I heard about GoCorps at Urbana 2015 and thought it would be the perfect way to use my Chemistry degree to spread hope to people who have extremely limited or non-existent access to knowing Jesus. At the time, there was not a good fit for me and God made it clear that He was calling me to a different ministry commitment. I have spent the past two years working at a ministry that became my family. For the first time, I felt I belonged in a community. God healed me as I entered into relationships with others as He healed them. At the end of my commitment with this ministry, my mentor brought GoCorps back on my radar and this time God made it clear that teaching English in Southeast Asia was exactly what He was calling me to do. Honestly, following God’s call to GoCorps is the hardest decision I have had to make. In the midst of the decision process, God brought to mind Mark 10:29-30 “Jesus replied, ‘I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children and property- along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life.’” In this verse, I cling to the promise that even as God calls me to surrender the belonging He provided in the family of my previous ministry, God promises that in the journey ahead, He will provide new community relationships to belong in and they will provide the support in the highs and lows of my continued journey to eternity.
Culminating our training time in GoWeek, we studied Romans 12. I was captured by verse 5 when Paul says “we are many parts of one body, and we all belong to one another. ” God used this verse to remind me that every Christian around the world is a part of Christ’s body and as such, I belong everywhere I encounter a Christian brother or sister. This is extremely comforting to me as I continue this support raising journey and prepare to leave for Southeast Asia. I am so thankful for God’s continued gentle yet firm pursuit of me through every step that has brought me here. I belong with the Lord and He is not calling me anywhere that He will not go with me. God knows my need for community and anywhere I encounter a fellow believer, I find another relationship where I belong.