I’ve wanted to be a missionary for as long as I can remember. I’ve grown up loving Jesus, and I’ve always been fascinated with other languages and cultures. The thought of traveling around the world and telling people about Jesus has always thrilled my heart. I’ve always been moved by verses in the Bible about all nations worshiping Jesus and God’s glory going forth to the ends of the earth. And I have longed to be a part of it.
“I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations— to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord.” –Isaiah 66:19-20
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” –Revelation 7:9
When I was in Jr. high and high school, I was very involved in my youth group. My youth pastor was a contagious dreamer who had a plan to change the world for Jesus, one teen at a time. I was blessed to be one of those teens. She discipled me and encouraged me to push myself beyond my comfort zone and into the fullness of all God had for me. She also introduced me to my first mission trip. When I was a freshman in high school, I went with a small group from our church to stay at an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. Encountering Jesus in the midst of an unfamiliar country, people, language, and culture changed me forever. It was then that my passion for international missions was ignited.
Two years later I had one of the most eventful summers of my life. A week or two after completing my junior year of high school, I was on my way to Jamaica for a two week long mission trip with Global Expeditions. That was my first experience with public evangelism as we preached in the streets and went door-to-door, telling people about our Savior.
Then, a week after returning home, I hopped on a plane to go to Mexico to spend the summer with my Uncle in Guadalajara to improve my Spanish. There were difficult times during that six weeks. I had never been away from my family for so long, and I was frustrated beyond imagination that I was prohibited from speaking a single word in English! I still remember specific moments during that time when God comforted me with His presence as I was praying or reading my Bible. It was a powerful realization that when everything in my life was new and unfamiliar, God was still the same, and He would never ever leave me.
My senior year of high school, as I started thinking about what I was going to do with the rest of my life, no career that I considered seemed appealing to me. All I could imagine doing with my life was traveling around the world, bringing the Good News about Jesus to those who hadn’t heard. I told me parents that I didn’t want to go to college, because I didn’t need a college degree to be a missionary. However, God led me to go to college. He still had some work to do in me before I would be ready to be a full-time missionary.
During college I didn’t get to travel as much as I wanted to because the varsity swim team was a year-round commitment. But I did have a couple great opportunities to travel. The first was spring break of my sophomore year, I was selected to go as a translator to Guatemala for a trip with the College of Business working with Habitat for Humanity. Again, my heart felt like it came alive as I travelled to a new country. It was only a ten day trip, but I remember falling in love with the Guatemalan people and culture. I am so excited that I will be returning there on my first month on the World Race.
The second opportunity to travel occurred in my last quarter, after the swimming season ended. My friend Bree and I decided to study abroad in Spain. We didn’t do it through a traditional study abroad program, because that was too expensive. So we found a program through whom we could enroll in the university, and that was it! We were on our own for food and housing. So we bought our plan tickets, booked a hostel for 3 nights, packed our bags and took off. It was such an exciting adventure in faith as we watched God provide for us and direct our steps. After two weeks of staying in various hostels in Madrid we found a job working as au pairs. This upper-class Madrid family welcomed us both into their home and fed us for three months, in exchange for us speaking English to their 4 beautiful children. We also found an awesome church and prayer room, where we spent most of our free time. That season was such a sweet time of trusting God and drawing nearer to His heart.
When I returned home, I was faced with the unnerving question: Now what? I had graduated college, and still desperately wanted to go out on the mission field, but was waiting for God to show me my next steps. It was a couple stressful months of job hunting before I got a phone call from Pastor Jay asking me if a position were to open up at the church, would I be interested? When the offer became official, I accepted the position as youth and children’s pastor. The thought of being a youth and children’s pastor had never once crossed my mind. The first year I was bombarded with doubts and fears and thoughts of, “What am I doing? I have no idea how to be a youth pastor!” But I chose to trust that if God placed me here, then He would give me what I needed to succeed. It has been an indescribable blessing getting to teach the precious children and youth about Jesus, and learning valuable lessons about ministry and leadership as I go. I am so grateful for the grace and leadership God has given me in Pastor Jay, as he balances sharing his advice, with letting me figure things out on my own. These past two and a half years were totally unexpected to me, but God knew exactly what He was doing and gave me exactly what I needed.
Although I have been blessed beyond measure by my wonderful church family, my heart has still always longed to be overseas. I would often think about overseas missions and ask God, “When?” But I just kept setting my heart on being faithful where God has called me now. Eventually I accepted that this was where God wants me, and I had actually grown quite accustomed to my life and my position at the church, and could see myself remaining here for quite a few more years.
Then one day, something unexpected happened. I got a phone call from my friend Bree and she was excitedly telling me about a friend of hers from college who has been on this mission trip called the World Race and that she feels very strongly about it. Then when I expected her to say that she felt like God was calling her to go, she said, “And every time I pray about it, your name comes up.” WOAH. Wait a minute. I told her “Yeah, that sounds awesome, that would be cool if God called me to go, but I feel pretty good about where He has me at my church. I have a great job with a house provided, I’m doing God’s work here, I love my church, I’m close to my family, I have a great boyfriend, I just got a dog… Etc. but I’ll pray about it.
And I didn’t expect it to go much further than that, but the whole week following, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the World Race off my mind. Then I surrendered and asked God, “Is this where You are calling me? Is it really time?” Like I said, I have always longed to do overseas mission work, but I had accepted that God had me here in my little home town in Ohio, and things were going well, and it could be a while before it was time to go abroad. But the more I prayed about it, the more certain I felt that I HAD to go. The passion for world missions was reignited in my heart and my heart was revitalized with the thought that it was coming soon.
So I talked to my family, my boyfriend, my closest friends, all the while getting more and more certain that this is what God wants for me. The news was met with shock by all at first, but as my mom says, “I always knew this day would come.” They are all well aware of my heart for missions and my intention to pursue a future as a missionary, so after short discussions, they were all 100% on board. The next step was telling Pastor Jay, and that terrified me. I knew the announcement was going to be met with shock and disappointment, and the stress of finding a replacement for me. But I prayed about the timing and that God would prepare his heart and give me words, and the conversation went surprisingly well. He then told the church’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee, where it was also met with shock and disappointment, but Pastor Jay reminded them that I had told them during my initial interview that my intention is to be here while we rebuilt the youth and children’s ministry, but that I didn’t plan to stay long, because my heart is for missions. In fact, God had led me to tell them during the interview the I didn’t see myself being here more than three years. As it turns out, when I leave in September will be exactly three years since I was hired. So the process of me going on the World Race proceeded.
That was the hardest part so far. After those conversations, I immediately applied, scheduled my interview and was accepted to go on the World Race! Now begins the preparation and fund-raising. Please pray for me about the fund raising, but more importantly, pray for me as I begin publicly announcing my plans, especially to the church. It’s wonderful that I am so loved and will be so missed, but it is going to be a difficult transition as I start to tell people that I’ll be leaving. I am trying to pray and be sensitive to God’s timing about when and how to break the news.
I am so excited about taking this new step in God’s plan for my life. I am honored and privileged to be a part of bringing God’s Kingdom to the ends of the earth. I want to invite you to be a part of this journey with me. Pray for me. Follow my blog posts. And sow into my ministry by giving financial support. I promise you, you will be blessed! 🙂
