We were asked to write a blog about how we were called to this mission trip. Here is my story...
If you have had the chance to read my biography, I talked a little about living in the Dominican Republic as a MK. I left a note saying that I would describe more of my life there in this post, so I'll try to do my best because its the reason for my calling to missions!
I moved there when I was nine, my dad become the director of a missions clinic, and I soon found that my favorite place to hang out was the clinic. I grew up in a household with both parents being doctors, so medicine was always around, but it soon became part of my life in a much more personal way. When I was 11 I started watching surgeries in the clinic; the first surgery I watched I got to help the pump the bag to keep the patient breathing. I kept watching surgeries, and then I had a couple doctors ask me if I would like to scrub-in and help them operate. Of course I did what any 11 year old would do, I said "Of Course!", and from that day on I knew that my dream, my calling, was to be a surgeon! Now, I know your asking yourself what that has to do with missions? Well, my calling didn't end there. I kept helping do surgeries for the next 4 years, but I knew that God had a greater plan for me than just bringing healing to people physically. He wanted me to share His healing to the people I treated. So, my dream is to become a surgeon missionary!
Now, my calling to the Novas Project has a lot to do with my other calling, mostly because it seems to magnify my dream, and at the same time delay it! I was going through my senior year of high school, focused on graduating and moving on to college. It was April and I had gone up to Chicago to visit Wheaton College. The visit was great, but as I was pulling out of the campus I felt like just breaking down and crying. Not because I was leaving, but because I felt an emptiness inside me. I didn't understand why I didn't feel God's peace about any of the colleges I had applied to! It was frustrating, and all I could do to not cry was to ask God what was wrong. I prayed for a couple days about it, and then found that it wasn't the colleges that were the problem, but rather that God had something else in store for me. I prayed to find out what that was, talked to my parents and other influential people in my life about it, and decided to look into the FYM program. Mind you, I had already had some experience with AIM through Miguel and Kristina Shaul, a couple who were missionaries in the DR, and had helped with a group that came down in 2006. I found God's peace about going this route, and soon started filling out paper work. I got accepted into the program, as you can tell, and I don't think September can come fast enough!
This calling for my life this year will give me a chance to experience missions on a personal level. Meaning, I won't be with my family doing missions work. I believe that it will give me a greater perspective of what I'm being shaped to be in the future, and it will definitely give me a greater purpose in furthering my education and reaching my dream of becoming a doctor! So, that's my story! Hope you enjoyed it, and if you plan on studying medicine and being a missionary, maybe we can work together someday!
That's all for now! Peace out,
Jon
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