There. I said it. It's official. I can't take it back.
I've committed to at least a year of living overseas and I couldn't be more excited! I'm sure you are asking, "How did this happen?" I'm still asking myself that same question!
Should I back up a bit and fill you in? My story of missions starts a long time ago...
I've known I was going to be a nurse since I was six. I have it written in my childhood journal. At age ten I can remember listening to stories of missionaries, home on furlough, knowing that someday my story would sound like theirs. I remember asking God at a very young age to give me the call for missions even as I served as a "missionette" in our local church. As a teenager I dog eared the brochure sent to me by mission organizations for teens. During college breaks I worked for the Christian and Missionary Alliance in their accounting department, making sure missionaries got their paychecks and that their children's boarding school tuition got paid. I always assumed that at some point God would call me to overseas ministry.
In following good friends to Nashville, TN, my world became saturated with social justice. I watched my best friend and her husband fight for clean water and health care in rural African communities. I read book after book detailing the needless suffering of people around the world. I heard artists weaving stories of poverty into their songs. I listened to sermons on God's response to poverty and His heart for orphans and widows. Over the course of a few years, my eyes were slowly opened to the injustices and hardships being lived out around the globe in my own lifetime. I became convinced that our call as Christians, was to care, to move and to act.
Starting in 2007, I took several short-term missions trips with Sweet Sleep to Moldova & Uganda, deepening my desire to use my nursing skills overseas. I attended conferences, researched non-profit organizations and applied to several missions organizations. For whatever reason I was never able to find where I fit.
It was mid-2009 when I began to hear rumblings of an organization in South Africa that needed a nurse. My church partnered with this organization and it's founder often came to the States, and to our church to visit. Over the last year and a half, I've gotten to know Pastor John Thomas, and his ministry, Living Hope.
In just a few short years, this small organization has grown into a force to be reckoned with. Living Hope now plays a vital role in Capetown, South Africa in the prevention, care, treatment and support of people infected and affected by HIV, AIDS, and other chronic illnesses. They practically wrote the book on holistic treatment initiatives.
I've always told God that in order for me to commit to any one particular organization, or group of people or country, I would need a VERY specific call. Well, He answered my prayer in March of 2010.
The first time I ever officially met John Thomas, as he was still shaking my hand, he half-jokingly asked me a question in his adorable SA accent... "Have I told you that God has a plan for your life, and that His plan is for you to come work for Living Hope, in South Africa?" I laughed it off, and told Pastor John I would consider it. Later I came to realize that it doesn't get any more specific than that.
From that point on it has unfolded almost without effort. Each little step seemed so insignificant, that I barely registered what they meant to the whole process. "Sure, I'll put in an application. Why not attend that missions course?" Suddenly, I found myself in a position to be forced to make a decision. Would I really leave my home, sell all my belongings and move to Africa? Would I trust God enough to provide for everything? Would I actually answer the call I believed He had placed in my life?
I don't believe in coincidence. This is where the road has led. To this journey. To this calling. Where the need is great. Where my skills are required. Where my faith can be grown. I said "Yes." The rest is up to Him.
So glad to know you and be able to follow your journey. Cannot wait for new posts from your new post. :) Safe travels.