Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
The short version:
The Great Commission. That’s how I was called to the mission field. It is a calling placed on every disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Lord has broken my heart for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the prostitute, the homeless, the dirty, the broken. I have a restlessness in me. I can’t sit in my comfort. I feel the Lord calling me to a life of sacrifice, humility, and selflessness. Wherever I am, to make less of me and more of Him. To abandon my plans, to follow Him wholeheartedly into slums, bars, unsafe neighborhoods, street corners, closed countries, wherever He takes me.
The somewhat more indepth version:
I have been going on mission trips since 7th grade, most of them week long trips to different cities in America. I’ve done Vacation Bible Schools, Back Yard Bible Clubs, construction, spent time with elders, painted walls. Throughout these trips I’ve learned that I love the work. I LOVE being able to tangibly help people, to serve people, or provide in whatever small way I can. The Lord has blessed me beyond belief, and I know that I am blessed so that I can bless others. But also, I’ve learned that I love building relationships with people. I love loving people. And I deeply desire for people to see Jesus in me, to see evidence of His work in me, and to understand that I love them because He loves me, and ultimately, I desire to see people come to know Him. I’ve learned that I am to be on mission wherever I am. At work, in my friendships, to my family, in my classes (although I often fail), I am to be on mission with Him each day. As my eyes have been opened to the brokenness, the pain, and the chaos in this world, the Lord has placed in me a desire to be a part of showing people that there is hope. Healing and restoration can happen.
The summer after my sophomore year of college I went on a mission trip to Kenya with The 410bridge (awesome organization!). I was fully prepared to go on this trip and discover the Lord was calling me to that place, or any place other than America. That didn’t happen, in fact, I found that my heart broke in a different way for Americans and that was where I felt the Lord wanted me to be. As I had two more years in school at that point I’m very thankful that the Lord didn’t reveal anything about after school, or anything but the time being. He knows me well, and I would have been super discontent if I thought God wanted me to live in Africa, but I was stuck in South Carolina going to school. So for the time, the Lord wanted me in America. As senior year started, thoughts of what to do after I finished school came into mind. I previously has ideas as to what I would do, and then I heard about the World Race. The Lord slowly changed my heart about staying in Columbia and left me desiring to leave the country, to do something that would stretch me and grow me in a different way than I’d ever been before, to go on a journey with my Savior that would draw me closer to His heart. So I started praying about the World Race, and the answer was simple…”You can’t stay here.”
So here I go…
