How I Was Lead to Uganda

24 June 2010

So, I know a lot of people are reading this, and I thought it would be good to tell you why and how I got to Africa! Although I first felt God call me to be a missionary when I was only fifteen years old, I tried to walk away from that call and build my own future. Last year, this time, I would never have dreamed that I would be here, in Uganda, on a mission trip. At that time, I was in a sorority, which God had me sever from the sorority and move out of the sorority house, so that I could draw near to Him. It was a hard fall semester after that, but God has been growing me in so many ways since then. In the fall, He made it clear, after I prayed, that He wanted my heart to hurt like His does for Africa. So I did some research on the country, and every time I talked about Africa, I would compulsively cry. I don’t like crying in front of people, so that was pretty huge to me. I realized that God wanted me to be a missionary in Africa.

Sometime in the fall semester, my friend, Mike Ryan, invited me to go to a retreat with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which is the group I am on this mission trip with. I went on the retreat in November, after attending a few of their bible studies (I was, and still am, a faithful member of the Baptist Student Ministries, which is where I met Austin, and a large amount of my current friends). At the retreat, I talked to Jeremiah, one of the staff workers and the “Global Director” of this trip, and told him my testimony and how I felt God was calling me to missions in Africa. It was a totally random conversation, but had we not had it, I am sure I would not be here, in Uganda, right now. The next day at the retreat, he announced the trip to Uganda that would last six weeks. He later told me that he had to hold it in when he spoke so he could make the announcement before their entire fellowship, but that he really felt strongly that I should go.

After probably two months of praying about this trip, and talking it over with my parents, I finally decided to go. To be honest, I wasn’t gung-ho on going from the start. The whopping price tag of $4,200 seemed really overwhelming, especially since I wanted to go to Peru with my church as well, and I had never, ever raised money for a trip before, let alone that much money.

In March, I mailed out support letters to all the family and friends that I could possibly think of. It was a much shorter list than I thought I could compile, but God knew I had asked just the right amount of people. In the first few weeks after sending out the letter, I had reached $1,500. I was amazed. I knew, without a doubt, that God would provide all the money I needed. And He DID! More than that, He showed me how much both sides of my family, as well as Austin’s family, valued me, as they encouraged me and told me that they would be praying for me. Even my friends told me they were praying for me and my trip – I was so blessed. I am still so blessed. God got me to Africa! If that’s not a miracle and a blessing, I don’t know what is. There was a lot of effort put into this, but I know that He has a reason for getting me here, and will keep using me for the next twenty or so days we have left.

So, how does Austin feel about this? Well, let’s backtrack a bit! I met Austin (the “one”) in September. I was in no way looking for a relationship, but I did think he was a handsome, tall, blonde engineer, and I was interested! We got to hang out (who knew he deliberately invited me to Second Baptist’s college stuff?) and get to know each other throughout the fall semester. I didn’t learn that he felt the call to go to Africa and use his Civil Engineering skills to build/dig wells as a missionary, but when I did, I just liked him even more! We went on some dates in December, and we’ve been together since. We know that we are going to end up together, somewhere in Africa (no that’s not official, but you will all know when it is! Hahaha) so this is just a taste for me. When we first started dating, I told him about the trip, but we weren’t sure how serious we were, and in January, June seems pretty far off. The closer this trip and the Peru trip got, the more he realized how much he would miss me, (and likewise, I would miss him) but we both knew that God wanted this for me this summer, so He could mold both of us through this.

It’s a crazy and long story, but I think it’s beautiful. God is working things together in my life for His glory.

Philippians 1:4-6 (NIV)

“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”