How I was called to the mission field.

I really can’t remember a time when God told me directly
that He was calling me to foreign missions. Actually, for a long time I was
pretty wary of the idea, just because in my mind that involved settling down
in one place for a long time, and I’ve got quite a bit of wanderlust. But the
Lord has given me a heart for the world, not just one region or culture, as
well as a passion for ministering to people. It just took me a while to realize
that those things could be combined to glorify Him and to be willing to let Him
do whatever He wants with me.

 This summer, I wanted to spend as much time as I possibly
could on the mission field. For months I begged God to speak, to show me where
to go, what to do. He didn’t say anything, not at all. I tried on my own. I
tried to plan a trip to Bogota,
where I’d stay with some parents of a friend, where I knew the language and the
culture and it wouldn’t be difficult to get there. But God always kept that
plan slightly out of my reach.

 I was at a loss and the Lord wanted me there and He made me
wait for such a long time. I remember reading different passages of
scripture-Jeremiah 29, Isaiah 23, Luke 2:25-38-and thinking, “Oh, God, I can’t
wait SEVENTY years to hear from you.” But the process of waiting wasn’t passive, it didn’t
just involve me sitting around wondering when the Lord would show up. God may
not have been speaking to me or revealing His plans to me, but He was giving me
a desire to seek His face and nothing else, to search His heart and not focus
on my own. He was bringing me to the point where I could be wasted on Him, like
the bottle of perfume on His feet.

 And one night I was doing some social commentary and somehow
wound up on the AIM website at midnight. Instead of doing homework, I filled
out an application, and I guess the rest is kind of history. At first I thought
I’d want to go to Swaziland,
but the more I prayed, the more God worked a longing for India in my
heart.

 I never thought I’d be going on this trip, but I’ve also
never had such strong and visible confirmation from God. And the fact that He made me wait a while to know makes me even more excited to go, now that I know it’s right.