A Ministry Calling

A testimony about my call to full-time ministry

I grew up in the home of a pastor who, before I was born, had prayed for a son who would devote his life to serving the Lord. This was well before my dad ever felt that same call himself. I cannot remember a time when I did not feel that call on my life. At the age of six or seven, my sisters and I would “play church.” They would be the congregation, and I would preach to them. I have no idea what I “preached” in those days, but somehow I couldn’t escape the tug of the Spirit on my life, even at that early age.

That was not the only work of God in those early years. The Spirit of God preserved me through my teen years for the work He was calling me to do. While there were temptations at that age, the passion was not there. To the best of my knowledge, I was the only Christian youth in my high school. While I was never an aggressive evangelist, my fellow students knew I was different, possibly because of the Bible I carried in my pocket or the Christian patches sewn onto my jean jacket. They respected me. I never pushed them to accept my position, and they never invited me to their parties. I was sixteen years old before I met a true Christian my age. Those high school years were times of soul searching for me, not only in terms of what God wanted me to do with my life, but also to know that I truly had a relationship with Him.

There was no question about what needed to happen after High School. I was going to Bible School. One of the most amazing things to me about this time was what God began to teach me about His provision. There were no student loans or financial provision from my parents in those days, but somehow, after four years, there was no debt either. God provided, by so many means, all that was necessary for every expense I had.

The other significant lesson the Lord taught me during those days at Bible School was that He had a specific purpose for my life and was fully able to communicate that purpose to me. Let me briefly share that story with you.

I was sitting in a remote corner of the library at Ontario Bible College, working on a paper for a course I was taking on the book of Isaiah. As I worked, some Bible verses kept popping into my head. Initially, I ignored them, but when they would not go away, I decided to look up the references and jot them down on a piece of paper. Only when I did that, and put that paper in my pocket, did I have enough peace to continue with my work.

Later that evening, in my dorm room, I continued working on my paper. There came a point, however, when I began to feel quite distracted. My mind was not on the work, but rather the verses on the piece of paper in my shirt pocket. I abandoned my study, reached into my pocket, and decided to look up those verses. Here’s what I discovered.

The first verse was from Romans 10 and read:

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? – Ro 10:14

It was as if the Lord Himself was asking that question to me personally. I decided to look up the second verse. It was from Acts 1:

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Ac 1:8

The Lord now had my full attention. I was immediately struck by the way these two verses were connected. The first verse posed a question and the second answered it – “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

There was one more verse the Lord gave me in the library earlier that day. I looked that up as well, and it read:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, – Mt 28:19

I cannot convey, in words, the impact this final verse had on my spirit. It was as if the very presence of God stood before me that day. It broke my heart, and, with tears in my eyes, I cried out, “Lord, here I am, I’ll go.” Understand here that there was no self-confidence in this cry. I had no idea how this would take place. All I knew was that God was speaking to me that evening, and I needed to respond.

As my heart cried out, “Here I am,” I was reminded of a verse of Scripture where another person said something similar. I wasn’t quite sure where that verse was, but determined to look it up as well. Looking down at my open Bible before me, with that intent, the very first verse I saw read as follows:

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” – Isa 6:8

Tears flowed down my cheeks that evening. The Lord stopped me in my work when my Bible was opened to the very verse He wanted me to see, and only showed it to me when my heart cried out in response to His call.

That moment was very sacred to me. Forty-some years later, I still remember it clearly.

As the years have passed, I have also seen how God has been fulfilling that call on my life in ways that amaze me. He has opened doors around the world in ways I could never have imagined. We are translating books into languages I have never heard of. I am not the one making this happen. He goes before me, opens the doors of His choosing, and provides all that is necessary. All I can do is go through the doors He opens. He does the rest.