“How I Was Called to the Mission Field”

We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. Here is my story…

This is what the Lord says- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

-Isaiah 48:17

Isn’t it incredible to be able to look back on your life, at the joys, the hardships, the struggles, all of it, and be able to see how God has used it perfectly to His plan? That is where I am now. I look back at my life, my walk with the Lord, the times I thought I would never make it through, and I can see God’s hands molding me, bringing me to this place where I am following His call to serve in Africa. It leaves me speechless and it awe of Him. You see, to understand how I was called to missions, and Africa in particular, you must understand the journey I have taken.

          I was born and raised in a Christian home, and taken to church every Sunday. Yet, I didn’t really understand Christ’s sacrifice for me and what it meant to be a Christian until I was 14. On a youth trip, I accepted Christ into my life and began my walk with Him. At the same time, I started supporting a little boy from Kenya through Compassion International. Little did I know that God had just planted a seed and my love for Africa and serving would grow from that point on. 

Over the next few years, I became very involved in my church, yet I was following the “protocol” of Christianity and didn’t really trust the Lord with my life. I said I was His but held tight to the steering wheel, refusing to give Him control. So when I left for college and was thrown into an alien environment full of partying, drinking, and living solely for worldly desires, I was lost. I tried to hold firm to my beliefs and values, but without a solid foundation and identity in Christ, I stumbled into the darkness. Yet God was faithful and gave me a strong woman of God as a roommate. She was a comfort and encourager and helped steer me away from the temptations of college and shared her faith with me. She truly introduced me to what a life in Christ could be. God used her to open my eyes and heart to Him, and I began to seek. 

          It was my sophomore year during my first Jamaica mission trip that I truly became a follower of Christ. The Lord tore through the protection and barriers I had placed around my heart. He humbled me, showed me my selfishness and pride, showed me forgiveness and grace, and began to put my life back together.  I learned how to open my heart to strangers and those in need. I learned that He has given me a heart for service and for others. I began to trust in Him and gave my life to Him. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3: 5-6 From that point on, the Lord has placed missions strongly on my heart. I returned to Harmons, Jamaica 2 more times, and each time I learned more about who I am and who the Lord is molding me to be.  I literally fell in love with serving the Lord through missions. I find it incredible that the same thing God used to bring me to Him turned out to be the future He had in store for me as well! 

As my faith in Him grew, the Lord began to turn my heart away from my plans of moving back to Dallas, going to graduate school, and starting a high paying career and placed  long term missions on my mind and heart. I fought at first because I was scared of following a path that I wasn’t in control of. I told myself that it wouldn’t work, that there were too many other things I wanted to do with my life. Yet God is faithful, and one night, on bended knees and tears, I gave it all to Him, I committed to go where He called. As I gave my fears to the Lord, He alleviated them and placed missions so strongly on my heart that I can’t imagine doing anything else! My heart is on fire for Him, and over the years, through involvement in Invisible Children, and multiple organizations at my school, I have grown to love Africa and have a deep desire to serve there. God is good, all the time!

So here I am, excited and nervous, yet trusting fully in the Lord to lead me down His path. I am standing on the edge of the cliff, taking hold of God’s hand, and leaping, knowing He will lift me up.

Many are the plans in a human heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. – Proverbs 19:21