But God…

What keeps you from going where you feel called to go? In many mission stories I’ve heard, individuals have talked of situations that would seem to make taking a step for God impractical or unresponsible. But they also talk about how God honored the steps taken in faith in response to His calling. In one such story, Robert Meyer shared about how God was working in spite of his wife Teague’s hesitation and their parents’ opposition to their decision to do mission work in Angola.

It started out as a desire to explore other parts of the world. Robert was a Bible major at Harding University, so going on a missions internship to Togo, West Africa made enough sense. But his long-term interests directed towards inner city ministry in the States.

“I had no intention when I went to Togo of actually doing long-term mission work, but it sounded like a good opportunity to go and see what African mission work was like and I also wanted to go and see African animals,” Robert said.

But when one of the host missionaries addressed and gave a frame for thinking of some of the challenges he and his fellow interns had been experiencing during the trip, Robert’s interests shifted.

Robert said when he returned from the internship, he was “gung-ho certain” about doing mission work in Africa. Over time, the sensation wore off and he turned to domestic inner city internships.

But God put Africa before him and Teague when a friend of his suggested they and three other friends along with their wives doing African mission work. So the five couples got together on two weekends to discuss the possibility. After two weekends, he and Teague determined though the guys were all for the possibility, none of the girls wanted to go long-term. They bowed out of the team.

“In that process we started talking to our current teammates Danny and Katie Reese who were planning on going to Africa and as we talked about their plans for Angola we realized that… for a variety of reasons Angola was intriguing to us, so we agreed to go on a research trip with the Reeses,” Robert said.

Following the research trip, they realized that specific context in Angola matched really well with their interests and inner city ministry experiences. So they returned and set about team preparation and fundraising.

Robert shared that his mom and and his wife’s mom were both strong Christians but how their dad’s didn’t have much interest in faith. “So the first time we told our parents of our plans, both of our fathers were not really excited about the idea.” Teague’s father, in particular, made a strong objection to their plans.

Robert said it was hard to think of leaving his dad who wasn’t a faithful Christian behind in the States. But God found a way to work in his dad’s heart through the situation.

“Here I am going overseas and telling people about Jesus, and there seems to be some kind of disconnect there,” Robert said. “But now he sees how important Jesus is to us that we were willing to move overseas, and now when he talks to me about things of faith, he realizes the difference – how it matters and how it’s life changing.”

Teague’s parents came and visited a year into their work and got to see it for themselves and became more supportive after that. “Teague’s parents have actually become one of our biggest encouragements in giving generous donations and support to our work.”

There’s a valuable principle in stories like these that’s also reflected in Hudson Taylor’s words when he said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” Many times we’ll see obstacles to God’s calling for our lives. But God… is faithful, is just, is loving and will never forsake us when we step out in faith.