I have always had a heart for missions, even from a very young age. I remember telling my Mom in elementary school that I would go to Africa some day to help their people. Quite a few years have passed since then, but in recent years I’ve really felt a wake-up call that the time is now.
Until a few years ago, my main focuses were going to church on a regular basis, doing the college thing, getting married and living the American dream, which was all really comfortable to me at the time. I was really enjoying myself, or so I thought; but I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that God had way more in store for me, but really wasn’t paying attention to it at the moment. I was having fun and meeting new people and just experiencing college to the fullest. Then God decided it was time to really shake up my world and let me know I needed to rethink everything I was doing.
I had a huge wake-up call and I immediately turned to God and decided to fast. I had fasted a lot in the past, but not for long periods of time. When I heard the church was beginning a corporate 21 day fast, I decided to commit myself to this and figure out what it was God was trying to tell me. During this time, it seemed like everything was changing inside of me; God was remolding me into exactly what He had wanted all along, and day by day He started to reveal to me more and more of the future He had planned for me.
It really was not long before He reminded me of the passion I had for missions as a young girl and that now was the time. I was kind of confused and scared and didn’t really know where to begin, because I was finally going into my last year of college and about to start planning a wedding after graduation. I started praying a lot and trying to get in touch with some mission coordinators at church. I was given a woman’s name that was over missions in Africa at the church; I called her to inquire about a one week trip. I was unable to reach her, so I continued to call her weekly for about six months; leaving voicemails with no response. I decided to take a break at this point; then I began my graphic design internship at church and was talking to people about the phone calls and they suggested I go to the pastor’s wife for missions advice and to let her know the urgency of my heart. I scheduled a meeting with her the next day. She told me a missionary from Ghana was coming to speak at the church that same week and she thought I should meet with him after the service about going to work at his orphanage for a week or two during the summer. I was ecstatic that something was finally happening and it seemed as if things were finally coming along in God’s own timing. I met with him that Wednesday night after the service. We talked and decided I would go to his orphanage for one month in August 2009 and I would help out wherever I was needed. I was so thankful to have finally found my place and felt like I was living out the purpose that God had laid upon my life. I immediately completed all of the required paperwork and sent it in within the next couple of days and began trying to think of ways to fundraise. Things seemed to be going very slowly though and I was not hearing from them as often as I had anticipated, but I was staying obedient and praying about it. I began e-mailing the contact person to follow up on things so I would feel comfortable about going there alone and to check on the progress of my application; but I seldom received responses, so I called the home office to speak with someone directly about my trip and make sure things were going as planned so I could begin fundraising. I left voicemails at the home office and never received a return call; I was getting very weary.
In the meantime, I discovered a Christian mission website that I became totally obsessed with and was spending time on, even when I didn’t have the time. I found myself crying every time I viewed the website and had to literally pull my hands from the keyboard to keep from applying for the missionary trip. I wanted to make sure I was doing what God wanted me to do and I wanted to stay obedient with the trip to Ghana until I received a definite answer. I spent weeks on this new website and realized that it was beginning to consume my every thought, prayer, and conversation. I began to wonder why the Ghana website was not consuming my every thought and why things there were moving so slowly. I began talking to my Mom about it and she suggested I continue praying about it and giving it a little longer; so I took her advice and waited.
A few days later I called her at work while I was on my way to class; I was crying and telling her that I could not stand to be content in this country any longer and I was uncomfortable being comfortable. I told her the urgency was becoming so strong that I did not know what to do; she helped to calm me down, reminding me I only had a few short months of school remaining and then God would be taking over my life and she felt things were going to just take off for me after graduation. I went on to class, but and as soon as I got out, I decided to make an appointment with the youth pastor at church to discuss my situation. He agreed to meet with me the very next day; so I went into his office and explained the situation with Ghana and my need to stay obedient, but I was finding myself on this new website every free minute I had and that it was beginning to consume my every thought and the urgency was getting stronger by the minute. I told him I didn’t know if I should apply for the second mission trip or stay obedient with Ghana and continue to wait for a response. He told me he respected my obedience, but wanted to know what in the heck I was waiting on. He said he could tell my heart was with this the mission trip from the new website and he thought I should go home and apply immediately. He even told me he felt so strongly about it he offered to pay the second application fee for me, which of course I didn’t allow him to do, but it was all I needed to hear, so I drove straight home and applied for the World Race.
Yes, you guessed it, it was the World Race website that had been consuming me and where I was spending almost every waking moment and where I had to refrain myself from applying everyday of my life for months. LOL!!! I finally applied and immediately felt such relief, as if I had finally listened to what my heart was telling me. It all felt so right!!! I had tears in my eyes when I finally entered the application and had an interview two days later.
Between the time I applied and the interview, my Mom was awoken from sleep in the middle of the night and felt an overwhelming need to write me a letter telling me she felt God was calling me to the World Race.
During all the mission stuff that was going on within me, I was also trying to graduate college with the most intense semester of my life, including a senior show exhibition with all new work I had created that semester. I decided to create a new body of work; a store front with a women’s t-shirt line that could also be sold for my future mission work and people could actually buy them at my senior show. I was wrestling with the fact that I had already made these t-shirts and my show was coming up in a few days and I didn’t feel right about selling them to people without being able to tell them exactly where I was going and exactly where their money was going. I continued to pray about it and knew God would show me the way. After the interview, I was hoping to hear back the next day because I was so worried about selling the shirts, but a few days passed and I was so focused on my senior show that I hadn’t realized it had been a couple of days and hadn’t received a call. It was time to install my show into the gallery and I was sitting in the floor of the gallery with all of my work around me when I received a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. I answered the call, not thinking it would be from Adventures in Missions about the World Race, but it was a lady who asked if I had a few minutes to talk. She informed me I had been accepted to participate in the World Race!! I began crying because right then I realized that God had answered all of my prayers in His perfect timing and this was exactly where he intended me to be. I finally knew where my purpose was with Christian missions. I knew where to tell people their money was going for the t-shirts and I was going to be able to announce to everyone, during the opening reception of my show, that I now knew I would be leaving for the World Race January 1, 2010.
God has such an amazing way of always working things out in His own sweet and perfect timing and it’s such a beautiful thing. It was approximately a two year journey to get to this point after being shaken, but it was worth every moment. I believe He had me go through the things with the other mission companies to open me up to a longer period of time and to really take the time to surrender my life to Him even further. Each step was positioned specifically for His plan in my life and I thank Him for His amazing grace and enormous beauty in my life J
