Path to Mozambique  
 

It all started in the shower....

As a girl I remember I tried to use less shampoo while I showered because I knew other children did not even have soap to wash with. While my gesture did not save anyone, for some reason the Lord gave me a heart for the poor. As a girl I dreamed of being a farmer or “non-traditional” missionary. Though I did not know what that meant.

In college I began to think about Peace Corps. It may sound odd, but I saw it as an opportunity to test the waters for overseas missions. Could I live overseas? Could I relate cross culturally, etc.? So, after college I set off to Panama where I served with Peace Corps for two years. The experience was life changing and confirmed that I wanted to serve overseas. However, next time I wanted to serve with a Christian organization.

The Lord took me through a journey of working with a Christian environmental organization leading teams to Central America with the purpose of serving people, but also educating participants in how environmental and poverty issues connect to our faith.

In late 2002, I was engaged, but marriage was not to be. After that experience I sought the Lord and refocused on the vision I felt God gave me as a child. I returned to school to begin working on a Masters in management in international development from Hope International University.

In October of 2003 I began to seriously pray how the Lord would allow me to serve him. I invited a group of ten people to dinner one night to join me in this. I shared with them a desire to first go to ECHO’s Agricultural Missions Conference and asked for their support. I also asked them to keep me accountable and support me prayerfully through the next steps. That night I shared with them what I envisioned doing and who I’d be serving.

The following is what I laid out before them that evening:

Target Group: Rural Poor

Location: RURAL- Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, open to China and India/ Bangladesh,.

Activity: Alleviate the affects of poverty through holistic missions that potentially integrates agriculture, basic literacy training or environmental stewardship with evangelism- both lifestyle evangelism and more formal.

Desire: I want the poor to understand who they are in Christ and how loved and gifted they really are. I want the non-poor to know the poor-personally and understand how God loves the poor, actively uses the poor in his plan, and their responsibility to care.

In 2004, I began to investigate mission organizations and discovered Food for the Hungry. Their approach to ministry fits very well with my “shape” and desire to minister holistically. I am thrilled to be a candidate with their Hunger Corps program and look forward to serving the Lord with them in Mozambique for three years.