From Ministry
Mountaintop
to Marital
Meltdown
By Paul Cox,
Director of Mobilization,
One Mission Society
south and gave direction to three churches
and three church plants, which I learned
from and walked alongside. I was on my
own ministry mountaintop.
But, then, it all came crashing down. I
was part of an amazing missionary team
reaching our neighbors with the Gospel.
The people were being reached, but I was
losing my family in the process. You see,
if we had met seven years ago, and you
stopped to ask me what my vision for ministry was, I would have regaled you with
fruit, strategy, and plans moving forward.
But if you had asked, “Paul, what’s your vision for your family?” I would have looked
at you with a blank stare. Seven years ago,
I was sacrificing my family on the altar of
ministry, and I had no idea of the pain and
suffering I was exacting on my wife Dawn.
If an emergency came up at home, I would
If we had met seven years ago, you
would have met a young(er) missionary
who was radically dependent on God for
fruit in a nation desperately in need of the
Gospel truth. I looked the missionary part.
My ministry hours were long; discipleship
was happening; and fruit was beginning
to appear in the lives of our students and
the members of the Evangelical Christian
Church of Madrid, the place we called our
church home for eight wonderful years as
missionaries in Spain with One Mission
Society.
In late 2007, I was given the added privilege of helping to lead the Spain field. It
was a position I felt suited for, and I loved
every minute of it. Our team consisted of
several nationalities. I traveled to five ministry hubs from the north of Spain to the
photos page 30, top and middle: The Cox family ministering in Spain bottom: Paul and Dawn share vision
for ministry in Spain with a local Texas church.
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