Chapter 5: True Calling or Hearing What I Want to Hear?
Many of you at this point may have had a skeptical thought that goes something like, "Wait a minute...she says God is calling her to Ecuador, home of the guy that she admits to falling in love with? I don't know if I believe that's a true calling..." If you haven't had that thought, you should have. I definitely did. As soon as I recognized it as a calling, I began questioning myself: "Am I really called, or am I hearing what I want to hear? Is the Spirit really moving in me?" I love how God knows ahead of time when you're going to question what He tells you and so has already prepared with reinforcements. This time was no exception. He was prepared - doubly.
I mentioned in the last post that I flew back to the states on September 20, a Monday, and I got back to Champaign late that night. The small/life group that I'm a part of with church meets on Tuesday nights, and the following day, we were to begin a new book study covering Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan. I knew we were going to be reading a book called Forgotten God, and I knew it was by Francis Chan, but that was all I knew. I didn't know the subtitle, nor did I know that the book was about letting the Spirit come to life in you and following its guidance, and I hadn't had the chance to read the first chapter before our meeting, so I was going in blind. Imagine my surprise when we started watching the video intro to the book (see widget to the right) and the intro to Chapter 1, and Chan starts talking about the power that we have through the Spirit and just what God could achieve through us if we'would just let the Spirit move in us. He even goes so far as to say that he hopes that some people don't even finish the book study because they've listened to the call of the Spirit and they've moved in response. I had to chuckle to myself and say, "Now that's a pretty big coincidence. I think the Spirit might be moving in me, and then we start a book study the next day on how we as the church could be so powerful if we'd only stop neglecting the Spirit." And that was reinforcement #1.
Of course, I was still not convinced at this point that I was truly called to Ecuador. There was still a bit of doubt that maybe I was still just trying to convince myself that I was supposed to go there because that's where I wanted to go. And God was prepared for my doubt. The following Sunday, JP, our senior pastor, began a sermon series covering the book of Nehemiah. It was an awesome 8-week series and is available here for your listening enjoyment (click "Launch Sermon Player" and scroll down to 10/10/10, So...What are you going to do - Week 1). As a very brief overview, the sermon was about Nehemiah (surprise, surprise), who was cupbearer to the king. Nehemiah was from Jerusalem and had been informed that the wall to the city had been burned down and the gates destroyed and that the people were in trouble and disgrace. This saddened him greatly, and as he had never been sad before the king before, the king noticed his newly troubled look and asked why he was so sad. Nehemiah was afraid, but he answered saying
“May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” Nehemiah 2:3
The king asked him what he wanted, and before answering, Nehemiah prayed first. He then asked the king for leave to go and rebuild the wall, and for timber from the king's forest for the wall, and for protection from the king's forces during his travels. Because Nehemiah prayed in earnest, from his heart, God heard his requests and the king granted Nehemiah all that he had asked for. Nehemiah prayed for God's guidance, and I can only assume that it was by the Spirit's leading that he knew specifically what to ask for. Had he given in to fear and not let the Spirit guide, he would not have been able to do a great work for God, rebuilding the wall and restoring community to the people of Jerusalem. JP covers this, and then ends by asking, "So, what are you going to do? Are you going to follow your own will, chase after you own selfish dream, or are you going to do what God has called you to do?" And there was reinforcement #2. My jaw probably hit the floor at that point, I don't know. But what I do know is that at that moment, I said, "Okay, God, I hear you! I get it! You are calling me, and I'm going!"
Not long after, I sat down with the pastors at church and told them about my calling and asked for direction. They suggested that I attend the National Missionary Convention, which was held in November in Lexington, KY. I took the advice and signed up and attended. It was most definitely some of the best advice I could have taken. Besides the awesome speakers and worship during the main sessions, it was a great opportunity to meet missionaries who are serving all over the world, speak with organizations that are involved in sending missionaries and serving worldwide and to just see what is going on throughout the world in Jesus' name. Specifically, I sought out anyone I could find who had information on missions in Ecuador. Having looked up a couple of the larger organizations ahead of time, I knew that Team Expansion had a missionary couple that had been located in Guayaquil, Ecuador for about 20 years, so I wandered the exhibit hall until I found Team Expansion's booth (not difficult since their "booth" was enormous). I ended up begin connected with the director of Latin American missions for Team Expansion and told him about my interest in Ecuador and my previous experiences, and he made sure that I got my name on the schedule for the next day to meet with Bill and Karleen Crandall, the missionary couple to Ecuador.
The next morning I headed in early to meet with the Crandalls prior to the morning session. They were occupied when I got there, speaking with a young man who I later found out is also involved in some mission work in Ecuador as well as in Haiti and some other Latin American countries. It was 'fortunate' that they had spoken with him just before speaking with me because upon mentioning that I had recently gotten back from a mission trip to Ecuador through Compassion International, they recommended that I speak with someone from Stadia because they had just been told (by the young man) that Stadia was starting a new project in conjunction with Compassion International in Ecuador.
So of course, I staked out Stadia's booth. Okay, so it wasn't really a stake out. I went by several times and there was no one there, so I decided to give it one more attempt, and on this last attempt there was a man present, but he was busily chatting with someone else, so I stood and waited. While I was waiting, another gentleman, Brent Foulke, approached. Brent is the Associate Executive Director for Mobilization with Stadia, and he also happened to be one of the main people in charge of the new project with Compassion in Ecuador (note this new series of 'coincidences' that led to me talking to him). I mentioned hearing that they had a new project starting with Compassion in Ecuador and told him that our church has an ongoing relationship with Compassion in Ecuador. We chatted about the project, I was excited about it, he was excited that I was excited and mentioned that he was sure there was some way I could fit in.
During our conversation, it came up that I live in Champaign and attend FCC. Turns out Brent knows JP, so he asked if I thought JP might be interested in knowing about the project. I responded that I was sure he would love to hear about it. Awesome things happen when you take the initiative to talk to people. I am learning that. Not only is Stadia trying to get me plugged into this project in an essential way, now FCC is also backing one of the church plants that will take place as a part of this project! (Yes, I realize that I have left out some details about the project and that I haven't even mentioned church planting in this post, but I will refer you back to my earlier post "The Story - Short Version." More details and a link to document which clearly lays out the project can be found therein.) It truly is amazing how all of the pieces just seem to kind of fall into place when you surrender you heart and truly give God the lead.
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