My Journey to Missions - Pt. 1

From shortly after I became a Christian in college, I had a desire to do long-term overseas missions. I often dismissed the idea as radical or something I would never have the courage or opportunity to do. I certainly didn’t see myself as “missionary material.”  So I continued in my elementary education degree and became a public school teacher, hoping to just go on a short-term missions trip at some point in life.

I loved classroom teaching, but began to develop a strong desire to serve kids in a way where I could teach them about Jesus explicitly… something I couldn’t do in a public school setting. I started hearing about this full-time ministry and leadership development program at McLean Bible Church (MBC) called the Future Leaders Program, where children’s ministry was an option. I wasn’t sure about quitting my job to go do an internship, but I kept the idea in the back of my mind.

In January 2011, as a new campus of MBC was getting ready to launch in Bethesda, I was asked to consider applying for a part-time position with the campus’ children’s ministry. I was excited about how God was opening doors and decided to take the position in addition to my current teaching position. After getting a taste of vocational ministry, and after some nudging from friends and the Lord, I decided to apply for the Future Leaders Program (FLP) as well. After going through the application and selection process, I ended up being accepted into the program and was being placed at MBC Bethesda to work with their children’s ministry full-time at the conclusion of the current teaching year.

A few months before FLP began, the Lord used a sermon John McGowan preached at Frontline (the then young adult service of MBC) to convict my heart and be a catalyst for my future in missions. Our church was going through the book of James at the time, and that night we got to James 1:27:

John talked about how Jesus calls His followers to love differently; to love the vulnerable. He asked what we were passionate about and what evidence there was in our life that we love differently. I remember sitting there that night confessing to the Lord that I didn’t really care about “the least of these.” I mean, I cared like everyone else “cared” - meaning I occasionally felt sorry for them and wished their situation would be changed – but I didn’t really care. There was no evidence in my life of compassion or love towards the vulnerable. That night I realized that I didn’t have the same heart God has for these people, and I prayed that He would give me that heart and awaken a passion in me.

Be careful what you pray for.

God started working on my heart gradually, and began with putting me out of my comfort zone locally. On the same night of the James 1:27 sermon, there were campaigns for our church’s inner city ministries, The House and DayBreak, asking for financial and volunteer support. After that night, I felt prompted to spend my week between the end of the school year and the beginning of FLP serving at DayBreak. Now this was no small decision. The FLP candidates had just visited DayBreak during Preview Weekend (part of the selection process). I remember finding out that we’d be going to serve in the South East D.C. projects where the ministry is located and feeling completely uncomfortable. I’ve always been a person that likes to take precautions and be safe, and after hearing of all the crime and violence in this neighborhood’s history, I had absolutely no desire to go there. I was ready to leave as soon as we arrived, and had no intentions of going back. But I found as I was obedient to the Lord and decided to serve despite my discomforts, He began slowly erasing my fears and giving me more compassion.
 

To be continued…