It was fifth grade. My mom was tucking me into bed one night. As I pictured people in other countries who didn't know Jesus, I whispered to her, "Mom, I want to be a missionary when I'm older." She replied, "We'll get you there."
It makes me shakey to think back on that night when God first stirred my heart for the nations. I see a young girl with a heart that just wanted to help people. Little did she know she had to go through a lot of hardship before she got to that mission field. But she would eventually learn that through all the pain and brokenness Jesus would be there. He would fill her heart, free her and make her new. He would use the pain to give her purpose and new vision. All the pain and suffering would be worth it.
He used hardship to grow that fifth-grade girl's desire into a passion and burden for reaching women stuck in the grips of modern-day slavery.
There are 40.3 million slaves in the world today. 9.7 million of them are in Africa. They are mistreated and abused and taken advantage of. Do they know that Jesus is Living Water? Do they know He wants to free them? Jesus had a new story for me. Do they know He has a new story for them? I can't wait to tell them yes. Yes, the answer is YES!
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
- Isaiah 40:31