This is part 1 of a 4 part series
I remember when I first felt the itch. It was January 2013 and I was at a women’s gathering for my church. The format of the gathering was like “speed dating” so we could all get to know each other better. I remember sitting down with my second partner of the morning, Erin, and I can’t recall exactly how the question was phrased but I can hear my answer to the question in my head…
“I don’t know exactly the how or the what or the when, but I feel like God is calling me to something more than what I’m doing now.”
It was a pretty dangerous thought. Erin picked up on it and asked me to define “more”…
“I’m not really sure, but I’ve kinda always wanted to do a mission trip…”
I can now look back and see that this conversation was really just the end of the beginning for me – another defining moment in my life.
Erin immediately piped up and pointed out that there was a mission trip coming up in March to go down to Haiti to support one of our ministries, Haiti Teen Challenge.
“::laughs:: I don’t think that’s a possibility, Erin. I don’t have the vacation time at work and that’s only 2 months away and I don’t have the money to go to Haiti right now… I’m on a Dave Ramsey budget!”
I can still hear her scoff and see her looking at me with challenging eyes – Natalie, do you not think your God is big enough to overcome something like vacation time or fundraising? I challenge you to ask Him.
Ouch.
I spent the rest of the gathering mulling it over in my head, even to the point of being totally distracted during my next few “speed dates”. When the time came to leave, I walked up to Caroline (the missions coordinator for Haiti Teen Challenge who also happens to attend my church)…
“I’m considering going to Haiti. Nothing is for sure yet, but I want to take a couple of days and pray about it. I’ll let you know.”
Two months later, I found myself on an airplane headed for Port Au Prince, Haiti. Little did I know what awaited me there and how it would wreck my life.
