Why? This is the biggest and most frequent question i get asked when I tell people i’m leaving my comfy college life to go and talk about God in these foreign countries. Simply put the Lord has called me, this is something i haven’t felt before and have had a hard time understanding. “Hearing God” is something that many say is just a phrase you use when you want to do something but have no real means of justification, I use to think this but now I see what it means to hear His calls. I always was someone who liked to have nice things and material things were important, but as I continue to see God in my everyday life I notice how worthless these things are when all can be fulfilled through Him, that is why I must go. To give to the needy and learn to be humble.
As I read my bible the verses He plants for me scream out, His love is meant to be spread, Mark 12:30-31,
30 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’This is the first commandment. 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
I have felt this love and now I know, this is why I must go.
I see how impactful God can be but, I also notice the lack of possibilities for others to experience His love and Grace. To be a Christian is to be a disciple. Matthew 28:19-20,
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
This is why I must go, because this is what it means to be a Christian by spreading His love and letting all know His Holy Name.
Now while all of these things are true there is also selfish motives. I have friends on the race and they tell me of the greatness they experience and I too want to experience so much of God first hand. I see the pictures of the wonderful landscapes God has formed and my heart yearns to go and see these places with my own eyes. I cannot wait to wake up to African sunrises and go to bed at the view of Mongolian sunsets. I hear of the kids needing love and support around the globe and I want the Holy Spirit to use me as a crutch for these kids. This is why I chose to go.
God Bless you,
Alexander Hogue
