I have always been a very outgoing, spit-fire girl. My parents constantly struggled to get me to shut up encouraged me to not be quite so friendly. I was the one who would talk to every single person in the checkout line in the grocery store, wave to kids in other cars when stopped at a stop sign and always talk to the new kid or the one sitting by themselves at lunch. That, combined with my love for Jesus from an early age, began my journey in telling others about a Father who loves us..
I specifically remember in first or second grade, bringing my Children’s Bible to school and sharing the stories nestled inside to my Hindu friend and neighbor. Eventually, her parents confronted mine and asked me to stop. The desire to share my love of Jesus started very early.
I was in third grade when my parents told me they felt the Lord calling them to serve as missionaries in Ecuador. It was then I began reading as many missionary biographies I could get my hands on. I began to eat all sorts of ethnic foods, spend hours pouring over maps and atlases and began dreaming of telling other children in another country about a Jesus who loves and cares for us. I couldn’t wait to enter the land where the yellow woodbee flew and Nate Saint, Jim Eliot and three others stood up so valiantly for their faith.
Soon after my parents went through deportation, we began raising support and we had sold our home and belongings, God began to confirm that this was not where He was leading my parents. Our full support was never reached and it broke my parent’s hearts. I distinctively remember my mom saying “It would be so much easier to go than to stay”, but we stayed and God has blessed that obedience. My parents quickly became involved in the missions outreach in the church I grew up in, heading up many short term trips, helping organize the annual missions conference and constantly inviting many cultures, languages and customs to our living room and kitchen table. Our home became a safe haven for missionaries on furlough, as we could much better understand their background.
In eighth grade, I had the opportunity to go to Ecuador myself on a short term trip, which fueled my desire even more to be a missionary one day. As I began High School, I transferred from Christian school to public and the halls of my new school became my mission field. As I neared the end of my four years there, I wanted so desperately to take a year off to go to the mission field before beginning college, but that was not an option, so I proceeded to college with my heart set on learning to work with people with disabilities and hopefully have the opportunity someday use it overseas. I really had no idea if this was even possible, but I knew if God wanted to use me overseas, He would work out a way for me to use Occupational Therapy there.
College was a tough time and there was a few years where I stuffed this God sized dream of mine into a pint sized closet, suppressing my passion for missions and I slowly turned into someone I didn’t recognize. Every time something would poke at my overstuffed closet, I didn’t understand why I would become so emotional, until a few years later, when I finally realized God had placed this desire and dream in my heart from such an early age and I couldn’t suppress it any longer.
This past summer, I was preparing to come back to grad school for my very last year and God strategically placed several people in my path. The conversations would be eerily similar and usually followed this progression:
-Me : “The sunshine is beautiful today, don’t you think?”
-Other Person: “When are you going to go to the missions field already?!?!”
-Me: (baffled) “Um.. *nervous giggle* Well, I have to pay off my loans first and since I have 6 years of college under my belt, it’s pretty hefty. So, I’ll probably continue living like a poor college student for two more years, pay off my loans and by then I’ll know better where and how God wants to use me. Plus, I’ll have some clinical experience by then too.”
-Other Person: “Lydia, Lydia, Lydia. Listen to me. Money is not a reason that should hold you back from serving God. He is the great Provider. Trust Him.” or “I’ve seen so many people settle into familiarity and get comfortable. I don’t want to see you follow the same path” or from a friend I had not seen since middle school: “I always KNEW you would go to the mission field. It just makes sense.”
-Me: (half frustrated, half excited, all the way confused) Oh, ok.. I’ll think about it…
This kept happening over and over and OVER again, to the point where I couldn’t figure out why God was flaunting the bait in front of my heart that so earnestly wants to GO and DO and BE the hands and feet of Jesus to the ends of the earth. I went to my dear friend, Christine, to ask for advice and prayer. As a mobilizer, she understood and encouraged me. A few weeks later, she sent me a link to GoCorps, and the loan forgiveness program and two year length hit me dead on.. Could this be it?
Well, I began to comb through the website and to no avail, there was not a medical track. I was really disappointed but I began the application anyways, just to get some more information. I soon heard back from GoCorps and you know what I was told? That GoCorps had just added a new Medical track AND that the placement in Cameroon was looking for Therapists! How cool of a God moment! I sat on my room in my apartment in college and cried. No joke.
The next weeks were challenging as I struggled with questions of if I lacked experience or if it was a good idea financially, since I had undergrad and graduate loans to pay off and many other doubts clouding my view. Through some incredible mentors, wise words, much prayer and trusting in the Lord, I muddled my way through and am now at the tail end of raising my support! God is so very good and has brought me so far since this time last year.
To all of you reading this who are looking through this website, wondering if this might be where God is calling you, please take the time to let this be a real possibility. You will not regret letting the Lord push you to your limits and use you in all your unique talents and giftings on the mission field. You may be someone like me who has a unique and specialized field and think God could never use that, but look at how my story has turned out. Remember, our God is so much bigger and so much greater. Dare to dream God-sized dreams and you will never, ever regret it!