Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: TRIP (08/25/22)
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TITLE: Where He Leads Me | Previous Challenge Entry
By Donna Martelli
08/31/22 -
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When the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send and who will go for me,” Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV).
I woke up one morning and knew I would be traveling soon. Of course, I said, “Ok, Lord!”
A few days later, I had lunch with an old friend. During our conversation, she mentioned she wanted to go to Romania and minister to the children in the orphanages there. I shared enthusiastically with her what the Lord was telling me. and she said, “you should go to Romania with me and teach in the orphanages.” Wow, I said I would pray about it.
Pray, I did! I never felt that gentle check in my spirit that would caution me not to go, but I told the Lord I needed more. I needed to know without a doubt that this was His desire for me before I would undertake such a significant trip. How sweetly the Lord answered me. Every time I opened my Bible, all t I read about was. taking the Word of the Lord to “ALL NATIONS.” Every message I heard was about “ALL NATIONS.” A guest minister came to my church and spoke about “ALL NATIONS.” He pointed out the following Scripture:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19, 20. NKJV}
Why Romania? People reminded me that we have many needs in the USA, so why not work with orphans here? However, this is the door that God opened and wanted me to go through. He gave me this Scripture:
“A great door for effective work has opened unto me.” (1 Corinthians 16:9 NIV)
Further study of the word “effective” revealed its meaning: “producing a decisive, decided, or desired effect.” For my friend and me, that meant ministering to the needs of the children as we shared the love of Jesus with them. Another confirmation came when we learned that the Romanian government had requested volunteer artists to go and teach in the orphanages.
The Lord had already prepared us for this venture. We had taught Vacation Bible School at our church several times, working with children of various ages. There we taught songs, crafts, dances of praise, and the Word: basically, everything we would be doing in Romania.
It is important to note that you won’t suddenly become a super skillful minister in the foreign, or even domestic, field if you aren’t well rehearsed in your ministry before you go.
In summary, three things given to you by God are necessary to do a job like this:
1. The call
2. The open door
3. The preparation
Two out of three of these elements won’t be enough. If you have the call but lack the open door or the preparation, ask Jesus to show you how to proceed. If you have the call and the preparation but lack the open door, ask Him for it. Everything comes from a relationship with Him, so ask Him where He would lead you. And then finally, Acts 1:8 (NIV) says:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Ghost comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.”
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