MY JOURNEY
My very first mission trip was to Costa Rica the summer before 5th grade. At that young of an age, I was very unaware of Global issues and what poverty actually was. This trip though, is where it all started. My second mission trip was to San Francisco in 2010, the summer before my 9th grade year! This trip opened up my eyes to see that even though the city was filled with crime, violence and poverty, it was overlooked by for the beauty this city offered. Which honestly, is quite true for many things.
My third mission trip and my most recent was to South Africa in 2012, the summer before my Junior year in High School. We were there for about 2 and a half weeks teaching and serving at a school called the Aurora Primary School. The kids that were sent there were from shanty towns of hundreds of thousands of people.
From the moment I laid my eyes on them, I was in love. It was something about their stubborn innocence, the way those big brown eyes, who have seen more than we can imagine and have a story to tell, gazed at you, how those big pearly white smiles stretched from ear to ear every time you smiled at them, how they would run over to you as if you were their mother on a Christmas morning and tackle you with affectionate love and hugs. I loved the way their little hearts longed for a relationship with Jesus. I loved how much faith and hope they had in Jesus (more than I will ever have), because of how little they had. They have taught me more than they will ever know and because of that, I have decided to quit my life. Because I was in love with them, I left my heart there. Because they gave me more than what most people would have in America, who have 2 cars, 3 bedroom houses and months they could go for without re-wearing the same outfits, stood there in front of me, wearing their one and only stained t-shirt and reaching out to me, with the few pretzels they had left in their hand, asking, “Teacher Faith want one?” These are little things that break my heart. Yes, poverty and disease break my heart. But it’s the little things that break my heart the most.
From that day on, my life hasn’t been the same. Jesus had taken over my heart and my feelings. How can it be that an eight year old boy, who has seen his mother die of AIDS, his father abuse his sisters, and his uncle shoot heroine in his arm every night, have more happiness and more faith in God than me, who has a loving family, a large 5 bedroom house surrounded by a white picket fence, a pantry full of fresh food, a queen size bed, a walk in closet where every jacket and shirt is pressed and hung by color, and who has a place to call “Home”?
It is my senior year of High School and boy am I excited to graduate June 10th! But for awhile, I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do. People think that coming out of High School with a diploma means that you MUST know what you want to be for the rest of your life! That is so false because if that were true, no one would be graduating High School and that certainly goes for me as well! After a lot of prayer and guidance from God, I was accepted into the World Race Gap Year to pursue His calling for me in the mission field. I am very excited, nervous and anxious to see where God leads us on these amazing 9 months around the world, but this trip will not last forever (I sure do wish so!!!). I DO know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to QUIT IT and I have. I do NOT want to end it, or demolish it, or do anything to it! I am quitting my life and turning it over to Jesus.
…You see, all my friends are applying to college, taking their SATS for the fifth time, in hope for some million dollar scholarship, joining as many clubs as possible, getting scouts to come watch their sports games, and well trying to figure out what they want to do in life! I am not speaking down upon any of these people because these are my best friends and my peers. In fact, this would be me right now if it wasn’t for God’s calling for me in missions.
All my life, I wanted to go graduate from High School, go to College, have that College experience, graduate with some really big title, meet my husband, settle down and have the perfect family. I wanted the American Dream… My parents had always thought that that was what I wanted, and for a long time I did too! It wasn’t until my South Africa Mission’s Trip in 2012, did I then begin to start thinking differently. From the day I got back and to this very day, my heart has not forgotten about how many people there are in this world that need a sign of hope, a reason to keep believing, and someone to love them. This answer is simple; they need Jesus. As all my friends started to apply for college, I began some serious praying. God, where do you want me to go to college? What do you want me to major in? Where do you want me to go (In terms of College location/area)?
God sure did answer. His answer hit me like a brick wall and I did NOT want to believe that this is what He wanted me to do. His answer was not specific, and His answer did NOT give me a location.
Matthew 28:19-20 was simply His answer.
“Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He did not say, If you think you can. He did not say, If you want to. And He certainly did not say, on your own time. HE SAID GO. HE COMMANDED US TO GO. It was so plain as day. God wanted me to quit my life; to quit the “American Dream”, what this world thinks as of important, and to follow Him.
This is much easier said than done because it’s hard seeing all my friends commit to college. It’s hard trying to explain what I am doing. How do I answer, “Wait so you’re choosing to not go to college next year…. to do wait what are you doing again?” or “What college are you going to next year?” or “Is this in place of college?” or “Are you going to college after you get back?”
To be honest, I’m not sure what plans are in store for my life when I come home after the World Race. But remember, I have quit my life. The life I am living, is no longer mine. It is Jesus’ and the plans He has for me will not even compare to the plans I have for myself.
So this is how I was called to the mission field… I simply picked up the phone, my call to follow Jesus, and said Yes. Hung the phone back up, took nothing with me and left my life.
