Ask a Missionary - Catch The Fire

Q:
Should I wait for guidance to a
specific country?
A:
Let God direct you where and how he
pleases.
Don’t let this worry you. We are all different. Missionary biographies
are replete with those who had a lifetime direction to a
particular people, for example, Hudson Taylor’s call to the Chinese.
Others, such as C. T. Studd, moved around. Did Paul have direction
to a particular culture or geographical location? He went as the
Spirit led him.
My own direction came as a child. I knew God wanted me to be
a missionary. I thought it was going to be in Korea, but God shut that
door. Through a chain of circumstances, he led me first to Canada,
then to Latin America in general and university students in particular.
Thirty years in Colombia have made these people very dear to us,
but we lived in four countries and served in many others. He will
lay the burdens on our hearts when and how he pleases, as we are
open to him.
God’s basic guidance is to know and serve him—the place is
secondary. We served the Lord for many years among students
in Colombia, South America. I once asked Eugenio, who worked
for several years among indigenous peoples, how he happened
into cross-cultural ministry. He replied, “Well, you got us involved
in serving the people next to us, then you took us to universities
where there was no witness, and you never told us when to
stop.”
As we seek God’s will, it’s helpful to analyze who we are—our
abilities, our interests, our opportunities, what gives us the greatest
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