Kevin Avery, \u201997<\/span>, and\u00a0Dayna DeBorde Avery, \u201998, <\/span>each came to OBU in search of a quality education and strong sense of community. Thanks to enthusiastic and invested students and faculty members, they found both \u2026\u00a0and so much more.<\/em><\/p>\n H<\/span>aving surrendered to foreign missions at 14, Kevin still didn\u2019t know what area of study to pursue when he stepped foot on OBU\u2019s campus as a freshman. He chose computer science, hoping to gain a marketable skill that could be used wherever God chose to send him in the future and did everything he could to immerse himself in campus life. In the spring, Kevin was able to participate in a mission exchange program and earn 15 hours of credit while gaining experience on the mission field.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an opportunity I didn\u2019t expect as a freshman,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cI was actually nervous to go to Poland because I imagined Eastern Europe would be cold and dreary, but I believed God wanted me to go. And wow, I\u2019m glad I did. Poland was life changing for me. It was my first experience teaching English as a second language. When I got back home, I changed my major to English with a minor in TESL.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin\u2019s curriculum shift led to his meeting Dayna, who majored in English with plans to become a magazine editor.<\/p>\n \u201cWe studied together, hung out together, and were both really involved in the English department,\u201d Dayna said. \u201cThe students and professors were close and involved in each other\u2019s lives. As a matter of fact, we got engaged in class. It was the last session of Dr. Ledbetter\u2019s fiction class, and we were about to walk out. She asked if anyone had any more questions, and Kevin raised his hand and said he had a question. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him right there in front of everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n The couple married two weeks after Kevin\u2019s graduation in 1997. While Dayna finished her degree, Kevin taught English to international students at Oklahoma City University and began seminary extension classes at OBU through Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Upon Dayna\u2019s graduation in 1998, she began working for a small community magazine that was soon bought out by a larger company. She continued with that company, and the couple moved to Tulsa, where Kevin continued to teach English to international students, this time at Oral Roberts University. By the end of 1999, Dayna was managing editor of \u201cTulsa People\u201d magazine.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a preacher\u2019s daughter, I had thought about missions before,\u201d Dayna said. \u201cBut I never made any kind of commitment to it. I knew when I dated Kevin that he was headed into missions. He wanted to go immediately, but I wasn\u2019t in a hurry. He was patient with me as we talked \u201cOne night,\u201d Kevin said, \u201cI had a dream where five individuals came to me and said, in English, \u2018Please come to East Asia.\u2019 Then I was alone in blinding white light. I knew it was the presence of God, so I asked Him if He wanted us to go to East Asia. His answer was a booming \u2018Yes!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In 2001, Kevin and Dayna settled in East Asia, teaching English as a second language and looking for opportunities to minister. The couple enjoyed their time there a great deal, finding the people to be warm, friendly and extremely helpful.<\/p>\n By 2003, however, they decided to move to Waco, Texas, where Kevin could finish his master\u2019s degree and Dayna could help her grandparents.<\/p>\n Just before leaving for the U.S., Kevin met a man from Hawaii who provided classes for children with disabilities. The classroom was on the second floor, and buildings there are not built to be handicap accessible. Kevin\u2019s heart was touched as he watched parents of disabled children carry them up the stairs to class. The image would stay with him for years.<\/p>\n Upon returning to the U.S., Dayna became managing editor of \u201cThe Wacoan,\u201d Waco\u2019s city magazine. She held that position until 2009 when she chose to become a stay-at-home mom for the couple\u2019s two children, Molly and Hudson, born in 2007 and 2009 respectively. In 2006, Kevin graduated from George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco with a Master of Divinity degree and began working as a chaplain, first for Hillcrest Medical Center and then for Texas Home Health Hospice.<\/p>\n Kevin and Dayna had planned from the start to return to East Asia, but in 2009, Kevin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When Kevin\u2019s doctor explained they couldn\u2019t get the medicine Kevin needed there, the Averys began considering other countries. But God had other plans.<\/p>\n \u201cHe [God] made it very clear to me that I was worshipping fear instead of Him, which was a heartbreaking thing to hear,\u201d Kevin said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt that time, my concept\u00a0of worship included\u00a0going to church, serving\u00a0and singing. But God\u00a0helped me to see\u00a0worship differently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe showed me that we were making decisions based on what I thought I could or couldn\u2019t do instead of what He told us to do. He told me that if I really believed that He was the resurrection and the life, I wouldn\u2019t let a physical illness keep me from being obedient and I would trust him not only with my life, but with Dayna\u2019s and the kids\u2019 lives. He promised that my MS would not be a hindrance.\u201d<\/p>\n Although her misgivings were strong and she was reluctant to leave her family with a baby and toddler in tow, Dayna trusted the Lord, hoping that He would speak to her just as clearly as He had spoken to Kevin. But God confirmed this move in a different way for her.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we got there, I experienced so much joy,\u201d Dayna said. \u201cI loved everything \u2013 the food, the people \u2013 and was so happy. The kids adjusted quickly, which helped, and I knew that we had done the right thing. Kevin struggled when things didn\u2019t happen as quickly as he\u2019d hoped, but he had that encounter with God to look back on when he had doubts. God gave us both what we needed to trust Him.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin and Dayna have once again immersed themselves in the culture, opening up exciting opportunities for evangelism and discipleship. Their ministry to families affected by disabilities in East Asia is thriving.<\/p>\n \u201cWe give parents a chance to have their questions answered by medical professionals, connect with other parents, watch their children interact with other children, and just have fun,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cThe talent shows allow us to showcase for community leaders what these kids really can do. They are talented, just limited.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, Kevin\u2019s MS has not progressed since the couple\u2019s move to East Asia. In fact, he hasn\u2019t taken any medication in five years. Still, God has used Kevin\u2019s diagnosis to help him identify with and minister to families.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard because those families haven\u2019t experienced relief from what they go through like I have,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cBut we let them know that they are valued and loved. You have to be sensitive and discerning in what you say, but I want them to understand that God is a God who heals. It\u2019s up to Him how He does it, but He does. In 2010, God healed me of my fear and continues to sustain me. I stand daily in the strength He provides.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin and Dayna consider themselves blessed to have spent their equipping years as members of the OBU community, enveloped by the love and support of peers and faculty members with their best interests at heart. As they strive to foster the same sense of community in those they minister to in East Asia, God continues to bless and move in the hearts of people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Trust and Obey Kevin Avery, \u201997, and\u00a0Dayna DeBorde Avery, \u201998, each came to OBU in search of a quality education and strong sense of community. Thanks to enthusiastic and invested students and faculty members, they found both \u2026\u00a0and so much more. Having surrendered to foreign missions at 14, Kevin still didn\u2019t know what area of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2344,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":""},"categories":[133,73],"tags":[159,160],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/DKfamily.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BMz3-vu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1952"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2506,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952\/revisions\/2506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.okbu.edu\/obumagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nabout the future. For a while, we thought we would go to South America, but every time we mentioned it, people told us that the need was in East Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n