When most people in their early fifties are thinking about succession plans, retirement savings, or maybe taking on a hobby, Matt and Shannon were asking a very different question: What if God is calling us to something entirely new?

This question eventually led them from the familiar rhythms of island life in Hawaii to a bold new chapter as missionaries in Japan—leveraging their professional skills, life experience, and deep faith to serve others. Their story reflects the very heart of OnCorps—the vision of ordinary Christian professionals reimagining mid-career not as a time to slow down, but as a time to step up into kingdom work.

A Life Rooted in Service

Matt and Shannon both grew up in Hawaii. Matt got a degree from Wheaton College and later built a successful real estate business on Kauai. Shannon invested years as a schoolteacher before becoming the Sunday School director at their church. Together they raised three children, all now entering adulthood.

By every measure, their lives were full and fruitful. Yet Matt describes hitting a point in his early fifties where questions about legacy and calling began to stir: “You’re closer to the end of your career than the start. What does that look like? How do I finish well?”

God was already shaping the answer. Matt had recently brought on a partner and staff at his real estate company, freeing him from the day-to-day burden. At the same time, Shannon was praying for renewal in his spirit. Neither realized these shifts were preparing them for a radical step of faith.

From Curiosity to Calling

The journey didn’t start with a lightning-bolt moment. Instead, it began with curiosity. After a conversation with a man who reinvented his career in his sixties, Matt wondered if he too, could pivot. He looked into sports ministries like Athletes in Action, but quickly realized the fit wasn’t right.

But the exploration sparked something deeper: What if we became missionaries now, not later?

Then an online search changed everything. On TEAM’s website, Matt stumbled across a posting for “Facility Manager at Karuizawa Retreat Center” in Japan. For over two decades, he had been running a business, handling maintenance, managing properties, and coordinating logistics. Suddenly, it was clear—God had been equipping him for this exact role.

He filled out the interest form on a whim, not expecting much. Within 24 hours, he was on the phone with a missions coach. The door was opening, and he had to tell Shannon: “I did a thing. I put our names in to be missionaries in Japan.”

What could have been a shocking interruption to their comfortable life became, for Shannon, an answer to prayer. She had been asking the Holy Spirit to rekindle Matt’s weary soul. Now she too sensed God’s personal invitation: to lay aside fears, trust Him with their children and parents, and step into a new season of devotion and dependence.

OnCorps: Serving Through Skills

The Karuizawa Retreat Center (KRC), nestled in the mountains just outside Tokyo, exists to give Japanese pastors, missionaries, and Christians rest from the relentless pace of life in Japan. With less than one percent of the population professing Christianity, ministry there is both urgent and exhausting. KRC provides a space for renewal.

Matt and Shannon’s role is not to preach from pulpits or plant churches. Instead, they do something equally vital: run the center. From managing bookings, cleaning cabins, and maintaining grounds to welcoming short-term volunteers, their behind-the-scenes work enables frontline ministers to thrive.

This embodies the OnCorps vision: using the professional skills God has already developed in mid-career adults and redeploying them for kingdom purposes overseas. Not every missionary is a seminary graduate or evangelist. Many, like Matt and Shannon, are business owners, teachers, or managers who bring indispensable gifts of administration, hospitality, and leadership to the mission field.

Walking by Faith

The road wasn’t without setbacks. At one point before they launched, the door seemed to close, and they were devastated. But God reopened the opportunity in an unexpected way. Over and over, they chose to walk by faith, praying, “If this isn’t Your will, close the door. But if it is, keep opening it.”

Now, with their children grown, parents healthy, and no grandchildren yet, they see this as their window. As Shannon put it, “Our hearts yearn for the weary and lost in Japan. Our hearts long to be there, to encourage and to be encouraged.”

They are also inviting others into the story—asking for prayer, support, and even short-term teams to join them at KRC. Through their transparency, they remind us that missions is not about having it all figured out, but about trusting a faithful Father.

Redefining Mid-Career

Matt and Shannon’s story is a powerful testimony for all of us who wonder what comes next in life. Mid-career doesn’t have to mean coasting or clinging to comfort. It can mean stepping boldly into a new assignment with the skills, wisdom, and resilience built over decades.

This is the heartbeat of OnCorps—mobilizing professionals at the midpoint of their lives to use their expertise for the sake of the gospel. Matt and Shannon remind us that God wastes nothing: not careers, not skills, not seasons of waiting.

For them, midlife became not a time to slow ride into retirement, but a launching pad. They are proof that when we hold our careers loosely and our faith tightly, God can write a story far greater than we imagined.

>> Learn more about opportunities to serve mid-career with OnCorps at www.GoCorps.org/oncorps