I think, for me, it was a
process…. God is only showing me a step at a time! I went to college at Mount Vernon Nazarene University
undecided as to a major – I knew that in whatever I did, I wanted to serve God.
I love children and I wanted to somehow be able to help them. At one point, I
thought I might work with orphans. I felt the best way to do that was to go
into social work and I knew that was what God was calling me to do. With social
work, I felt I could live out Matthew 25:35-40.
“For
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you
clothed me, I was sick and you
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord,
when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to
drink? When did we see you a
stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick
or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for
me.”
During
college, I got involved in a lot of different ministry programs, one of which was
Mandate. With Mandate, we took trips about once a month to different inner
cities and worked with different churches/ programs. We did a lot of different
things from working with the homeless to tearing down buildings to painting to stuffing
envelops, etc. I loved going on Mandate trips for the service aspect as well as
the community amongst those of us that went! I have missed this a lot since I
have been out of college.
I
also had the opportunity to go on a few short-term missions trips. I loved
being able to learn about different cultures and being able to minister to the
people there.
I
received my undergraduate degree in social work and then went on to get my
master’s. I then started working as a social worker. At some point, I lost my
focus in why I was going into social work (to serve God). I have been working
but it has been just that – work. Not that I haven’t been helping people
because I have, but my focus was not on God. With my job, I work varying days
and hours and it has been difficult for me to be involved in church or
different things. For a while now I have felt that God was preparing me for
something different. I knew I did not want to stay where I was at and was
looking to move and I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. During that
time, one of my friends mentioned that she met someone who had gone on the
World Race and was telling me about it. My first response was “I so want
to do that!” I looked up information about it and was very interested. I took
some time to pray about it because I wanted it to be what God wanted for me,
not just something I wanted to do. I also knew that if I were to go that I would
miss out on life here – I wouldn’t be able to be there for friends like I am
now and I may miss out on big life events, like weddings, births, etc. It took
me a while to make my final decision to join the World Race, but I realized
that not only was this what God wanted me to do but it was also an answer to my
other prayers. I believe that this trip will draw me back into community with
others as well as draw me closer to God. I will also learn to completely serve
God.
