The Beginning

It all started on February 20, 2011.  Another Sunday morning.  The high school Sunday school, led by none other than Stephen Burnett, was held in the children’s center.  Slightly distracted, my eyes wandered around the room... the candy table, the puppet stage, Buddy the Buddy Barrel, and the block pyramid.  In the following children’s service, the kids would play this game where 6 large blocks were hidden throughout the room, and they had to find and stack them so that they correctly displayed the week’s scripture verse.  Today, for reasons unknown, I paid special attention to verse on that pyramid: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33.  Soon into the main morning service, I learned that the guest speaker for the final week of Misisons Emphasis Month was John Merrell, director of the Oral Learners Initiative (OLI).  He shared his vision of delivering the gospel through stories and pictures to oral-learning cultures with no written language, training illiterate pastors in the Maasai tribe of Kenya/Tanzania using solar-powered handheld audio bibles, and much more.  His entire discourse on these ancient yet novel methods of telling the gospel captivated us, but his exhortations during the closing call forever changed my life.  Sorrowfully, he announced that his retirement was drawing nigh, with his head of grey hair and wrinkles giving testimony to a long service on the African missions field.  He then challenged the youth to step up and take the call to missions.

You know that feeling when someone special giving a speech mentions your name honorably and you squirm a little within yourself, or you’re about to present something before a group of people and you fidget about beforehand?  I felt that after he gave that challenge.  He was talking to me.  Inevitably, the infamous thoughts of “But God…” followed.  As a counter those doubts, the scripture verse printed on those children’s church blocks echoed that simple reminder of trust in the Lord.  I thought about it more during the afternoon, and come the evening service when John further shared, the feelings were confirmed.  God was calling me to be a missionary in the Oral Learners Initiative!

Actually, maybe it all didn’t start on February 20, 2011.  This is the purpose that God had destined me to fulfill since the beginning.   This is the niche that God has been working and molding me to fill my whole life.  This is my aim.  This is my call.  This is the making of a missionary.