It’s been a crazy last couple weeks.
In the last two week I’ve been sick with a bug from something I ate, we had our last debrief with our alumni squad leaders (we now have amazing new raised up squad leaders), we traveled from Nepal to Rwanda, and my team got a surprise. We were told we would be spending the month in the capital city of Kigali, but instead we were directed to a bus and taken to the far northeast corner to a gorgeous village called Nyagatare (We can literally see the Ugandan border). We’re living in a rented house just down the street from a church that we’re helping to build and we’ll also be preaching and evangelizing this month. To say the team and I are excited is an understatement! The people here are so incredibly nice and welcoming. I’m quickly falling in love with this country.
Anyway, that’s not what I really wanted to talk about in this blog. What I wanted to share is what God has been revealing to me lately.
At our debrief last week, one of the team hosts came in to lead a bit of worship and to open, said that we should expect to hear God’s voice in that time, especially if we hadn’t before. I’ve heard God many times over the past five-plus months, so I really didn’t expect a lot, but I just closed my eyes to worship and figured I’d let God speak if He had anything to say; and boy did He!
As the music started, I very clearly heard, “This is not your mission field.”
What!?
Thoughts flew through my mind.
I’m on the World Race, serving as a missionary. I know I’m called to some kind of ministry in my life. My Mom has prophesied over me since I was little that I’d be a missionary one day. What in the world does God mean that this isn’t my mission field!? Maybe it’s not this country, but this is what I’m supposed to do!… right?
Well, yes and no.
In the convo with God that followed, He revealed that He has indeed called me to be a missionary. However, He’s called me to the mission field in America.
Is this saying I made the wrong choice in serving internationally on the World Race, or that I’ll never be involved in international missions in the future? Heck NO! I absolutely love international missions and traveling and those will continue to be a part of the rest of my life. What God is saying though is that He knows where my passions truly are even before I do.
One of my biggest fears is that I’ll get home after the World Race and not be very different from when I left. On the Race I’ve found that there is so much more to God, my faith, and this world that I was never taught growing up. There is power and relationship with God that some churches in America never even scratch. It’s honestly hard for me to even describe other than the fact that I want people back home to experience God in a whole new way that blows their world apart; and I think God recognized this desire in me before I even did. That’s why He’s called me to the American mission field.
Now, I have absolutely no idea what this future will look like. Maybe I’ll work in a church, a school, a sports ministry… who knows! What I do know is that I have changed and grown more in these last five-plus months than I have at any other time in my life and that won’t stop when I finish the Race. Right now, I’m just staying present and learning all I can from this season in my life, and I know that in the right time, God will call me to the specific area I’m called to serve in within the U.S.
I want to finish by asking you, what’s your mission field?
I was talking with my Mom recently and she was saying how it can be hard back home because she doesn’t always feel like she’s making a difference. On top of that, so many people really just minister only within the church or stay in their comfort zones. Meanwhile, she said, you’re out there doing stuff everyday for God, and He’s your constant thought all day every day; how can I do more?
If you’ve ever thought like this (I definitely have and even still do sometimes), please be encouraged and know that:
- My life, and really anyone on the mission field, isn’t that special (compared with anyone else). All I’ve done is say yes to where God has called me in my life and let Him do the rest. It’s not easy, in fact, it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. What I can say though, is that saying yes to what God is calling you to is totally worth it, even if right now that means you stay where you’re at.
- You don’t have to go on a mission trip to live how God wants you to. God wants to show you the plan He has for your life. It may be on the mission field, but it also very possibly could be elsewhere. Just because you work at a bank or in a school though doesn’t mean you’re in the wrong place. Please don’t compare yourself with anyone else. God has placed us each where we’ll be most successful in bringing His kingdom to earth. Spend some time listening, He wants to talk with you and show you. He loves you too much to leave you where you’re at or not give you a fulfilling life. All it takes is your yes and first step.
So, that’s what’s been on my heart lately.
To finish, know these words from God.
“…I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer. 29:11
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.” Deuteronomy 28:1
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Prov. 3:5-6
There is so much more to this life, and it can only be found in Christ. Trust Him.
God Bless!
-Ben
