We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. Here is my story…
My Life: It all started the day I realized that my career path was going down the tubes. Three and a half years of college down for a zoology major, and I still hadn’t applied to vet school. Nor had I had enough experience, nor had I taken the GRE. My interest in the field of veterinary science was still high, but yet I didn’t feel the great interest in BEING a vet anymore.
I finally decided I needed to stop listening to what I wanted, and start listening to what God wanted. Here is a verse that one of my spiritual mentors (who I love very much) gave to me:
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
I suddenly realized that life is not about rushing through it, finding a quick career, and getting everything done now now now. I needed to actually learn to listen, to hear what God wanted in my life. So instead of worrying about my life, I settled down to see what God had in store for me, and waited for His promise that He would show me the path to take.
And He did. After realizing I wasn’t going off to grad school, I started hearing many of my friends talk about going off into missions. My friend Krista (who has gone with AIM in the past to England) went off to Bali to serve there. The pictures she took, and the excitement she had for the lost people there really touched my heart. My friend Steffi also talked about going to Honduras, and Guatemala with a mission.
Krista recommended AIM to me. I told her I wanted to go on a short missions trip, maybe 1 month or so, to go out and experience the amazingness of sharing the gospel with others.
Nicaragua: I have taken many years of Spanish in high school, as well as minoring in Spanish here at OSU. I can speak it (haha if you call what I do speaking), read it and write it (slowly and painfully). When I went onto AIM’s website to look for short missions trips, I kept going back to the Nicaraguan (NINE MONTH!!!!) missions trip. After the 5th time that I was drawn to that page, I realized that I was being told to apply (yeah I need to learn to listen). And I was accepted!
God gives us what we need to do His work. I may not have the experience of previous long-term mission work, and I wont have the correct words to say all the time, but I do know that whatever we do will make an impact on those around us, and I plan on making the best and greatest impact I can in Nicaragua!
