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