From Perspectives to the Mission Field

Blog post by Laura P., Team India 2012

My journey to Journey 117 started when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  However, to make a long story short, I’ll fast forward years later when I was sitting in my college bible study during my first year of nursing school, hearing a friend talk about the class Perspectives that she was taking.  Perspectives on the World Christian Movement is a course all about Christian missions and our place in God’s purpose for the world.  It sounded fascinating, and I knew that I desired to learn more about God’s purpose and His path for me in missions.  God’s timing was not for me to take the course that spring but to wait another year and take it in Spring 2010.  I am confident that it was God’s timing, because that is when I met Emily Hilburn (Mobilization Coordinator for Journey117).

Laura (left) and Emily (right)

Emily and I were assigned to the same table. Too often, we found ourselves the only two laughing out loud at many of the speakers’ jokes.  We got to know each other throughout the semester and at the end of the course, we were both interested in helping the coordinating team the next year.  Little did we both know, God planned on us coordinating the class together!  So there we were, on a plane to Colorado for training!  Our friendship only grew from there, and we discovered that we are great travel buddies!  We had a fun and successful year coordinating Perspectives together and loved seeing the growth not only in our students but also in our own lives.  During that time, I got to see Emily go through the process of connecting with Journey 117 and through lots of prayer and seeking God, she took her dream job!  What a blessing!

The Gift of Healthy Discontent

Blog post by Mike S., Team Moldova 2011

Besides using His Word, God has used pain in my life to bring me to the point where I wish to continually serve Him. I am thankful for how God has used difficulties from the past to shape me. He’s always used them to give me a desire to serve Him in a greater capacity and move me out of my complacency.

Journey to…Where Lord? Uganda?

Blog post by Emily H., Team Uganda 2011

It was Monday night and I was singing worship with 20+ other people who are in our Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class.  Even now I don’t remember all of the words to the song we were singing, I just remember it was specifically about worshiping the Lord.  As I lifted my hands and closed my eyes (something us Southern Baptist don’t do!) to sing one word to our Father, “Hallelujah”, I saw hundreds of faces smiling back at me.  The joyful faces of hundreds of little black children looking at me. I knew they were worshiping right along with me.  The vision was brief, but it was an incredible confirmation from God.  I was going to Uganda.