Three Challenges I Overcame to Become a Campus Missionary

| 2016-05-03 00:00:00 -0400

How the Lord helped one missionary overcome challenges that people face who are going out to build a ministry team for the first time.

CHALLENGE ONE: Is God calling me to be a full-time missionary?
The first main challenge I faced in deciding to go on campus staff was if this was even what God was calling me to. What are the advantages of doing ministry vocationally versus doing ministry through a secular job? What about my other gifts and talents that I have, the ones that I went to school for? Are those just a waste? What does it even mean to be “called” to something and how will I know if it is happening to me?

To help me engage in these questions, I did a campus staff ministry internship with the local church that I was considering going on staff with through Reliant. Serving as an intern was insightful, but I still did not feel like I had a clear answer. A helpful thought I had during this time was that the commands to obey the Lord in scripture were commands I could be faithful to in any context. This is my call as a believer: to obey and follow the commands of the Lord. I had choices I could make in faith as to how I can do this.

I decided that becoming a vocational missionary was a great way for me to obey the things God is calling me to do and it seemed I could contribute in meaningful ways to the church I would be serving. It could change in the future, but at that point in my life, joining Reliant to serve that local ministry was my firm decision in faith.

CHALLENGE TWO: How was I going to build a ministry support team?
Confident in this decision, the next challenge was that I needed to build a ministry support team, but I did not have a home church or a family that was excited about me going into ministry. The next faith challenge was: where is this team going to come from? A lot of other people I know that are support-based missionaries had some sort of church background who they went to for help and support. For me, I just laid this question down before Jesus. I am doing this job to serve Him. If He wants to raise the support to do it, He will. Or maybe the working out His will for my life was Him merely calling me into being willing to serve Him in this way, and that is good too.

The role itself and building a support team aren’t my hope, He is. Getting to the end of this process isn’t my goal, walking with Him towards it, learning from Him is. So with that filter in mind, I laid my future unknown ministry partner team before Him, resolved to be faithful to the training and process of support raising, and to embrace that process as part of God’s plan for my life, not just the way to get there.

CHALLENGE THREE: Will I be able to pay my bills while support raising?
Though I trusted Him in His purposes in the process of building a financial support team, there were still really real obstacles of having bills to be paid. During the first month I needed to find housing because it was not a good idea for me to live at home.

God was so good during these beginning months. The church provided a place for me to live for the cost of utilities, new people I was meeting with to share about the ministry would give things beyond financial gifts to meet tangible needs like groceries and postage. Sure, there was planning that was needed during these first several months to be financially ready, but I mostly remember seeing God provide in miraculous ways. The support came in slow, but my needs were always met in one way or another.

The process of going on staff is one of intimacy and desperation with the Lord. God did provide financially. Today, seven years later, I still have an amazing team who give financially to Reliant on behalf of my ministry. But, this wasn’t all about just crossing a finish line, it was about the incredible process of walking with God through it. It is a beautiful season, though an often difficult one. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.