The Next Step

Much happened during my four weeks of training for missions. Changes that have affected both my plans for this year and myself have taken place. Changes I was not expecting.

I had been preparing for a few months, mentally and in other ways, to serve as a student missionary in the Philippines. Researching the island of Palawan, picking up items here and there I thought I could use, talking to people who have visited places I would be going, talking with the career missionary family I would be serving. I was getting pretty excited. Then training came and I met the team of student missionaries I would be working with and completely fell in love with the project! I thought, “God must have led me here, this is going to be wonderful! What else could I ask for?”

“What’s the next step?” is what else I could have asked for. The answer to this question turned out be as unexpected a response as I could have imagined at this point. It came in the form of a call to be reassigned to the other side of the world. Africa!

After circumstances presented themselves and several days in prayerful consideration it was decided that I would be serving in Guinea, West Africa this coming year.

While I was preparing to serve in the Philippines I was right where God wanted me. I made the natural assumption that God was preparing me for work as in the Philippines. But as it turned out, there was something quite different on His mind!

I follow God step by step, as He leads, and wherever He leads. So, “as far as I can see” is the step I am taking and, at just the right time, the next step to take. The good news is that He sees far beyond the next step, which is the very reason He can be trusted no matter how wild the next step seems.