Meet Madeline: after spending a combined four months serving internationally and learned if God's heart is intrinsically for the nations, her heart should be too.
Madeline, you’re a college student, and the last two summers you’ve spent two months each summer serving overseas. How did your parents feel about such a big commitment?
My parents have been extremely supportive of me serving overseas! I think they knew even before I did that missions was the call God had for my life, and they agree that it is wise to get some shorter-term international experience while still in college. They have raised me to be independent, responsible, driven, and wholly surrendered to God, so I think they thought I was mature enough for the commitment.
While I know they worried and were apprehensive, especially my first summer overseas, I think it has taught all of us to more fully and completely rely on the Lord. Oswald Chambers once said, "Obedience to the call of Christ nearly always costs everything to two people- the one who is called, and the one who loves that one." My parents have joyfully counted the cost and continue to encourage me to count the cost with that same joy. They still really missed me during family vacation, though!
What does serving and loving others well mean to you?
Serving and loving other well means John 13:34. It means looking at the example of Christ and striving to conform our lives, our minds and hearts and souls, to Him. It means imitating our Savior. As He left the 99 to find the one, we leave behind everything for the one. As He humbled Himself and poured out His life for others, we do the same, fully relying on His strength working through us to do so. It means deeply caring about what our Father cares about and doing something in response. While serving and loving can look drastically different depending on the situation, the heart attitude behind it all is a love that springs from the truth that we are infinitely, eternally loved and invited into relationship by the very God who crafted us.
What do you feel your time spent serving these past two summers has taught you about Jesus and His love for the nations?
Oh my goodness, where do I even begin?! Last summer, I worked among Somali, Ethiopian, Turkish, Syrian, and Egyptian refugees in a major African city teaching ESL classes and loving these women whose strength and resiliency was a beautiful thing to witness. God placed a deep, deep love for these women in my heart and an even deeper sorrow at the spiritual darkness in which they lived.
While sitting in one student's home as she did henna on me and my friend, her daughter arrived home from Madrasa. She was so confused when she noticed we didn't have a head covering on, and when we explained we were Christian, she didn't know what that was. Romans 10:14 tells us that people can't believe without hearing, and this precious girl, although living as a refugee in a "Christian" country, had never heard.
I met a recent believer who was on the run after narrowly escaping being killed when someone found his Bible, and all of a sudden all those stories from Open Doors about the persecuted church became personal. Jesus didn't choose the safe or the easy way when He picked the cross, so why do we as believers think our lives ought to be ones of comfort and ease? Serving this community wasn't safe. It wasn't easy. But if God's heart is intrinsically for the nations, mine should be too. Even when it's hard, when it's scary or dangerous, when it's messy and heartbreaking. Unreached people groups are unreached for a reason, but that doesn't change our responsibility to reach them with the good news of the gospel. (Last summer was one of those experiences that left me forever changed... I could write for days about it!) This past summer, I worked a lot alongside local believers. Seeing how God is working in the Church around the world was incredible, and experiencing the unity through the Spirit that binds an incredibly diverse Church was beautiful. He truly is drawing people to Himself from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. What a day the fulfillment of Rev. 7:9 will be!
What lasting impact do you hope your time spent serving internationally will have on the lives of others?
My prayer is that my time serving overseas will be used to continue to show others the need for more people to obey the Great Commission by going. While I know God will continue to use my work these past two summers in the communities in which I served in ways I probably won't see, I ardently long for my experiences going to be a catalyst for many more to go. I want to mobilize members of my church, friends from my campus ministry, girls in the youth group, and anyone else who is willing or interested to see the need around the world for the gospel and to make it their personal responsibility to do something about it. It's in this way that exponentially more people will be able to find the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I hope others will see that you don't have to be a "super-Christian" to go overseas; you simply have to have faith and take those steps of obedience.
What would you say to someone who feels called to serve and help others know Jesus but isn’t sure where to start?
If someone feels called to serve and share Jesus with others but doesn't know where to start, I would encourage them to 1) join a Bible-believing, gospel-preaching, disciple-making church if you're not already a member, 2) find a ministry at that church and start investing into it, 3) pursue faithfulness in the small things, and 4) look into missions organizations.
Senior year of high school when I first felt God's call on my life to international missions, I had no idea what to do with that. Thankfully, I was already a member of a church that did. My youth pastor recruited me to lead a middle school girls' d-group, an older friend got me connected with international student ministry at my university, and one of my friends shared with me about Nehemiah Teams, the program I went through the past two summers. NT is a wonderful organization through the International Mission Board that is doing great work all over the world through mobilizing college students and young adults! I highly recommend it regardless of whether long-term international missions is the path you think God has you on or not!
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