Eric Nurmi had said he would never be a missionary, anything but that. He was a business guy and He was good at it. He believed his role was to help fund and send missionaries and for years, that is exactly what his family did. He developed a successful business, and he helped send missionaries.

But then his family experienced heart break.

 “My wife and I got the phone call we had been waiting years to get. There was a little girl, Chara, ready to be adopted from Ethiopia. We fell in love. We finally had been matched with our long awaited daughter. A daughter we had loved in our hearts years before she had even been born. We printed out pictures of her and placed them in our home. We made a gift box to be sent to her that was filled with blankets, stuffed animals, and pictures of her new family.”

“A few weeks later we got a phone call that she had passed away. We were crushed.”

For years, Eric had seen himself as a sender. In the midst of their grief, he felt God say, “What else are you willing to do?”

Over the next several years, Eric and his family took bigger steps of faith, doing more to extend the kingdom of God. Using his business skills to help others, Eric and a friend took over a non-profit organization that created sustainable development projects in Haiti and Peru. However, as time passed, he still felt a nudge from God.  “What else are you willing to do?”

Eric realized that business was his comfort zone and God was asking him if he was willing to step outside that. Was he willing to do the one thing he said he would never do?  Would he leave his successful business and go into full-time ministry? They would be sacrificing so much, not just Eric and his wife, but their 4 kids.

When a door opened to a ministry opportunity that was a perfect match for Eric’s skills, he hesitated. For weeks he put off applying for the position. But then he had a life-changing conversation with a friend. As Eric explained that the position seemed perfect, and he was sure God was calling him into full-time ministry, he just didn’t feel ready to go.  His friend said, “You mean, obey?”

That’s when Eric knew.  His friend was right.  He applied for the position that nigh and it set his family on a life-changing trajectory.

Hear Eric’s powerful story on Chapter 6 of Epic. 

Eric Nurmi - What else are you willing to do?