We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip.
Here is my story…
How was I called to the mission field? I think that deep down I have always been called to the missions field. God loves to speak destiny to our hearts even when we aren’t even listening. When I was a young boy I think the first time that I vocally expressed it was after hearing a missionary from Africa speak. It sounded like a grand adventure and I told my mom that I wanted to be a missionary. But also at this point in my life I read a book about turnips and told my mom that I wanted to be a turnip when I grew up. So I’m not too sure how deep my commitment level was :).
Many years passed and one summer before high school I visited my grandparents on their farm for a week and it was during that time that I had a lot of time to think and pray and I felt God calling me to the mission field. The greatest fear that I have in my life is to live a life of compromise and mediocrity. I don’t want to live this life and not make a difference in the world. I don’t want to live with regret or be too cautious that I miss out on the incredible and exciting plan that God has for me.
Specifically with the world race I had heard about it through a random link a few years ago and got super excited about the possibility and shared it with all my roommates from the school of ministry that I was at. But I felt like it really didn’t fit in my plan for life and my schedule. And I guess the easiest way to explain it is that God just has a way of changing things around.
One Sunday afternoon a year later I sat down in my basement with all the lights off and I took my glasses off. I didn’t want any distractions, I just wanted to meet with God. After the first while of just quieting my soul from all the thoughts of the day and letting God’s peace begin to permeate my heart. Thoughts of the world race started coming into my head. I had hardly thought about it for a full year. I kept on just talking with God but I couldn’t stop thinking about the world race. I knew God was bringing this to my mind for a reason. So I went up and checked out the website and was just blown away by how well it fit into exactly what I needed in my life right now. I had been at bible college for just about four years and I felt like I was going to explode with information. I just needed to live out what I had learned. Walk in the path that Jesus walked, of simplicity and radical love. That is what God was calling me to…
and that is the first page of the next chapter in my life.
