ended up seeing the world, spending significant time in Europe, Africa, and Asia, serving the least of these in all these places. I have friends and fellow goers all around the world, and I now support and whose ministries I follow. More personal to me, I ended up meeting my wife, who also served for two years, through connections from my time overseas, so my two children are literally the Lord's favor and blessing because I chose to seek first His kingdom. In God's grace he used my time to open my eyes to see the world more clearly and to feel with His heart in a deeper way for those who many who have never served overseas may struggle to empathize with. Finally, even on the hardest days overseas, I got to taste and share in the sufferings of Christ, deepening my intimacy with Him.

>>What was your biggest barrier to getting overseas?

Pete: My biggest barrier to going overseas was probably the local security situation in my context. Even when I went the influence of the federal government in my country of service was waning, kidnappings or killings of foreigners were becoming more frequent, and our movements were restricted while in country. This situation deteriorated significantly while I was in the training and preparation phase for going, with a goer my team leaders knew personally being the victim of a kidnapping in the City I was going to serve in.

>>When you think about your experience in your placement, what are you most proud of?

Pete: I am most proud of the life of surrender I lived while in my time overseas. In going, I had to surrender my sense of safety, self-reliance, comfort, and so many other things. It was only worth it because it was made so clear to me that Jesus had asked me to go, and if He had promised to be with me there in powerful and profound ways there was nowhere else I wanted to be and nothing else worth doing in comparison. In this surrender, God opened so many doors for me to share stories of who Jesus is, of my own faith and life in following him, and to be his hands and feet in serving those in need. All God needed me to do was to choose to show up, choose to be open, and he brought every opportunity to me give glory to His name.

>>How did your experience living overseas positively impact your faith?

Pete: I think my time overseas helped me to see more clearly what aspects of the faith I learned in America were actually just cultural constructs added on to the Gospel, and those that were truly and unequivocally from the Word of God. In training I learned the phrase, "It's not bad, it's just different." And truly so many things we think about other cultures and how they operate aren't actually bad, they are just different than how we operate in America. This has also helped me to appreciate the faith traditions of other believers from different cultures here in America and to see the unique beauty God has endowed them with.

>>What is one thing about the culture or work in your host country that you really enjoyed or appreciated?

Pete: I loved the laid-back, relationally-oriented culture in my context. Conversation and quality time were prioritized over productivity and busyness. Simple experiences like going swimming in a beautiful natural spring were savored, and tea was perpetually being served to create opportunities for gathering and conversation.

>>How did your experience tithing your career directly or indirectly impact your career or job opportunities after you returned?

Pete: When I chose to go overseas, my biggest fear was that I would fall behind in my career, when I got back, I realized that my experience actually made my resume "pop" to employers. At my first job after returning to commercial engineering, I received a 20% raise from what I was making when I left to go overseas. I also learned resilience and perseverance to get things done against the odds in my time overseas that allowed me to quickly rise through the ranks of the various firms I worked at relative to my peers. I think God used my willingness to follow Him wherever He called me to grow in me leadership qualities that have allowed me to be placed in a supervisory role in my current job.

>>Tell us about one of your craziest experiences.

Pete: So many stories. I frequently would hear gunfire outside the window of my apartment during daylight hours. It was always a fifty-fifty shot that either a wedding was happening or an armed revolution was in progress. I was once walking down the street in my neighborhood and saw two men in a dispute where one had grabbed the other through the driver's side window of his van, placed him in a headlock, and was beating him with the bottom of his flip-flop. I also once purchased a large piece of plywood for use in my apartment without thinking about how I would transport it home. I did not have a car and usually took shared taxis everywhere. As I was checking out, the shop owner asked me how I would get the board home. When I told him I wasn't sure he pointed to a two-wheel cart hitched to a donkey and said it was available...so I rode home (about 3/4 of a mile) standing in the back of a cart holding a 4'x8' piece of plywood while being pulled by a rider on a donkey...I'm pretty sure I almost caused a riot from all the local people stopping to take pictures of me on their camera phones.

>>Share one or two great things that have happened as a direct result of your Tithing Your Career overseas after college.

Pete: I have two great things: My son and my daughter. They are two of the most precious gifts I have ever received and they are both the result of my time overseas. As I mentioned before, I have also gotten to travel the world and see the uniqueness and beauty of God in His creation and the cultures of the world.

>>What would you say to someone who was considering tithing their career as their next step?

Pete: Don't hesitate; don't wait. You'll never have more freedom to attempt big things for God, and even if you "fail" somehow, His ability to use your sacrifice for His glory will be so much better than choosing not to. "He is no fool who trades that which he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose."

>>How many years has it been since you completed your two years with GoCorps, and what are you doing now?

Pete: It has been 11 years since I completed my time of service. I currently work as a senior associate and team director, leading a team of engineers for a design consulting firm in Austin. In addition to my work role, I helped start a Bible study in my office that meets weekly and routinely seeks to invite new coworkers to join us. I am also involved in my church, leading a small group and I am involved with GoCorps on a volunteer basis from time to time.

In God's grace he used my time to open my eyes to see the world more clearly and to feel with His heart in a deeper way for those that many who have never served overseas may struggle to empathize with. Finally, even on the hardest days overseas I got to taste and share in the sufferings of Christ, deepening my intimacy with Him.