If you would have told me a year ago that I would be making this trip I would have called you crazy. For many of my fellow Bible college students, knowing what area of ministry one is going to be perusing vocationally after graduation greatly aids in their studies. They know that they want to be a youth pastor, children pastor, missionary, or church planter etc. and can take courses that focus on their particular area of inclination. It really is a wonderful thing to know what direction God is leading so you can choose to more specify your education. But then there is me.
I was called into full time vocational ministry my freshman year of college at Evangel University. This freaked me out! Up to that point I had never considered vocational ministry as my future. I wanted to teach and coach baseball, something I actually know a little about, with both of my parents being educators. However I knew that I had heard from God, and changed my course. After my second year at Evangel I trusted God once again and transferred to SAGU.
When I arrived at SAGU is when my faith really began to be tested. As I explained earlier, at SAGU you have the opportunity to really focus on the particular area of ministry in which you feel led to minister in. However, I had no clue what area of ministry God was leading me towards. I would pray daily for God to reveal to me what His call is for my life, and for three semesters I received the same answer, "Trust Me". So during those three semester I took every kind of ministry class imaginable; youth ministry classes, children ministry classes, missions classes, leadership classes, counseling classes. While taking these I would seek God's direction if these were the areas he was calling me to, and I always heard back "Trust Me".
In my fourth semester at SAGU, God finally clued me in on His plans for me. And they are very simple. He has called me to minister to the unchurched people of this world. Not to a particular age group, or in a particular role within the established church. He revealed to me that in these three semesters of taking courses, and seeking His guidance, I was doing exactly what He wanted me to be doing! These classes that I had no idea why I was taking, or if they would ever apply to life after graduation, were all relevant. Each and every class was preparing me to be able to share Christ with the unchurched people of our world. That is why I am headed to Europe. A large portion of the population is unchurched. To them they view Christianity as just another religion. However, Christianity is so much more than religion. It is a relationship. And as such, sharing Christ in today's world is most effective through building relationships with unbelievers. While I am there I will be focusing on building relationships with people and demonstrating what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
In future blogs I will give more specifics on locations, and activities that our team has planned for our time in Europe. This first post was a "get to know me". Thanks for reading! It means a lot to have your support in thought and prayer.
I was called into full time vocational ministry my freshman year of college at Evangel University. This freaked me out! Up to that point I had never considered vocational ministry as my future. I wanted to teach and coach baseball, something I actually know a little about, with both of my parents being educators. However I knew that I had heard from God, and changed my course. After my second year at Evangel I trusted God once again and transferred to SAGU.
When I arrived at SAGU is when my faith really began to be tested. As I explained earlier, at SAGU you have the opportunity to really focus on the particular area of ministry in which you feel led to minister in. However, I had no clue what area of ministry God was leading me towards. I would pray daily for God to reveal to me what His call is for my life, and for three semesters I received the same answer, "Trust Me". So during those three semester I took every kind of ministry class imaginable; youth ministry classes, children ministry classes, missions classes, leadership classes, counseling classes. While taking these I would seek God's direction if these were the areas he was calling me to, and I always heard back "Trust Me".
In my fourth semester at SAGU, God finally clued me in on His plans for me. And they are very simple. He has called me to minister to the unchurched people of this world. Not to a particular age group, or in a particular role within the established church. He revealed to me that in these three semesters of taking courses, and seeking His guidance, I was doing exactly what He wanted me to be doing! These classes that I had no idea why I was taking, or if they would ever apply to life after graduation, were all relevant. Each and every class was preparing me to be able to share Christ with the unchurched people of our world. That is why I am headed to Europe. A large portion of the population is unchurched. To them they view Christianity as just another religion. However, Christianity is so much more than religion. It is a relationship. And as such, sharing Christ in today's world is most effective through building relationships with unbelievers. While I am there I will be focusing on building relationships with people and demonstrating what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
In future blogs I will give more specifics on locations, and activities that our team has planned for our time in Europe. This first post was a "get to know me". Thanks for reading! It means a lot to have your support in thought and prayer.
RSS Feed
