The Calling

Recently a church asked me about my "call" to missions. This is how I responded to them... and decided to share with you....

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At the age of 14, I began to feel like God was calling me towards missions. “Feel” is a word that is hard to explain… what did it mean to feel as if God was calling me? I am unsure. What I actually think is that God was calling me to Himself.

I went through high school loving the Lord, but serving Him little. I was concerned with good things, even though I knew that “good things” was not a ticket into heaven. I was a people-pleaser to the max, and concerned with having a “good-girl” image. While I was involved in my church, ministry groups and other things… I now see that I was serving myself, not the Lord.

When arriving to college I set out to survive the college life without going too crazy, and that was all. To my surprise, God had bigger plans. I began attending a Gospel-preaching, God-centered church that spoke truth into my life. I began to understand that life was not about me but about Him. I began to understand that I was called to serve Him and not for my own glory, but for His. I began to understand that while I had called myself a Christian for years, I had never fully understood the importance of a personal relationship with Him.

God was grabbing my heart and revealing more and more of who He was. Naturally, as I began to love Him more, I began to serve Him more – and now for the right reasons: His glory not mine.

In the midst of this, I began seeing people from my church family sent all into all parts of the world. Young families with little children, older families at the age of retirement, single people right out of college. They were all joyfully leaving their comfortable American lives to faithfully go to the ends of the earth to share the gospel. Not only was I seeing it happen, I was being taught why it was important. Not only important, but also commanded. Matthew 28:16-20 says, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” I now realized that the last words Jesus spoke on earth, also applied to me. He had commanded me to make disciples and promised to be with me while I did.

I knew that not all people were called overseas. I knew that I could effectively make disciples on my campus, in my family, or in the grocery store down the street… but was I willing to go? If God called me to a foreign place, would I go? Theologian John Piper once said, “so, you have three possibilities in world missions. You can be a goer, a sender, or disobedient.” Which of these would I choose to be, because I would be one of them.

At the completion of another semester of college, my grades were somehow entered into the system incorrectly. As I viewed them, great disappointment filled me and in frustration I said, “I want to quit school and move to Africa.” The only reason I said Africa was because it sounded far away. Surprisingly a friend of mine responded, “my church is going on a short-term mission trip to Africa in December, want to go?” That same day I was cleaning my room and found a DVD. A pastor had given it to me five years before, who said, “I just felt like I should give this to you. I think you should watch it and pray about it.” I hadn’t seen this DVD since then and I certainly had not watched it or prayed about it. It was a DVD about mission in Africa.

I knew then that God was telling me to go, and I chose to joyfully go. That short three week trip was hard yet eye opening. Soon after I was once again asked to go on a short-term trip to Africa and this time to Uganda. I said “I will think about it” and did not really think much about it, assuming my answer would be no.

Just a few short days later I was at a church service listening to a message about love. The pastor read 1 John 3:18 which says, “Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.” The pastor then said, “Aren’t you glad that God did not just tell you He loved you but sent His only son to earth to die for you, to show you? Are you going to just say you love the starving children in Africa, or are you going to go show them you love them?” It was just meant to be an attention-grabber example, but it grabbed my heart and my eyes swelled with tears. Once again, God made it clear. I knew then that God was telling me to go, and I chose to joyfully go.

I can tell you story after story of similar ways I knew God was calling me. I went on many short-term trips until now when I find myself living in Uganda, Africa serving its starving children and seeking ways to tell them about the love and hope of Christ.

God made it very clear to me that I was called to go, but it wasn’t until I began listening to His voice that I heard it. God made it very clear to me that I was called to go, but it wasn’t until I understood His great commission and my responsibility to make disciples. God made it very clear to me that I was called to go, but not until I was living a life that strived to glorify Him and not myself.

I may one day live in Africa forever or maybe in a little town in North Carolina… but regardless of where I am, I choose to be willing to joyfully go wherever He calls me.

 xoxo, 

Jordan

"JUST TAKE THE FLIPPIN' WATER!"

Sadly, when surrounded by poverty daily, your eyes become accustomed to the pain. Not that my heart does not sink every time I walk the streets of Kampala, because it does… but somehow poverty has begun to seem normal. It seems like just another way of life.

This definitely is the case during streets programs. I remember the tears that flowed two years ago when I attended my first street program. I remember the shocking realization that children ACTUALLY slept on the streets at night. Now, I have completely wrapped my head around it. I am no longer in disbelief… because daily I see it happen.

