this could take awhile.
I remember the first time i realized not everyone was going to heaven. It was in the car when my mom was picking me up from middle school. I asked my mom, “So, let me get this straight. Even if people are good their whole lives, are nice, go to church, and they are my friends, they won’t get to go to heaven unless they have Jesus?”
Yup.
I had quite a few friends who professed different religious faiths, and I thought they surely the would get to go to heaven. I was kinda hoping that whole “all roads lead to God” theory would hold true in my 12 year old mind.
Nope.
After thinking on this fact for a while when I got home, I remember being changed by it. And realizing that eternal life is not guaranteed for everybody. That people I’d grown to love could potentially spend eternity completely separate from God, from any goodness, from any light.
A little heavy for a car ride home from school, huh?
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Since that fateful day, i really “got it”. And i realized that I could be involved in helping others to know Christ, and make Him known through my actions, words, and way i live my life. So, how did i get called to become a “missionary”? There wasn’t really one big moment when I said, “A-ha! The Lord wants me to live overseas after I graduate and do the World Race!” I just have always had a lot of compassion for others, and the Race kept popping up all over my life. Two years ago I heard of someone doing it, and my response was “hm, that’s cool”. Last May someone at my church mentioned he was going in August and I thought, “Good for him!” Then when school started in August it just kept appearing in my thoughts and conversations in others. I started applying in September but then left it unfinished for a few months then revisited it in November. I finished the application on Tuesday, had my interview on Wednesday, and got accepted on Thursday! It happened so fast and I felt such a peace about doing it, like it was just the most logical thing for me to do.
After lots of prayer, advice-seeking, and time to sit on the decision, I knew this was what I would do.
So, here I am! Currently raising awareness & support for my trip in January. There have been some lies in my head that I’ve had to combat and also untruths that have been spoken to me by others. Here’s some you can pray against:
–That the WR is not effective because you only stay one month in a country. The Lord can do whatever He wants in any amount of time.
–That I’m just doing this as a cop-out to growing up and getting a real job. This may be somewhat true, especially as I watch all my friends struggle to get interviews and wonder where they will end up. I am still not 100% sure on what I want my career to be, and I know that if I stayed here I would just go live with my parents and figure out what to do next. Why not spread the Gospel and further the Kingdom while I’m still unsure? Sounds like a good plan to me! 🙂
– I won’t be able to raise enough money. $15,000 is just to much. Jehovah-jireh, the Lord will provide. There has already been money coming in and I haven’t even really started fundraising!
–This isn’t what I’m made to do. I’ve never been comfortable “evangelizing” to strangers and feel inadequate to go and serve in this way. Plus, I’m a little socially awkward. Well, that just means anything that happens is totally the Lord and I can’t take any glory for it! For real… I feel like Moses; not a good speaker, awkward, and the Lord is calling me to do THIS? I love how He moves through people like us 🙂
