When I was a young girl, I prayed fervently, “Oh God, whatever you do with me, please do not make me a missionary to Africa!”
And now, having completed two short-term trips to that continent, I can say that all my years in Christian school and Bible studies – while valuable – cannot compare to the spiritual growth and communion with God that I experience when I allow myself to be torn away from everything familiar and be wholly reliant on God.
Thanks to my stubborn heart, God sometimes has to take me to a hard place to teach me things about myself and about Him. Though I had knowledge of biblical principles and an arsenal of Bible verses memorized, it wasn’t until I saw these truths in action that they became truly alive and soldered onto my heart.
I studied up on servanthood, but after experiencing the generosity and warm hospitality of those who have very little resources, I now humbly reconsider how much more I could be giving.I read about being thankful, but after seeing a man in an African village beg a visiting American student to take his 8-year-old son home with her so he might escape the grip of poverty, I now ponder just what I did to deserve birth into a developed nation.
I heard Jesus say, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me,” but after watching a Rwandan boy leap with joy at the sight of his American sponsor and exclaim, “Praise God! Praise God!” I now can’t deny that one person’s generosity can transform the world of someone in need.
As for me, I rejoice because God hears my prayers. And I’m so glad He doesn’t always say “yes.” Mary Euler studied journalism, photography and Spanish at the University of Arizona in Tucson, her home town. She now lives in Phoenix and works in the Artist Program Department at Food for the Hungry. Mary enjoys traveling, creating art and playing with children.