Though it seems normal, just last week I was reminded that, in fact, it is not “normal.” In the middle of leading bible study, in walked a little boy wearing nothing but a t-shirt. Street children surround me on a daily basis, but never have I seen a child without pants. I thought to myself, “maybe they are somewhere drying.” My mind began spinning thinking about what possible reason this child would have for not wearing pants while my mind refused to believe he did not own any. When approaching a Ugandan staff member about it, he too assumed the boy must have pants and just was not wearing them. After some simple investigation at the end of the program, he found out this boy in fact did not have any. Can you even imagine… no pants?

When this boy was told he would have pants bought for him, he said, “they sell them in the morning at the market, I will wait till tomorrow.” You may assume by this statement that pants are only sold in the mornings in Africa – but that is not the case. They are however sold at a cheaper price in the morning. So, yes… this child without pants who was offered pants, offered to wait till they were sold cheaper.

Directly after street programs, I was walking down the street and met a woman who said to me, “Give me a cold water.” “Excuse me,” I said, assuming I heard her wrong. “Give me a cold soda,” she once again said. I did not have a cold soda, but did however have warm water. I kindly went to hand it to her, to which she responded, “no, I want a cold soda.” I explained to her that I did not have it but did have water to offer to her. Just when I thought I could not have been baffled enough, she said, “Give me money for a cold soda.” Maybe it was because she specified that the soda needed to be cold, maybe it was because she demanded rather than asked, or maybe it was because she did not want the water I offered, but my response was to become angry. “JUST TAKE THE FLIPPIN’ WATER,” I thought!

I walked away confused wishing the woman I had just encountered could have a heart like the little boy without pants. I wished she would be grateful for what she was offered rather than thinking she was owed something more. I wish she knew that water was good for her and would sustain her, yet soda was not. I wish she had been content to go without like the little boy was.

Soon after I had an epiphany. Was I like the boy without the pants or like the woman demanding soda? I think, I am like the woman demanding soda, unfortunately.

How often do you think God looks at us and thinks, “JUST TAKE THE FLIPPIN’ WATER!” I think very often. As he continues to give, we continue to ask for more.  Not only that, but we demand our soda to be cold. We tell God what we want, how we want it, and we think we are owed it. He tries to give us what is good for us, like water, and yet we think we know what is best for us.

How often do you think God looks at us and see us as the little boy without pants? How often are we content with what we have, asking for nothing? I think not very often.

Hebrews 13:5 says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.””

May we live a life that exemplifies that we believe that: He will never leave us nor forsake us… whether that be in pants or not.

Whatever life situation you may face today. Whatever hand of cards you are given. Whatever things in life you feel you are lacking. Whatever gifts from God you are undeservingly given. Remember:

“JUST TAKE THE FLIPPIN’ WATER!”

God knows what He is doing. Be thankful for it. He will never leave you nor forsake you. God has given Himself, and that is all we need.

Xoxo,

Jordan

She Cost Less Than My Salad

We asked, "How do you know she is a prostitute?" The man responded,  "She just propositioned herself to me." So off we went - to encourage a group of prostitutes.

It was my first street outreach since I moved to Uganda, and there I was standing in the middle of the red light district at 11 at night, along with four other girls and one (big and tough) guy.

Unable to understand, I stood and listened as two women explained explicitly what their "job" entailed and the harsh way they are treated while simultaneously spreading their legs open and shut, provocatively.

At this time, a group of men walked past with lustful eyes. It was then that one of the very young girls stood up and walked over to this group of men. I did not need to understand the language to know that she was selling herself to them. She attempted to sell herself for 5,000 shillings, which is equivalent to less than two dollars. All the men responded, "that is too high."

Many times during this short conversation, both women took turns walking away to sell themselves. The response was the same every single time; "that is too much money."

I left that night overwhelmed with hurt. Yes, I knew that women prostituted themselves, but seeing it occur made it real.

The next day I had lunch with one of the girls who also participated in this street outreach. We were eating at a western place where we were overjoyed to order a salad. It is crazy how much joy eating something familiar brings. It was during this joy that my friend looked up and said, "our salads cost more than they did," and my heart sank.

Isn't that mind blowing? How is it possible I consumed one meal that was worth more than the price of a young girl. How is it possible, that one meal cost three times more than the cost that girl was told she wasn't worth. How is it possible, that there are girls that think they should be sold.

The sad fact is that the average prostitute goes for 25 cents in the slums of Kampala.

As much as I hope you never have to watch a young girl sell herself, it was actually seeing it happen that opened my eyes to the reality of it all.

Let your eyes be opened that women like these are all around you. They aren't just in Africa. The truth is, there are a LOT of woman like these in your city wherever you may reside.

I pray we all will be motivated to pray and even act in such a way that these women know that they are worth so much more, that they know they have already been bought at a very high price, and that their eyes be opened and they see the Gospel and price paid on the cross.


"But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" - Romans 10:14

"For God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:20