A time that really sticks in my memory from attending our church in Fort Wayne when I was in elementary school was one Sunday, when we must have focused on the church around the world. Our associate pastor at the time had been a missionary in a country in Africa (I think Zimbabwe but am not one hundred percent sure), and I remember seeing pictures, eating the food, hearing about the experience and just being enthralled with it.
Ten or so years later, as a sophomore at Hope College, I hadn’t given much thought to going on a mission trip in a while. I had always had a desire growing up, but the opportunity never arose, and as a teenager and college student, I had lost much interest for a while. However, during my sophomore year at Hope, I really felt God calling me to sign up for the spring break service trips that were offered through Hope. I signed up and during that year as well as my junior year, I went on two trips to East Palo Alto and then Guatemala. When I was in Guatemala I just remember thinking that I could stay there so much longer and that I wasn’t ready to leave. The people I met in Guatemala had so little, and yet they were so happy and so steady in their faith. I attended a Spanish church service that week and just remember the recognition that even though we didn’t speak the same language or have the same cultural background, we were brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a huge revelation for me, and ultimately I believe this experience was God showing me what He wanted me doing.
Fast forward another year and I was student teaching, looking for a job for once I graduated. The World Race actually popped into my radar all the way back in 2011, and I seriously considered making the commitment for a while. However, this amazing opportunity to teach abroad in Morocco opened up. An encouraging email from the Head of School was all it took for me to know, that was where God wanted me at that point in my life.
Three and a half years down the road, I am still here in Morocco teaching. It has been pretty amazing to see how God has been at work in my life, strengthening my relationship with the Lord and just challenging me in my own faith while living in a Muslim country. It is an opportunity that I am so thankful for, and its going to be very difficult to leave my home of four years.
However, God has placed a conviction on my heart that I need to be doing something more. Although I may be living in “Africa,” I am living a pretty comfortable life where I am at. My roommate and I have a nice apartment, we can walk down the street and get most of what we want at the grocery store. We can even go get a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks (or we could, until they ran out of pumpkin spice a week ago). I know that the World Race will be challenging in many ways, but I am so excited to follow where God has led me; to go and live out God’s love to those who need it most. I pray I am not only able to help others where it is needed, but that God would work in me so that I can live out that love in my everyday life no matter where I end up in this world.
