Jonathan Smith
How I was called to missions
I could have never viewed myself as working a 9 to 5 job. I tried it for a little while but I just could not do it any longer. I was in high school when I felt called to do ministry, at what capacity or area I had know idea. My father is a pastor and after years of being involved in churches and living the life of the preachers kid I did not feel the call to be a Pastor. Maybe one day I will but not right now. However, the last three or four years I have turned into a people person. God has given me a passion to be friend people and want to meet different kinds of people. Different cultures and the way people live have always intrigued me,and has been something I’m interested in. I have also since being in high school developed a passion to serve people. Community service and outreach has been a major part of my life. Since God has given me all the opportunities to minister and serve people I have come in contact with, I felt God has called me to do missions. I can not think of anything else that I would want to do or want to be apart of. I thank God for all the opportunities he has given me to serve and to pour into other people’s lives as well.
Now, my last year in school I spent alot of time figuring out what to do next. I had a few ideas about what I wanted but nothing stuck in my head. It has hard for me to decide what I was supposed to do next, more importantly it was hard to let God control my life. Last November, I had decided to do a mission trip through another program. I was working hard trying to make it happen, but as time went on things just fell apart and it just did not work out for me. Thus, I had a back up plan for a job that was a possibility, but then I felt like I was not being called to explore that job. The decision for the next part of my life had to be one of the hardest decision I ever had to make. It caused me to be stressed out and it even affected my health. For a while I had anxiety issues and chest pains. Later on that year I decided to do camp again for the summer. So I decided to put my decision to decide what to do next off until after summer camp so I could be an effective leader at camp. As camp came to an end I was thinking, “What next?” I talked to a friend of mine and I was given a great opportunity to be a missionary on a college campus. I was so close to getting that job, then at the last second I was passed over by someone with more experience. So at the end of camp I got to talk with a friend whom has done the world race and is going back again this year. I talked to him about it, and just thought about it for a little while. At first, I thought no I probably should not do it. However, later this idea started to grow on me. I prayed about and thought about more and I decided to apply. I applied and got excepted and here I am now. I am thankful and excited about this opportunity.
