Yet again, an experience of one of my friends has led me to think about an experience of my own. This person is getting ready to leave home for eight months, following God’s calling. Also, I’m sure by now there are many in the college ministry I was a part of, Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM), who are looking over possibilites of where to go this summer for a week or two, a month, or maybe even the whole thing. I have no idea where you are right now, but this post is for everyone, and its focus is on identifying and answering God’s call.
Summer Missions to me was never something I felt like I had to do because I owed it to an organization. In fact, I went through all but one of my summers in college without giving it much serious thought. This includes time spent on the leadership team of BCM. I knew there were things that needed to be taken care of, such as summer classes. I had never felt led to apply for missions over the summer, and really felt like God wanted me to do what I was doing. It was always up to Him, and as long I left it that way, then I was on the right path.
It wasn’t until my last year of college and BCM that I felt like my calling was changing. I didn’t have to take summer classes after graduation, and had the opportunity to go, and began studying the opportunities available to me because of this. And, boy, were there ever a lot of opportunities! I believe it was something like 23 pages worth of locations and desctiptions. And of those 23 pages, there was really only one opportunity that I felt strongly about… and it involved five weeks in another country.
Over the next few months that led into the application process and my local interview with BCM leaders past and present, and ministers, serving at The Bridge Community Church in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada was the place I felt God was leading me. In fact, on the online application that wanted me to list three choices, I was only able to come up with the one.
I shared with the interviewers that I felt strongly about the description to go and serve in this church, which meets in a movie theater, and use my gifts and talents for them. I felt that I had a lot to offer, being part of a portable church that meets at a high school. More than anything though, I really felt like this was where God was calling me. And when God calls you, it doesn’t matter how familiar or foreign something looks… He’s got a plan for you where He wants you to go!
That interview was in the books, as were my four references and all the other good stuff I had to gather together for the trip. All the while, I gave an honest account of myself, continued to pray and seek God’s guidance, and headed into the statewide BCM missions interview weekend, which was my biggest test of faith yet.
I don’t know why, but I felt like I was “off” this whole weekend. Most of it consisted of small group settings and being asked very informal questions. My nerve issue with these are that I always tended to overthink what was being asked. Even something as simple as what influential person would I like to have dinner with (or something along those lines), I tended to sit in my seat and analyze what the group leader was really wanting to know. This led to keeping quiet.
I did have a few high points during the weekend though. The team exercises went well, including the “plan a worship service in x amount of minutes” one. By the way–if you’re someone applying for missions this year who is reading this and thinking I’m giving you an unfair advantage… trust me… I’m not.
The application process ended during this interview weekend. At which time, we were instructed to choose alternate trip choices. WHAT??? Are you serious? I mean… yeah… I knew this was coming for months now… but I’ve felt like I only had one place on my heart the whole time. Nevertheless, I managed to come up with something like five other choices, with Canada remaining my first. As it turns out, I was the only one out of 230+ who had this particular Canada trip at the top of the list. This was evident at the end of the weekend when my picture and information remained lonely as it was handing out on the wall under “The Bridge Community Church (Kamloops, BC, Canada)” option.
I wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Several times, I found myself questioning whether or not this trip was really for me, or if I somehow dreamed up the whole thing and was just going along with it. I was in a state where I really felt like it was God’s calling for me to go, but thinking it could have been all me just as easily. Have you ever been there? Are you there now?
All of this was finally put to rest when I got a call from a fellow BCMer who was helping out in the interview process that weekend. He told me I was going! A couple of months later, I met my teammates, who I knew right away were totally awesome. A few months after that, we boarded plane after plane and headed to BC. Five weeks later, my life would forever be changed from what all God did in me and through me. And yes, He did both. This wasn’t simply a mission trip where the missionaries received all the ministry. He also used us to make an impact in the community, and plant and water seeds for His Knigdom. Real friendships were made, many of which I’m able to maintain on Facebook.
There was great satisfaction in knowing that it was God who led me to Canada from the beginning. It’s easy to get in a place where you don’t know that for sure, and sometimes it will take you awhile to discover it was His calling. Confirmation didn’t come for me overnight. I wasn’t thinking about going to Canada, asking God for a sign, and then sitting in Waffle House and seeing the words “maple syrup” on the side of a bottle and knew that it was destiny. I mean… I’m sure I did go to Waffle House somewhere along the way, but nothing that cool happened.
My point in sharing all of that is that we may not always know for sure if God is calling us to do something. However, it is necessary to take steps of faith that lead us to where we’re going. The greatest thing about an application and interview process is that you are not alone in figuring this out. There are many praying for you and not taking the decision of where (or even if) they send you lightly.
When you face a hard-to-judge calling, go for it, and see where it leads you. If it is indeed a calling from God, nothing is going to stop it from happening.
Originally written October 24, 2008.
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