What’s Most Worthwhile
Despite growing up only 40 miles from Waxhaw, David and Aimee Eddy weren’t expecting to end up at JAARS, but God chose to use David’s maintenance skills by opening a clear opportunity.
Raised in a Christian home in North Carolina, David came to know Christ at a young age and watched his parents serve God through their full-time secular jobs. His mom was a public-school teacher, and his dad worked in parks and recreation. They used their jobs for the glory of God, showing David that God could use all kinds of skills as ministry opportunities.
When David was about to graduate high school, his parents said that they felt called to join Wycliffe Bible Translators and that God was leading them to Papua New Guinea (PNG). As his parents moved to PNG, David prayed for God to give him direction for his own life.
He had been involved with a camp ministry in the North Carolina mountains, and God opened the door for him to join that staff full time after graduating high school.
As a support-staff member, he did everything from maintenance to cooking to conducting high-ropes courses. David was driven to find what he was passionate about. “I didn’t intend to be in maintenance,” David said. “But God moved me into becoming a maintenance director at this camp.”
About halfway through his seven years there, he married Aimee. The couple felt that God was leading them into ministry together. They prayed about it, knowing that although they had far different giftings—Aimee had been a chemistry major—they wanted to have the same goal and unified purpose.
David had seen his dad work in construction maintenance in PNG while with Wycliffe, so he knew there was a need for the kind of maintenance work he did.
The couple started the process to join Wycliffe. When they had to pick an assignment, PNG was on their minds. But the couple—visas in hand, ready to move halfway around the world—experienced a major turnaround.
David was about to become the manager of a training course for Wycliffe and SIL mission workers going to the Pacific region. However, the course was abruptly terminated so that the organizations could create individual training courses. Because their roles no longer existed, David and Aimee had to find a new direction.
“God used that to [let us] explore what was out there,” David said. “And we felt like God was saying, ‘Don’t just instantly switch to another role in Papua New Guinea because it makes sense and this is the direction—I want you to pursue me and my will, and this might be something different than you were expecting.’”
JAARS was only an hour down the road, and David knew the organization had maintenance needs. He came to speak with the director, and after one interview and conversation, he understood that God had opened the door for them here.
For David, the biggest transition was turning from a prideful mindset to that of a humble servant, willing to serve the Lord anywhere–even in the U.S.
“Growing up, I heard all of these missionary stories, and thought, ‘This is a neat adventure to live in the Pacific.’ And now I’m just moving an hour down the road? Is it really as worthwhile?’” David recalled. “The thing that continues to resonate is that it’s not up to me to decide what’s most worthwhile. That’s up to God. What’s up to me is my attitude and [whether] I am willing to submit to wherever he wants to lead me. I know that he’s sovereign, he’s a good father, he knows how he’s going to use me.”
Since 2020, David has served as the maintenance supervisor at JAARS. He lines up tasks with technicians, schedules jobs, and manages projects. He loves seeing how all the little pieces connect in the overarching picture. Aimee has been a stay-at-home mom taking care of their three kids.
Their most fulfilling aspect of being at JAARS is knowing that they’re part of worthwhile and eternal work. “I know almost everybody on campus because of the nature of my job,” David said. “[I enjoy] seeing we’re not only supporting [other departments] physically, but we’re supporting relationally as well. We’re behind each other supporting a single tooth in a cog and everything moving forward.”
How might God use you in his big picture to draw people to himself? Learn more here about the many opportunities for you to help us ease burdens, reduce barriers, and deliver God’s Word to the most remote places on earth.
