My favorite childhood book to read was “Oh The Places You’ll Go”! I knew there was a whole world out there waiting to be seen. This book always felt like the Lord was speaking to me through the words, reminding me that I would be off to great places—those that He created. My favorite quote from “Oh The Places You’ll Go” was “Kid you’ll move mountains! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So get on your way!” This book changed my view on the world, and rather “The Great Commission” and the Lord placed the calling of the nations on my heart even before I knew what serving the nations even meant.
The Lord planted the seeds of this calling and purpose in my heart during high school but they did not bloom until college. During my freshman year of high school, I saw how negatively the Middle East was painted in light of international events. This made me uneasy with knowing that all Middle Eastern people were painted as bad, but in my heart, I knew that not every soul from the Middle East was harmful. This is how the Lord showed me that there are countries around the world so closed off because of these negative views towards souls who are God’s children, even if they did not know Christ yet. I found purpose in being a voice for these nations and to bring light to these very souls that sought more light than darkness. My calling was driven from wanting to show the world that not all souls from these regions in the world are bad, rather they are hurting and looking for hope. I wanted to reach the ones who the world had forgotten about.
The summer after my sophomore year of college, I had the opportunity to travel to Central Asia and teach English. The seeds that were planted in my heart and soul in high school bloomed. On this trip I not only encountered Christ, but I also saw how important it was to be an advocate for nations that otherwise don’t have any. After this trip, the idea of the Great Commission, changed the way I viewed the profession I wanted to work in. The Great Commission showed me that it didn’t matter how much policy I wrote or produced, rather, what mattered was sharing the gospel in places that might not ever receive it. I felt my heart being called to the missions field and to use my degree in International Relations to integrate missions work into foreign policy. This trip opened my eyes to my calling and how I could use what the Lord had gifted me with to change the world.
This quote by Elizabeth Elliot has made such an impact on my view of my purpose and calling as I walk into a new season of my life. “This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for him. Here, not somewhere else, I may lease God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”
I have held this quote close throughout the whole discernment process of moving overseas and have found such comfort in knowing that my calling is a job that has been gifted to me as a privilege to strengthen the kingdom and build it with new believers. While sitting in the presence of the Lord with this quote two pieces of scripture were placed on my heart that have opened my eyes and heart in understanding my why and how my calling is an offering to God. Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” and Acts 13:47 “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” Both pieces of scripture have reminded me that I have been called to be a light in the nations that are dark and that it is a privilege to be trusted by the Father to do this work gladly and in the Lord’s way.
Little Abby who was obsessed with reading “Oh The Places You’ll Go” and knowing that “you have the brains in your head. You have the feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.” So why not answer the Lord’s invitation to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Mark 16:15
It is this invitation given by the Savior himself!