I’m giving a disclaimer to this blog:
Do not read this is you are easily offended.
Also, do not read this if you don’t want to know how I’m feeling.
So, without further ado, here is the blog that I have been putting off writing.
The truth: God calls every one of His followers to The Great Commission.
That means, if you are saved, and have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you are supposed to be somewhere, telling someone about His plan for their life, or sowing into someone who is called to do so if it isn’t yourself.
This is something I like to think I was doing before I was accepted to The World Race.
- I told a homeless girl God loved her, no matter where she was in life and that she could turn to Him from wherever she was, her sins were already forgiven.
- I donated to missions, to orphanages, to world hunger causes.
- I also told a college friend that God gives us free will but loves us and has a plan for everyone’s life, that because of His death on the cross we have the option to choose His plan and eternal life with forgiveness from our sin.
- I tithed.
And sure there was that one time, with that one person and….
But I wasn’t living out my calling.
My life has always been safe. This calling is still relatively safe, but that is not always the case.
PEOPLE ARE DYING EVERYDAY FOR THEIR UNWAVERING FAITH.
People were and continue to be stoned with rocks, burned while tied to a stake, beheaded, nailed to crosses, and many other torturous deaths for their belief in Jesus and for sharing their beliefs.
So, finally I responded to a calling that began when I was saved and invited Jesus into my life.
If you think you are living out your calling, you just might be….this calling can be in your home, your workplace, your school, your neighborhood, your state, or overseas in a tiny village, or it can be sowing into someone who is called to do so.
I don’t know where you have been called, that is between you and The Lord.
I have temporarily (as far as my knowledge goes) been called to overseas ministry.
(Get ready for the offensive/controversial/hard-to-swallow part)
If you don’t know what your calling is, maybe you are called to support me.
Yup, I am calling you out.
Now, I am trying to keep this as clean and polite as possible, but it is possible some of my human flesh will leak out….sorry in advance. (I warned you didn’t I?)
I am on a mission, I don’t necessarily think that makes me a “missionary”…but I am leaving my comfort zone…aka the United States, aka my comfy bed, aka a refrigerator, aka my car, aka my family and friends.
And I need to go. This is what God has asked of myself. But I can’t go unless I can raise enough support…specifically $16,243 of support.
And I have these feeling that keep getting in the way.
These feelings are not surface level, but deep down.
They consist of bitterness, confusion and anger.
This part of me sometimes boils over into thoughts like,
“If they were my friend they would support me.”
“If they were following God they would give me a donation.”
Most honestly, this thought is most common,
“I have always been there for them, why aren’t there here when I need them?”
That’s rather greedy and unkind of you to think, Katelyn.
Believe me, I know. But it is how I feel sometimes. It has hurt my feelings over and over again when a friend or family member has made a verbal promise but isn’t following through.
Here I am stepping out on a ledge where it’s either sink or swim.
Go or don’t go or get sent home early because I haven’t raised all the funds.
I talked with my parents about these feelings and surprisingly they agreed with me.
They, of all people, the Pastors of a teeny, tiny church, who haven’t gotten paid in who knows how many years, said it is my friends and families time to support me. It’s even a stranger’s job to support me. They said it’s a part of their commission and a symbol of their love, to support those who are taking a challenge like this.
So I am asking you to follow through, in faith, even $1. That is a seed. A seed of faith.
You are leaving me responsible with your seed of faith.
And I am going to sow it into 11 countries, 11 months, and countless hearts and lives.
So yes, I am calling you out.
I love you and I’m sorry if you disagree with what I’ve said. But support goes deeper than words.
I ask that you pray and ask God what you have been called to do.
Perhaps you have been called to serve somewhere else, or into someone else, but make sure you are following whatever that calling is no matter how much you might be giving up.
“Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:39
