this month has really been amazing…after a lot of prayer and waiting the Lord has finally told me where He has called me.
So about 3 years ago I began a relationship with Jesus Christ. I had a lot of plans for my life before that ¦but then I started seeking what His plans were for me. My mom reminded me of a tape of a man praying and prophesying over me when I was 11. She suggested that I listen to it again and pray about what he said. In the tape the man said that I would be called to missions. So I began to pray about it and ask the Lord if He was calling me to missions. When I prayed about this He told me yes that I was going to be called to the mission field and with that He gave me a vision. The vision was of me coming out of a tent. Kind of strange but i just kept praying about it. I asked what the vision meant and where He was calling me. He told me that He would tell me where He was calling me to and about the vision when it was time. But I knew that it would not be in the United States. He also told me that I had to wait 2 years before I would go anywhere. I waited.
Around this time last year I started praying a lot for a chance to go to several different countries to see the Lords heart for them and experience them and through that find out where He was calling me. This past December was 2 years. Then the World Race came up and I felt called to go. I really felt like it was an answer to prayer. So during the time that I was preparing to go on the trip I prayed a lot that through this trip the Lord was show me where He was calling me. A few weeks before we left Laura and I had dinner with some of the people who were supporting us either financially or with prayer to discuss the trip in depth and to pray. One night we were having dinner with a couple and they asked what we wanted to get out of the trip. My answer was that I wanted to know where the Lord was calling me. They began to pray over Laura and I and they said that they saw a place and began to describe the place and then said that it was Bosnia. Many other things were also prayed over us that night. Laura and I both know that we must not hold on to something that someone says to us until we test it and ask the Lord. So we went home and prayed about it. At that time Bosnia was not part of the World Race. But a few weeks later it was added as one of the countries that we would be going to. As we prayed about it the Lord gave us a vision. It was a vision of a coffee shop.
The vision is an international coffee shop. Things from all of the places that we would go through out the year. like Guatamalan coffee and China tea. Then through that be able to share or testimony and the gospel. Also, like our favorite coffee shop in Abilene we would like to make relationships with the people who come in and do relationship evangelism. The coffee shop would have things like books, internet, live music by local people and art and photography also done by local people.
Laura and I of course had hoped and prayed that this vision was for both of us and that we would be able to do this together, but we also know that His ways are not our ways and that we would be ok with whatever the Lord did with this.
We have always had Bosnia in the back of our minds, but we have been open to the fact that this could be done anywhere and the Lord may us do this somewhere else. So in every country that we have gone to we have talked to the people we were working with and asked them if the coffee shop would be something that would work in that place or was a need. But for me it wasnt where the Lord wanted me. I could see myself living in every country but I wasnt called to any of them. I began to question whether the coffee shop vision was just for Laura.
In May we were in India. While the time there was amazing it was also very hard. I was constantly under attack. And there was not a day that I didnt long to go home. I was finished. I was frustrated and tired. And the Lord kept telling me to just get to Bosnia. Then we went to Israel and were so blessed to see our friends from Beltway. And after that started getting things from family saying that I needed to come home. But everytime that I prayed about it the Lord just continued to tell me to just get to Bosnia.
I am not sure that I can explain the way that I felt when I got here. Honestly, I felt at home. But I do not want to go off of feelings so I began to pray. The day after we arrived at the camp we are working at Laura came and told me that she had talked to one of the ladies here and told her about the coffee shop and the lady said that was the vision of their church. When she told me that I heard the Lord tell me that He wanted me to stay. This was huge! And I wasnt sure what exactly He meant. Did He mean stay at the camp? Or did He mean stay in Bosnia? I didnt want to jump into anything. The next day I shared this with Laura and asked to her to pray with me and for me about this. I told the girls in my group what I felt the Lord was telling me and when I told them they both said that they really felt at peace. The four of us girls on my team began to pray together about this every night and really seek the Lord will. Every day I just felt more and more that this was where the Lord was calling me.
I had an appointment to meet with the pastor in Mostar about a week ago. The girls really covered me in prayer and Laura prayed during the meeting. The pastor, Karmelo, asked me what questions I had. I asked him to just tell me the vision the Lord gave them about a coffee shop. As he told me I was almost in tears. It was the exact vision that the Lord gave to Laura and I back in November. I told him that I felt like I was beginning called here. He told me to continue praying about it, keep in touch with him and when I knew to tell him. He told me that I was welcome. He suggested that I stay at this camp with the South African teams for one more week because the camp this week is for young adults, 17-25, the age group that the coffee shop would target.
As I left the meeting I prayed and asked the Lord for conformation. Because again this is really big and I dont want to just jump into it. I went to talk to the leader of the camp about staying an extra week and as I was explaining all of this to her and I was telling her about the visions being the same I heard the Lord say, that is your conformation. How much more do you want?
J
I said just a little more please!! So later that night as we were talking the Lord showed me that vision again that He gave me over 2 years ago. The vision of me coming out of a tent. And when He showed it to me again it was me coming out of the tent that I am sleeping in right now. And I heard Him say, this is it. This is where I want you. And I knew that this is where He was calling me.
after sharing this with my parents and AIM i have decided that i will finish the World Race. and in november when i return home i will begin raising support for me to return to mostar as soon as possible. the pastor in mostar is going to be in texas when i get back home also raising support…so we will be able to work together in that. through the next few months i am going to stay in contact with him and we are going to start the plans for the coffee shop.
please be in prayer with me about this. i know that the Lord has amazing plans for bosnia and i am so honored to be a part of them.
