| From the moment
I stepped onto the plane to leave for
Thailand, I knew that this summer would
be the summer of all summers. Of course
I had butterflies in my stomach about
the people, the culture, THE
UPCOUNTRY TRIP! but I had
made up my mind to live outside of myself,
to put myself in 3rd place - behind
Jesus and His people.
Let me rewind my life a bit for
you. During the summer of 1999, I
was apart of a program called World
Changers. World Changers is an organization
where Christian youth and adults have
the opportunity to meet the physical
and spiritual needs of others through
practical learning experiences that
teach servanthood and personal commitment
to missions. There, God placed in
my heart a desire to be His hands
and feet to serve His people internationally.
I committed to spend a summer doing
missions before I graduated college.
Quickly after, God placed the Thai
people on my heart and I began to
pray for Him to open doors. Down the
road, I faced many obstacles and attacks
from Satan causing me to doubt my
call and worthiness of serving Almighty
God. But Father continually showed
me His glory and reassured me that
this is what He required of me. After
that summer, I wanted to hop on a
plane and fly off to some land - any
land - and tell of God's goodness!
But God wasn't as impatient as I was.
He spent 4 years molding me, building
up my faith and obedience, working
in my parents 'hearts, and bringing
me to a point where leaned on Him
alone for everything. The beginning
of my sophomore year in 2002 the director
of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry
told me of a team going to serve in
Thailand in summer '03. I just knew
without a doubt that this was it!
After much prayer, I began the application
process, and once I was accepted,
I sent out a fundraiser/prayer team
letter. One thing that I was very
concerned about was how I would come
up w/the money to pay for the trip.
I really didn't want to burden my
parents with financial matters, and
so ever since God's calling in 1999,
I was determined to work during my
summers to save up for mission expenses.
Once again, I found that my plans
weren't God's plans. I was convinced
that God just didn't want me to work
because I would apply and apply but
just couldn't get a job. And if I
did get a job, I definitely couldn't
have saved up any money with my kind
of pay check. In the end though, God
graciously met my financial needs
through many people who had a desire
to see the nations come to Christ.
He blew my away by all the support
and encouragement I received. That
is my testimony about how when we
give all our worries over to God He
takes care of things His way. The
greatest part is that He alone is
glorified in the end.
|
