10pp0630amb3 - How I was Called to the Missions Field/Margaret

Well, after reading everyone else's blog about this, I can already tell I'm the odd person out. My call to the missions field was not gradual - it was a brick to the face. I really didn't see it coming at all, and it completely changed my life.

Last summer I went on a mission trip to New Orleans with my church. I'll be completely honest, and I hate that I even have to say this, but I went to New Orleans for really selfish reasons. I had been watching all my friends come back after mission trips and they all had these life changing experiences, and I really wanted that. They all got so much closer to God, and I thought that maybe the way for me to do that was to go on the mission trip. About a week before the trip I was thinking about it, and I was wasn't even that excited. It had been about 4 years since Hurricane Katrina and I didn't think we'd have anything to do. I didn't think anything was going to happen with me or with my faith. Boy, was I wrong.

I was working with a group of girls to help fix up an elementary school. I could seriously talk for hours on end about New Orleans and that trip, but I'm just going to tell you the story that really matters. The guy in charge of the school re-build was this guy named Troy. Troy was in his early thirties and he used to be a teacher in New Orleans before the hurricane, but after the hurricane he gave up his passion to rebuild these schools. Troy is probably the most amazing, dedicated, devoted Christian and genuine person I've ever met. God used him to change my life, and here's how:

It was two days before the school was opening, and I was painting a window when they told us it was time to leave for the day. Everyone around me started to leave, until I was the only one on the floor. I was determined to finish that window though, and it was going to be perfect. Troy called my name, and told me we had to go, but I didn't stop. "Look at me", he demanded. I did. "I know. I know you don't feel finished. Every day I leave this school, or whatever or wherever I'm working and I think ‘I'm not done'. We will open up this school on Thursday and I will think ‘I'm not done, there's more to do'. We're not done. We'll never be done, but Margaret, it's time to go." Later that night, we toured the city of New Orleans. Our guide pointed out the newly restored Superdome, houses and neighborhoods that had been rebuilt and reconnected. I saw all these things, but it was something else that caught my eye. It was a school. It had broken glass windows, boarded-up doors, and a registration sign that still said August of 2005. And suddenly, it all made sense. We aren't done.

I never thought my life would change in one moment, but in that moment it did. It's like I suddenly understood that it wasn't about me. I went on the mission trip to better myself and better my relationship with God, and in the end that happened, but only because I realized that there are so many people who need my help, and that it is not about me. That night, I walked right up to my youth minister and told her "God's calling me to be a missionary. I'm going to change the world."

It sounds so crazy to other people, but the nice thing is that I know ya'll understand it. I know in my heart that God is calling me to far away places to do big things for His name and His glory, and I am SO excited about it! Once I got the call I didn't really know what to do next, but one thing led to another and now suddenly I'm here, going to the Philippines for 3 weeks this summer. The nice thing is, I know this is just the beginning.

"There's a world full of people out there, and you're responsible to it." -Arthur Miller