The two co-wrote a book designed to reach those in the Gen Z and Millennial generations who are disillusioned or disinterested in the Bible titled “Not What You Think.”
Lauren is also a pro-life advocate and is a leader with the recently established Stand for Life organization. The two have even lived out a form of pro-life advocacy in their own family through adoption, but it has not been an easy road.
The couple adopted their 4-year-old daughter Zion in 2019, and soon discovered a cancerous tumor on her liver. The cancer was diagnosed as Stage 1 and she is currently in remission, but the trials were not over.
Since adopting Zion, the McAfees have experienced two failed adoptions, including one that was more than a year in process. Through those difficulties, the couple learned more about God’s loving plan in a tangible way.
“We learned that God’s painful providences are for the purposes of intimacy,” McAfee said. “God is ultimately using painful situations to draw us closer to Him. As much as we want to control things ourselves, we can trust Him with their lives.
“When you surrender and realize things happen to lead us to intimacy with God, then you start to kind of come out of the valley. You discover the intimacy you get with God is greater than the expectation of what you thought life was going to be better.”
The couple is currently in the process of adopting another daughter and producing a book about what they learned throughout the whole experience.
McAfee said he hopes Inspire creates experiences that will help Christians learn the Gospel and biblical truth in a way that will help them in life.
“Being a Southern Baptist preacher, I am fully committed to the priority of preaching and the uniqueness of sermons and more generally in the importance of didactic teaching,” McAfee said.
“I think it is also critical to have experiential ministry to come alongside of that to complement it. I think we see Jesus doing that in that He didn’t just come to the disciples to teach them, but He lived life with them.
“There is a reason you remember so much of the experiences you have on vacation is that you’re not doing the same thing you always do. Why not do something like that that’s also a faith-deepening experience? Let’s associate this kind of memories with learning to read the Scripture and learning the Gospel and its implications.”
This article originally appeared here.
