Missionary was not the booth I visited on career day in high school. In fact I don’t even believe there was a missionary booth. Growing up in the church I attended, I did not hear terms like ministry, missionary or even calling. So in sixth grade, when I though being a youth pastor looked like a cool job, I had no idea that I was following God’s plan for my life. Looking back, it’s crazy to realize how God directed and used each step of my journey to prepare me for this place. From high school, to college, to Bible school, to meeting Elizabeth and then getting my first taste of the mission field. I did not have one big moment where God said, “you’re a missionary.” I have had this journey in which God has nudged me in the right direction, and through it all He has been positioning and preparing me to be a missionary.

Having had the opportunity to travel to 17 countries outside of the US, I am stilled shocked and heartbroken by the world I see. On the outskirts of Bangkok, I sat down with an 80 year old woman. She had never heard the name of Jesus before. When I mentioned it, she assumed he was an American popstar. Tragically, she had lived for 80 years with the belief that she was worthless, and that the goal was to be reincarnated as something better than a woman.It breaks something within me to know that every day men, women, and children are being bought, sold, and abused around the world. People who are made in the image of God are being treated as property and used for unthinkable acts.

I know that I was made to make a difference. I know that only Jesus can change the heart and change a life. A good friend of mine once said something, and I think it sums up who I am. I was made for church in the wild.

                                                                                                                                          – Jeff