Eric + rachel mceachron share their story
The McEachron family of 7 began attending Grace Church in December 2020. They moved to the area with Operation Mobilization (OM) and had a few friendly connections to Grace upon arrival. Since that time, they have been active attenders of Grace, a part of a small group and serving with Glow Ministry, a local non-profit that Grace supports in a variety of ways. Recently, they were nominated to share their story with us! The nomination read," I nominate Eric and Rachel McEachron because they do a lot for Jesus! Most people at Grace do not know all the ways they serve and the opportunities they are involved in, and we would all love to know more of their story!" We reached out them and asked to share about their past, what has brought them to Grace and how they share the love of Jesus throughout their everyday lives.
Rachel, Eric, Silas, Micah, Emi, Marcie, Sophie
Eric began by sharing, "I grew up as a middle child of an engineer dad and former Campus Crusade mom, in a suburb of St. Louis. My journey with Jesus started before I can remember; when I was five, after a Sunday School lesson I asked Jesus to “make my heart clean.” As a teen, I learned to be honest with God about my fears, and discovered the freedom of trusting Him as the One who loves me. In many ways, most of my life has been a product of simple trust and God-sent people who have seen me, invested in me, and challenged me to do things—especially in my high school and college years. One of those people is Matt Benson (a Grace Church Elder), who sent me on an international internship that opened my mind and heart to God’s global mission. (Spoiler: I later joined Matt’s staff team at Bryan College, and now work with Matt and many other Grace Church members at Operation Mobilization.) My openness from my internship led to saying “yes” to working in Japan as an English teacher after college. And, in a little church in rural Japan, I met another English teacher who was living on mission: Rachel.
Rachel shares, " I grew up in northern Indiana (Warsaw--for all the fellow Hoosiers) in a family that modeled serving God in many different ways. My journey with Jesus started when I was seven while doing morning devotions with my mom. As I got older, I realized I wanted to say “yes” to His direction for my life. When I was just 10 years old, my family went on a 2-week trip to Azumino Family Chapel, a church in rural Japan. The Japanese people and the reality of their lostness without Christ were on my heart from then on. I felt like God was telling me to go back, but I didn’t know how or when that would be. I was able to go on a summer internship with Moody (very similar to Eric’s experience) back to Azumino Family Chapel--serving alongside the missionaries there. God used that time to confirm my story with Japan wasn’t finished. In a miraculous way, God took me back to a job 5 minutes from Azumino Family Chapel after I graduated from college. That is the church where I met Eric.
Rachel shares, " I grew up in northern Indiana (Warsaw--for all the fellow Hoosiers) in a family that modeled serving God in many different ways. My journey with Jesus started when I was seven while doing morning devotions with my mom. As I got older, I realized I wanted to say “yes” to His direction for my life. When I was just 10 years old, my family went on a 2-week trip to Azumino Family Chapel, a church in rural Japan. The Japanese people and the reality of their lostness without Christ were on my heart from then on. I felt like God was telling me to go back, but I didn’t know how or when that would be. I was able to go on a summer internship with Moody (very similar to Eric’s experience) back to Azumino Family Chapel--serving alongside the missionaries there. God used that time to confirm my story with Japan wasn’t finished. In a miraculous way, God took me back to a job 5 minutes from Azumino Family Chapel after I graduated from college. That is the church where I met Eric.
11 years of marriage and 5 kids later, our Japan chapter still looms large in our story because it was foundational in our relationship and in discovering our gifts and purpose. We see God’s hand guiding and providing when we’ve had no plan over and over again, even bringing our Japan experience back around in this season through Rachel’s role as Glow Kids Coordinator, ESL Teacher and Parenting Class Leader in GLOW Ministry. It’s remarkable seeing our kids also embrace GLOW and begin to internalize their role in God’s plan to reach people who have no knowledge of Jesus. In this season, so much of our energy and attention and life lessons are with our kids—Micah (9), Sophie (7), Emi (6), Marcie (4), and Silas (6 months). We want them to know Jesus, to be seen and invested in by caring adults, and to discover their place in God’s story. Grace is a key environment where that happens. We continue to grow with our Life Group, as well as the OM, GLOW, and homeschool co-op communities.
Church in Japan where Eric + Rachel served and met.
With dear Glow friends who have returned to Japan and are continuing in their faith journey.
Annual Glow Kids Christmas Cookie Decorating Party!
Throughout our story, God's faithfulness has been the prevailing theme. We are so thankful for His sovereign guidance in taking each of us to Japan and the way He continues to amaze and surprise us by taking parts of our story and bringing them back. None of our experiences are "wasted seasons" when we trust God and say "yes" to Him. We invite all of you to pray for the opportunity we have to return to Japan this summer through GLOW with Micah as a 10-year-old. We'd love to share more with you-Just ask us! See you at church!