WEST LAFAYETTE -- Covenant Church is hosting the Loeckens, an Alpharetta, Ga. family of six who left a comfortable suburban life two years ago to travel the country in an RV, partnering with churches and social service agencies and encouraging others toward a life of serving.

While spending nearly a month in the Lafayette area, the Loeckens will work alongside those already serving in the community and also train church leaders how to inspire their congregation to get out of the pews and into the lives of the needy around them.

The public is invited to hear the Loecken’s story at Covenant Church in West Lafayette, as they share how they left a “normal” life in order to serve the homeless and the poor in cities across the nation, and to inspire, empower, and mobilize others toward lives of service. The family’s journey and mission was featured on Good Morning America and in Ladies’ Home Journal last fall.

“Our goal in inviting the Loecken family to West Lafayette was to help us grasp even more what it looks like not only to live life reaching past ourselves but also to challenge, encourage, and equip us to care for our community, and not just for a day but continually.” says Covenant’s Serving Shepherd Tom Johnson.

It was in 2008 that Jay and Beth Loecken took their three oldest children on a mission trip to Africa through their church. The family came home from   working in an extremely poor neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya, to find that their way of looking at the world had been radically changed. A passion developed in them to live more simply and pursue a life of purpose through service to others.

After several months of prayer and family discussions, they sold their 4,500-square-foot home, bought a used RV, and began traveling the country pursuing serving opportunities and helping local congregations develop a passion for the needy in their own communities.

The family recruited a group of supporters and created an organization called Passion 2 Action, which is committed to “serving and obeying Jesus Christ and building His kingdom here on earth by communicating the love of God in Jesus Christ through compassionate, dignified service to the poor.”

Jay is a mortgage broker who continues to work from the road, and Beth is a stay-at-home mom who home schools their two boys and two girls who range in age from seven to 15. The children serve alongside their parents and have already visited a West Lafayette nursing home. Service projects that include members of Covenant Church also are being planned.