November 2, 2009

My call to missions

Posted by Ashley

2 comments

Hey everyone! We have no new exciting news, but we were thinking about it and realized that we haven’t really told much about our call to missions so we thought that we would share that with you! This is a short testimony about how God has worked in my life and led me toward the mission field.

I grew up in a Christian home but didn’t really come to understand the message of the grace and forgiveness that Christ offers until we began attending Broadway UMC, in Bowling Green, KY. At this time I had just moved to Bowling Green from Northern Kentucky. I had heard the gospel message so many times but I hadn’t really understood it until that point. This is when I gave my life to God and asked Him to use me for His purposes.

I have always known that God has given me a sensitive heart and one of compassion. This became even more evident when I began participating in mission trips each year with Harpeth Presbyterian Church. While I was serving I felt alive and really felt like I was doing something worthwhile. Several years after I began attending these mission trips another opportunity was presented through Broadway. This time it was a mission trip to Ghana.

I was so thrilled when I first heard about the trip and God really showed me that He was going to use it for big things. This is where I first really felt the tug toward being a fulltime missionary, but at the time I figured that it was sort of a “camp high” experience that everyone had and maybe it wasn’t really my calling. But I loved my experience serving in Ghana and wanted to go back, which I did a couple of years later.

In between my trips to Ghana, however, I was in college and REALLY struggling to decide on a major. Most of my friends had known what they wanted to be for years. Some were pre-med students, others pre-law, some teachers, some engineers, but none of those were the right fit for me. So I put off the decision until I absolutely had to pick a major or I would be in school for a LONG time. With prayer I decided on a Spanish major since I had enjoyed my Spanish classes and loved learning about new cultures, but having no clue what I’d do with it.

The summer after I had chosen my major I returned to Ghana for seven weeks. During this time God worked on my heart in many ways and I began to see that maybe the call I had wasn’t just the normal feelings that everyone experiences and that He might have a different plan for my life. Soon after I returned from Ghana I reconnected with Justin and we began to date. We were blessed to be able to travel on a mission team to Ecuador a few months after our engagement and this is where my call to missions became solidified and became our call as a couple.

We are both so thankful for all of the perfectly crafted events in our lives that have led us together and toward this ministry. God has blessed us with many unique gifts and finally seeing part of the bigger picture makes them so much more meaningful. We are thrilled to begin serving the street children in Honduras and know that God has led us there to do His work!!