Michelle Page

MICHELLE PAGE
BIO

I was born in Pampa, TX, Oct. 6, 1968 to Jerry and Ruth Laughery. I am the 3rd of 4 children...my brother Keith lives in Lubbock; my sister Melanie lives in Midland, and my sister Melissa lives in Midland. I married my wonderful husband, Bryan, on June 4, 1989. We have 3 children: Nick, who will be 20 in August; Kayla, who is 17 and will be a Senior at Lee High School this fall; and Kira, who is 14 and will be a Freshman in the fall. I grew up going to church, as my dad was an ordained minister, and served through the years as a teacher, deacon, and elder. Daddy's heart was always for Missions, and he was on the Mission Committee for as long as I can remember. I remember listening to stories of some of the missionaries who would come and speak at our church, like Art and Judy Lynch who spent many years as missionaries in Thailand. I always thought that mission work was something you did full-time, and I didn't see mission work being part of my life once I got married and had a family. In 1998, God moved our family to Wyoming. I now believe he used this time to open our eyes and our hearts to His Spirit and His Voice, and was grooming us to GO, wherever He decided to send us. I mean, we went to Wyoming after all! When we moved back home (to West Texas) in December of 2004, little did we know that God had decided to test us and see if we were still listening and willing to GO. We've all always loved serving in our local church, and put ourselves in that little box called "comfort zone", and were perfectly happy being there. We noticed after being at Stonegate for a while, that you didn't have to become a full-time missionary to do mission work. It seemed like every time we turned around, they were sending a team to Sudan, or Liberia, or Romania. Then Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and they sent people to do disaster relief. They would show videos and pictures, and interviews of those on the team, and in my heart I felt a longing for being able to make a difference somewhere else in the world. Of course, I never really thought that I would ever have an opportunity to even explore the possibility of going on a mission trip, so I just shoved that longing back down where it belonged. Then, in March, I got the call that would change everything. When Lynn asked if we would be interested in going to
Micronesia on a family mission, my first response was, of course, "absolutely"! But, I really figured that there would be no way Bryan would ever be able to take 10-12 days off, and I really didn't feel it would be an option for the girls and I to go alone. So I called Bryan and just casually mentioned that we had been asked if we would be willing to go on this mission trip to Micronesia. Bryan, too, said it would be a great opportunity and experience, but the chances of him getting the time off were slim to none. I mentioned it to the girls later that evening, but told them not to get their hopes up, because dad was most likely not going to get the time off work. Boy, did God have a lesson to teach us! The very next day, Bryan called me and said he had gone in and talked to his boss, and he had approved the time off! Well, I tell you, we took off from that point on and RAN! Of course, we didn't realize at the time that we had to apply to be on the team, and then had to be accepted to the team. Not that it mattered at that point, because deep in my heart, I knew that God had chosen us for "such a time as this". And he started "preparing" us from that day on. Here we are, one week from our departure date, and we still don't even have the girls' passports! But we are confident that God will provide, and that "all things will work together for the good of those who love the Lord". God is slowing helping me to realize that He IS sovereign, and that He will take care of us. We feel so blessed to be on this team, and go with the anticipation, not of making a difference in the lives of those we are there to serve, but in those we serve changing our lives forever.