For as long as I can remember, I have loved to travel. Visiting family in the summer time, going away to Young Life camp and spending weeks on Summer Staff have always been the highlights of my life. Though in the past couple years, I felt an itch for more than a few days away. And not just to a state with luxurious beaches, but to Africa.
This itch started with my nursing career so I could help people all over the world. Medicine is universal, the human body fascinates me, everyone gets sick and I love to serve – it all added up perfectly. So I chose my nursing program and got involved serving in the community. When volunteering in my community hadn’t relieved my itch, I knew I needed to go further. Keeping God’s call for me to go to Africa on the back burner, I applied for a safe trip with 50 of my peers to serve in Jamaica for a week. When I received the call, I was not selected and I became really bewildered. I started to question this itchy feeling God had given me to do missions.
Eventually, this itch turned into an ache. My heart started to throb for something more, and I was able to pinpoint this feeling to God’s people in need. So I started praying for God to open the doors and make this dream come true. For the next two years, I applied for the same trip over and over again. Each time (a total of three) I was not selected to go. Rejection hurts, especially when you think God is the one laying down the hammer.
It took me two months in Kenya, Africa to figure out exactly what God was doing in me. God didn’t want a week of my life, he wanted eight weeks. God didn’t want me going with my friends from my university; he wanted me to make 22 new relationships centered on Him. God didn’t want me to build homes; he wanted to show me his children who need love and share the Good News with someone who has never heard of Jesus. God also didn’t want me going to a safe nearby country; he wanted me out in the bush of Kenya. God wanted more from me because He knew I am capable of so much more.
By saying “yes” to God and coming to Kenya, I have gained more than I could have ever imagined. I gave these last two months to God and I plan to give the next 80 years of my life as well. Just think, how much more will the King of the universe bestow upon me when these last two months have been but a glimpse of all the blessings He will continue to shower on me?
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end…” Hebrews 6:10-11
