In the fall of 2009, as I was planning my fourth missionary trip to Venezuela, I began to think about the work we would be doing there. I started to think about Luciano Alvarado and Javier Heredia. Luciano quit his job as a police officer to become a missionary and start a new church plant in El Coji. Javier pastors a church in El Tocuyo, a city about an hour and fifteen minutes from his house. He would like to move there but can’t afford to, therefore, he has to take the bus and spend long days there ministering to the people.
As I thought about the sacrifices of these two men, how they set out to follow the call of God in their lives, I started to wonder what God might have for me to do. After a long and prayerful time, God reveled to me my place in the battle. I’m convinced that God wants me to follow their example and step out in faith, to quit my job and move to Venezuela for a year or longer to help in His work that is being done there. One of my favorite verses in the scripture is Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
With this verse in mind, I began to look back to see if God had truly been preparing me for this adventure with Him. I was amazed by what I saw. I realized that God has kept me single (even though I have been praying faithfully for Him to provide me with a Christian wife) so I would be free to go and do His work. I am debt free, which eliminates the financial burden while I am gone. My job will allow me to take a leave of absence for as long as I need to be gone. I have learned construction skills that will be needed for the building projects in the year to come. Most importantly, God has surrounded me with wonderfully godly people who pray for and support me. The more I reflect, the more I get excited about what God has ahead of me.
