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MY VISION

    Within the first year of becoming a Christian, I had a vision of travelling all over the world, helping to establish churches, train leaders, and bring God’s power to God’s people. Having the vision was one thing, but having the timing, the release, and the opportunity would not come about for almost a dozen years. At the time, I didn’t have the courage to tell anyone what I saw because it seemed too preposterous, presumptuous, and improbable. No one in my family had even owned a passport or been on a plane, or much less done anything like this. Someone with my limited means should not be thinking on such an unlimited scale.

    When I finally found the courage to tell my wife about what I felt God was calling me to do, she looked at me and softly declared that it was the Lord. I was so amazed to think that someone else believed this was possible. It gave me the confidence I needed a few years later, when I was being interviewed to become the pastor of a little church in northern New York. During the interview process, when I had been asked what my vision was, I spoke with some hesitation, about what I had seen. It even sounded pretentious to me when I heard myself say it aloud to the group. I wondered if they would be disappointed or put off by my having such a view of myself, but again, I was amazed to find that they could see what I saw. The only condition they would put on me was that I had to take them with me.

     From that time, until I was first invited to travel abroad, many years had passed. I wanted it so bad, that I was willing to wait. I wanted to see how the Lord would establish the vision and didn’t want to spoil it with my own plans and ambition. When I finally was invited to India, I found that the years of waiting had prepared me well for this kind of work. I was made for this. I could look back and see how the preparation had really begun in my early childhood, when I began to relate to people of other cultures, and follow the compassion of my heart to help those who were poor or rejected.  

     Today, there are so many opportunities to go, but I believe I have only just begun to see the fulfillment of the vision God gave me.