When God called me to this trip it wasn’t like a miraculous prophecy, dream, or even distincly hearing God’s voice. The only way I knew that this is what He wanted was because I prayed about it, put in my efforts, and God pretty much lined up everything that needed to happen. After I was officially accepted, He gave me a huge amount of peace and a huge amount excitement to go.
I found out about the missions trip because one of my good friends actually went on the same exact trip to Swaziland back on ’07. He came back a completely different person. I had never seen him so on fire for the Lord in my entire life. I knew that Swaziland had done that to him. It wasn’t one of the “spiritual highs” that you get while you’re there and then dissipates a few weeks later while you’re home. 3 years later the fire is still there. I want that.
I found out about the missions trip because one of my good friends actually went on the same exact trip to Swaziland back on ’07. He came back a completely different person. I had never seen him so on fire for the Lord in my entire life. I knew that Swaziland had done that to him. It wasn’t one of the “spiritual highs” that you get while you’re there and then dissipates a few weeks later while you’re home. 3 years later the fire is still there. I want that.
So, after talking to my good friend it got me very interested to check things out. I checked out this Swaziland trip, prayed, sent in my application, prayed some more…prayed some more, had my over-the-phone interview, and became accepted. No amazingly interesting story about my calling, but I know that this is what God wants from me right now. Which is crazy because going to Africa for three months without any family members is the exact polar opposite of my personality. Like I said, there was no real direct voice: “Ryan, I want you to go to Africa in January.” God just lined everything up and in that way I knew that I was called to go.
