Are you called?
This year’s theme at Christian Veterinary Mission is “Called” from
Ephesians 4:1. Paul writes, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…” This necessarily leads one to ask what
calling Paul was talking about? We are
called in many ways as Christians: to seek to be more like Christ, to live our
lives as salt and light, and to glorify God in all we do to name a few. But, perhaps, the most well know call given
by Christ was to “…go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Recently, I gave a talk at the CVM breakfast at a
veterinary conference in Kansas City about being called and wrote an article
for the CVM journal on the same topic so it feels appropriate to share with you
a bit more about my journey toward being called to South Africa with CVM.
Where do I begin the story? Even looking back I think we often fail to
see the full extent of God’s preparation and design, but I will begin with my
undergraduate studies in Michigan. I
applied to Hillsdale College last-minute late in the spring of my senior year
and missed the deadline for getting scholarships, which could have ended
everything right there, but God provided and Hillsdale scrounged several scholarships
for me (one was for engineering students which I most certainly was not!) and
managed to cover about half of the tuition.
Due to an exciting first day which involved a fire
in my dorm and moving from the dorm into an empty house with 9 other girls, I became
friends with a student whose family runs an orphanage in Uganda. The following year, ten of us spent a month
at that orphanage and I got to see the fatherhood of Christ put into action. However, I was also struck by the fact that
our presence there on a short-term trip would have little lasting impact and
decided no more mission trips for me until I had a more valuable skill to
offer.
Also, while at Hillsdale, God managed to drop into
my lap an all-expense paid trip to South Africa to do biology research. During that trip I was struck by the
dichotomy between white South Africans living with all the western luxuries and
the black South Africans living primarily in poor townships and villages with
no running water, three sided corrugated steel shacks, and a monotonous diet of
pap (a corn mash).
Fast forward a few years and the Lord managed to
send me all the way to Scotland for my veterinary degree. I had always planned to go to Washington
State University, but He managed to make the thought of that quite unpleasant
during two trips there for interviews (think freezing cold, snow, two parking
tickets). When I found out that I was
not accepted to WSU after two attempts, but was offered a place at Glasgow, it
was a relief. I was also excited that a
UK degree would be accepted in many countries around the world (including South
Africa).
After graduating from vet school I settled into
small animal practice back home and became involved with emergency animal
shelter programs (set up during emergencies to house animals displaced by
flooding, earthquakes, tornados, etc).
That led to attending a CVM conference (ShortCourse) which offered training
in emergency animal shelters. This was
my first experience with CVM and I was hooked.
I was incredibly inspired by the stories of veterinarians who were
carrying out God’s calling across the nations.
Ever since my trip to Uganda I had been pondering
serving in missions overseas long-term, but after vet school I assumed that it
would be many years before I could consider long-term service as I had large
student loans to consider. While at my
second CVM ShortCourse, during a small group prayer discussion, we were talking
about missions and someone asked what was holding me back. When I brought up students loans they
mentioned MedSend, a non-profit organization that helps medical professionals
while they serve the Lord overseas by making their student loan payments. It was as if a door had opened, revealing a
multitude of possibilities.
After quite a bit of prayer, I decided to move ahead
towards long-term missions and trust God to close the door if He had other
plans. Since my two trips to Africa had
so affected my heart, I knew that was where I wanted to serve and found out a
perfect position, where God could utilize my small animal skill, was available in
South Africa. So here I am, in the
deputation phase (support raising) with CVM and so excited about the
opportunity to serve God at North-West University. I’m following my “calling” as best I can and
depending on God to do the rest.
While I raise my support, I’m also organizing a
short-term mission trip to South Africa for vet students next summer and would
appreciate your prayers. Please pray
that God would stir the hearts of those He would like to go and give me wisdom
in planning the trip.
