Working for the Lord is akin to rope-climbing up a mountain; it takes teamwork.

That was the motto of sorts for the Rev. Loren Fox and his wife, Linda, who last Sunday visited St. Edward’s Episcopal Church in Mount Dora, and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Lakeland for Southwest Deanery Missions Night to share their vision and seek partners for their upcoming trip to Southeast Asia.

A former rector at Church of Our Savior in Palm Bay, Fox recently was recruited by Team Alliance, a global alliance that helps churches send missionaries to plant churches where the need is greatest and to equip members of church-planting teams in Southeast Asia for greater fruitfulness in the field.

“We brought a rope to our visits at St. Edward’s and the Southwest Deanery as a visual of what partnership is all about,” Linda Fox said. “Mountain climbers, ropes-course participants, miners – all of them can’t do what they’re supposed to do unless someone is holding on to the rope. The same is true for us and the rest of the diocese.

“God has a call for each of His people,” Linda Fox said. “Some are called to go and some are called to hold the rope. We often put the focus on the person who is going; however, the person who stays behind and holds the rope is equally important to the task of actually fulfilling God’s call to take His love to the ends of the earth.”

St. Edward’s and St. Stephen’s were the latest churches the Foxes have visited since Father Loren stepped down at Church of Our Savior in May. The couple has been in a different church every week since Father Loren’s resignation, except for three Sundays when they were in Asia on their Friendship Tour.

“Five of the visits were formal invitations by a parish in the diocese to preach/present our ministry,” Linda Fox said. “Additionally, eight parishes were also represented at the Southwest Deanery Event. We have been in other parishes simply because we wanted to worship with them, and some of those have provided informal opportunities to connect with people about what we’re doing. We have also accepted invitations to speak at churches outside of the Diocese of Central Florida.”

The multiple visits are critical for the Foxes, who are hoping to gain partners – both for financial and spiritual support. Currently the Foxes have more than 20 individuals and three parishes in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida who have pledged regular, ongoing financial support to their ministry. Others have pledged future support, and many have donated one-time gifts.

“We are getting more financial partners as we go along,” Linda Fox said. “Each of the individuals and churches who have pledged to give regularly (monthly, quarterly or annually) to support our ministry budget is telling us that they are standing with us in an ongoing way to be a part of how God wants to work through us all in Southeast Asia. We are also very grateful for the one-time gifts people have given, which are being applied to meet our one-time outgoing costs so we can actually get to the field in the first place.

“God has been impressing on us the importance of building a partnership network that is both deep and broad,” Linda Fox said. “And He has been bringing us partners from a variety of places, including people who are serving overseas themselves and, like us, can’t count on a regular salary, but instead are dependent on financial support. We are incredibly honored that they want to be a part of seeing us follow God’s call for us to serve Him in Southeast Asia.”

Linda Fox said the response from their visits to St. Edward’s and St. Stephen’s was encouraging: “It was wonderful to be able to spend time with people who were eager to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and seeking to find their place in obeying the Great Commission. By hosting us to share about our call, they were giving people an opportunity to go deeper in their own faith and become more of whom God wants them to be right here in Central Florida.”

Most of the Foxes’ visits have been to church congregations, but they are open to visiting ministries and other groups, especially those that would like to pray for the couple, Linda said.

“We appreciate the fact that early on when we got started with this process, the Honduras Commission invited Linda to speak to them,” Father Loren said. “They could have decided that they didn’t need to know or care about what we were doing because Honduras and Southeast Asia are two different areas of the world. Yet they wanted to hear from us and offer their encouragement and support all the same – a testimony to God’s missionary heart at work in them. We are also blessed to know that the Diocesan DOK (Daughters of the King) stands with us in this.”

The outpouring of support from all around the world has touched the Foxes. “I am grateful for the growing number of partners, both individuals and parishes, from around the diocese and beyond who are partnering together for the sake of some of the least-evangelized peoples in Asia,” Father Loren said.

For more information, contact Father Loren at 321-514-6420 or check out the Foxes’ website at www.EngagingTheAdventure.org on the internet.