The sparkle and smell of fireworks filled the air as I sat and laughed with my friends somewhere in Florida. It was New Year’s Eve, 2011, and it was the eve of a brilliant new chapter in my life. I was part of a Christian group at my college, and some of us had traveled to a conference for students to learn more about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, Christianity… all kinds of things to do with following Christ.
That night, the pastor was teaching about missions. I had given my life to Christ about 9 months before that night, and absolutely had not spent one second thinking about missions. I was focused on learning as much as I could about God and living my new life in Christ, plus I was graduating in 5 months with my degree in Environmental Science. I fully intended to begin my career in science once I graduated, like I had planned since I discovered my love of science when I was 13.
After the pastor taught, we entered a time of prayer. During that prayer, God was moving in my heart about stepping into missions. I became very afraid. All I knew about missionaries at the time was that they all died or at the very least were tortured (so I thought). I thought, “No thank you!”. I began crying because I felt terrified that God might actually be asking me to do this. Then, the Lord overwhelmed me with the most incredible joy in my soul. He spoke to my heart “Elaine, missions isn’t something to be afraid of, it’s something to be joyful about! There’s a party in Heaven when one sinner is saved!” To this day I imagine there’s Jesus, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and a bunch of angels laughing and having a great time, and they might have those party noisemakers, confetti, balloons, and cake every time someone gives their life to Christ. Just speculation. 🙂
All of a sudden, I wasn’t crying because I was scared anymore, but I was crying tears of joy! I wanted with every ounce of my being to follow God and I told Him, “Lord, wherever you send me, I’ll go.” I immediately went to my pastor’s wife and told her I wasn’t afraid and I was going to be a missionary.
Very long story short, in the next five months before I graduated, the Lord led me to commit a year to serving with a missionary group in Las Vegas that works to reach the victims of human trafficking for Christ. I moved from South Carolina to Las Vegas soon after I graduated. One year became two, and in my second year I decided I wanted to be a missionary for my entire life if I could. I ended up serving with that group for 4 1/2 years.
Now, I am following Jesus into international missions on the World Race. I have felt Him nudging me to international missions for a while, but I never actually thought I would do it. However, I know that my view of missions is very small because I’ve only seen it in the United States, in Las Vegas. I am excited to see what God is doing throughout the world. The truth is, I actually don’t feel specifically called to the World Race, but I decided to continue my missionary journey in this way and follow Jesus into spiritually dark places like the 10/40 window. I desire to be a vessel that Jesus will use to show the lost how much He loves them, like He showed me the first time I met Him, and how He continues to show me every day. Love knows no borders or language. I’m humbled to have the opportunity to join a team of people with the same heartbeat to reach the lost for Christ.
I can’t wait for there to be more parties in Heaven this next year! 🙂
