2. Just get on the bicycle…
God is much more able to direct us when we're moving forward than when we're sitting still, trying to decide whether to get on or not.
This was great advice given to me after Urbana '84 that proved true. I stood up the last day when Billy Graham spoke, and I committed to go overseas as a missionary. I meant it with every cell in my body!… but it wasn't until five years later that I left for Japan as a missionary. God had work to do in me in the meantime, but Urbana was a way for me to get moving. I found out about different missions organizations serving in Japan. I signed up for two organizations' newsletters. I called these missions twice a year after college to find out what these organizations were doing, and to let them know I was still possibly interested. I started supporting two missionaries in Japan – only $10 a month at first, but it was a beginning. They sent me their newsletters, and I prayed for them.
I also participated in two short-term mission trips while I was waiting for the "long-term call." And it was after the return from the second 2-week trip to the Dominican Republic, while I was sick in bed recovering from a virus I picked up there, that God spoke to me. He spoke to ME! Somehow, very clearly in my heart, the Lord used that trip to the D.R. and my quiet times of reflection afterwards to say, "Sue, it's time. You apply, and I'll do the rest."
I called the two agencies I was in touch with, and asked a LOT of questions. They didn't mind! They welcomed my desire to learn about them, and they learned about me. When I received their statements of faith, one very clearly matched my own. So did their philosophy of ministry. After getting much prayer support and counsel from godly friends, I applied, and used the application process to confirm my desires to serve in Japan with Asian Access. I prayed that God would allow the screening committee to affirm or redirect my ideas. I was blown away at how clearly He guided me through this process! page 3 ...