It's a Long Way to Paraguay

The call to missions for me was clear enough. I felt confident that, after graduation, I’d go for a year or two to some foreign place in the world and share in the work of the Church there. My problem, though, was that the world felt like a very big place. With so many nations and states and nation-states and churches and denominations and sending-agencies and so on, I felt like I was swimming in an ocean of possibilities.

Hence, last fall I wondered how I could even begin to narrow down the search for a place to go. For starters, I decided to go to Urbana, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (and my own campus ministry)’s tri-annual missions conference in St. Louis. I thought perhaps something there would strike my fancy or, if I were lucky, some lightning bolt from Heaven might shock me into going somewhere specific.

Needless to say, that lightning bolt never came. I was overwhelmed by the conference and its grand hall of missions agencies representing hundreds of worldwide ministries, dozens of denominations, and a broad range of fields ripe with harvest. I went up to most of the booths and, when asked by a kind mission representative what I was looking for, responded, "I’d like to serve God overseas for a couple years after college." When they asked me where I’d like to go (anywhere from China to Chile, Austria to Australia) or what sort of ministry I was interested in (new people groups, teaching English, medical missions, tent-making, friendship evangelism, undercover witnessing, etc), I again responded inelegantly, "I’d like to serve God overseas for a couple years after college." They must have thought I was born on another planet -- a planet where Christians have no idea about the complexities of choosing a mission.

Urbana did manage to turn my thoughts, though, to a specific area of the world. During time in prayer and thinking at the conference, the idea of Latin America came up again and again. I spent four years of high school and a semester of college studying Spanish, so the language would be much easier to learn in a Hispanic country. Georgetown got me interested in Catholicism and its dialogue with and relationship to Evangelical Protestantism, so going to a predominantly Catholic, Spanish-speaking country made even better sense. Plus, Central or South America is much closer to home than Asia or Africa.

My next decision centered on whether to go with a specific denomination or an interdenominational group. My college years were spent with InterVarsity, an interdenominational ministry, so at the time I leaned toward going abroad with a similar group whose mixture of church backgrounds could offer many points of view on theologies and doctrines. I never want to close my mind to learning, so being in a mixed community of Christian faith seemed like a good idea. The problem in my mind, however, was that I’d have to raise all the support on my own without any one church’s backing.

The other alternative, of course, was going with a specific denomination. In DC, I fell in love with the people and church of Georgetown Baptist, which had affiliations with both the American Baptist and Southern Baptist Conventions. The Southern Baptists offered the Journeyman program, a two year, all-expenses paid missions program for recent graduates of Southern Baptist orientation. I wasn’t sure, though, about whether I was able or ready to commit to Southern Baptist ideals. It seemed a dilemma to me – committing to a denomination I wasn’t sure of and having all my financial needs taken care of, or going to an inner-denominational organization where I would have to do my fundraising independently. Throughout it all, I was confident God would take care of my needs, but the details worried me.

And so, I wrote an email to Ellen Sabo, a friend of a friend serving as an English teacher with the Apostolic Christian Church in Paraguay. Since she was a new missionary, I had been reading her blog and studying her reactions to a new culture in preparation for my own departure. I asked her about what it was like serving with a specific church. My question was broad and about missions in general, but her response was very definite and sure: ""Will you come and take my place teaching English and serving with the church after I leave?"

I was really surprised by her open invitation, and thought serving with the AC church in Paraguay probably was not for me. The idea, however, began to make good sense. I now had two friends serving there, so I could get to know the people and culture through them before I arrived. Plus, the mission was through the church that I knew and grew up in.

Still with many questions, though, I asked Ellen for details about the Paraguayan Apostolic Christian Church. I heard back that it is a church on fire for God. There is a passion to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a desire to serve and transform the Paraguayan nation. Paraguay is a place where God is at work and where I’d be able to work, too, for the Kingdom of Heaven. After spending much time in prayer, I committed to serving there.

Thus, I’ll be helping out at the Colegio Privado Adonai, a private Christian school of about 250 students that the church administrates and uses as a tool to reach out to the community. Arriving in September, I’ll be in the classroom with Ellen to learn how to teach before school lets out in November. Then, I’ll spend the summer months of November, December, and January learning Spanish, getting acquainted with Paraguayan culture, and serving with the church. Come February, I’ll have classrooms of my own and plenty of opportunities to share Christ’s love.



***Special thanks to Mrs. Simon from VLBF who is hosting on her blog a video of me sharing my testimony at church. It can be found on the Sept. 9 post at www.xanga.com/anut4dan .

“Jason, there’s a call for you… it's God on the other line.”

I got a call from God, and He told me to pack up my things and move to Paraguay. I tried to argue with Him, but in the end He persuaded me to believe that it was the right thing to do. So now I’m going to South America.

Fortunately, this conversation was real. God called me to serve as an English teacher at a Christian school outside of Ascuncion, and I’m leaving home later this month for at least a year. Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) though, the dialogue wasn't as quick as it might seem. It took place over many years, through much prayer, and at times I doubted who was speaking what in the discussion between me and my Creator. The work of God in my life that has brought me up to this point has been long, sometimes tedious, and requiring faith of me that has been given as I try to follow and listen along.

Foreign missions work has been on the back burner of my mind for several years. I can remember being in high school, seeing missions presentations at church and camp, and thinking how wonderful it must be to serve overseas. I imagined what it would be like to serve at an orphanage in Brazil, and nearly idolized a young fellow who worked in the Czech Republic. Each time I heard a missionary’s story, my heart would flutter with the prospect of seeing the living Gospel at work in hearts around the world.

Throughout high school and college, though, the opportunity for me to go myself never came. In high school, our youth group was without a youth pastor and without much vision or chances for international outreach. In college, my summers (prime missions time) were occupied by frantic attempts to earn money for the next semesters. During this time, I was certain God had me where He needed me – making the most of my education and being fiscally responsible. Still, a question lingered in my mind. “What if I could get away and see God’s work around the world? What if I could let go of family and familiarity? What if I did not have any educational, financial, or relational restraints to hold me back? What if?”

It was about a year ago that I seriously began to wonder what I’d do with my life after graduation. A Georgetown diploma looks pretty good on paper, but a liberal arts education in government and theology is terribly impractical. I’d probably need more schooling, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. I could go to law school or get a PhD, but both seemed like a lot of money and time to a befuddled young man. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I knew for sure that it should be something of great import. Something eternal.

And so, in my senior year, God led me to think of missions after graduation. A lot of the theology I learned in school was bunk, but one professor taught me about Christ and the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven. As a believer, I wanted my whole life to be focused on doing God’s own will on earth as it is in Heaven and being a member of that blessed Kingdom. Foreign missions were one way that God placed it upon my heart to participate in that grand unfolding plan. Here, finally, was the answer to the question, “What if?” Here, at last, was the time, opportunity, and burden to do something meaningful. Here was the call and the chance of my life.