It was right off the heels of the global pandemic in the early Spring of 2021. I had spent almost eight months fundraising for a missions internship back in Tokyo where I was convinced God was calling me. I was ecstatic about going back. More than this, I was ready to revisit and build upon all the gifts that I had discovered that God had equipped me with. In my previous stint in Tokyo, I felt like I belonged there. I had found what my place in ministry could be. Despite all of this excitement, God had different plans. 

            This former sentence is used so often by Christians who are chasing after His will for their lives. It is true! He has a plan. The problem is that we can get so fixated on what we think God’s plan is for our lives that we completely dismiss where He could actually be leading us when it doesn’t happen the way we thought it would. When this happens, there is great confusion and frustration. We ask as innocently as we can, “God, how could this happen? I thought this was your plan for my life!”

            My summer internship back in Tokyo was canceled due to Japan’s hesitancy to reopen its borders after the pandemic. At first, I was distraught! A man much wiser than me said that so often we think God’s will for our lives is a “point A to point B” thing. This is so limiting! In reality, what happens is that on our way from “point A to point B” God reveals an unforeseen path to “point C.” While my trip was canceled to my dismay, I held on to this word from the wise and I prayerfully looked forward to how God was going to use me. I did not know when, nor how, but I expected Him to move regardless. 

            It wasn’t long after I had learned about my trip’s cancellation that another opportunity presented itself to me. God had opened an alternate door. A missions organization called International Missions (IM) brought together a group of young leaders whose trips were similarly canceled. Apparently, Japan was not the only country that took issue with travelers from foreign countries. IM partnered with an organization called Teamwork Missions for an evangelistic trip to the Western United States. The group was small, but one of the members of the group was one of my closest friends Silas Houser. This was exciting news!

            At first, it was easy for me to say “It’s not Japan, but at least it is something.” However, my heart quickly changed. This had to be the “Plan C” route that my friend told me about. It didn’t take long to begin praying over this trip. I didn’t know what my role would be, what to expect, or how the team would get along. I didn’t even know much about Teamwork Missions. I could only trust that God had a plan. That was enough for me. 

            It was the end of June, time for me to fly out to Denver, CO where I would meet someone from Teamwork Missions. I still did not know much about what to expect from this trip, but prayer made it clear to me that I needed to walk with open hands. I was going to accept and do whatever I needed to make this trip meaningful. When I landed, I was met at the airport by a guy with long red hair named Caleb. Little did I know he would become one of my closest friends during this season.

            On our way to the hotel, Caleb began to share with me the work we were going to be doing. This included ministering to inner-city kids, caring for the homeless, working with special needs, and even serving with Native American churches. Right away, I noticed a very important commonality among these ministries. It was ministering to those overlooked and underprivileged! At that time here were homeless people everywhere in Nashville where I studied. I realized that I could hand out Bibles literally anywhere. Anywhere! Why was I not already doing these things? Why do I have to travel across the country on mission trips to be the hands and feet of Jesus? 

             Immediately I fell under great conviction. Why did an opportunity like this have to fall in my lap for me to begin being proactive with the gifts God had given me? Why did I have to wait until I went to Japan or anywhere different to be who God wanted me to be? The answers to these questions were very simple. I didn’t. God was calling me to be more for Him exactly where I was! After this ground-breaking thought, I committed to being more for my Lord where I was. I do not remember where we were, but I remember sharing this with Silas. I have always known Silas to be someone who could hold me accountable and pray alongside me in my convictions. I remember saying to Silas something along the lines of, “I believe God is asking me to start something, but I am unclear as to what it is.”

            This conviction deepened over the course of my trip. One of the moments it did was my time at Pikes Peak. The view from the top is absolutely breathtaking. If you ever get the chance to visit, I highly recommend you do. As they often did, our team leaders gave us a chance to bask in the beauty of God’s creation. For me, this always leads me to a time of sweet and still prayer. There is nothing quite like praying to the Creator of the universe in front of His marvelous handiwork.

            My convictions naturally came up in my prayer. My friend Silas kneeled next to me and we just began to pray over each other’s convictions. We both began to weep and cry, asking the Lord to give us clarity over what He would have us do. It was remarkable. This is where that “something” began to become clear to me. I just needed to be obedient! My conviction required action! I needed to take a step out in faith in obedience and trust that God would guide my steps at every opportunity.

            While my time with Teamwork came to an end, I was still highly determined to be obedient. Being a college student in the greater Nashville area, you kind of take for granted that you reside within a thirty-minute drive of one of the most widely known cities in the country. It dawned on me. I asked myself, “What if we could do in Nashville exactly what we did out West”? I began to gather interest from some of my friends on campus, including Silas. The idea started to grow into a real plan. I intended to take a group of students with me downtown every Tuesday to start Gospel conversations with random people. Before long, this plan began to blossom. We were going out on Tuesdays and then praying together on Thursdays. God’s hand in this was abundantly evident as more students joined the cause. We had multiple groups venturing out into the streets of Nashville with bags full of Bibles. God was moving! 

            In the changing of seasons, the air grew colder. As I walked around the downtown streets, I became increasingly aware of the those who were less fortunate. Homeless people sitting out in the cold while tourists did everything they could to avoid eye contact and steer clear of them. During our time downtown, interaction with the homeless was a regular thing. As the weather grew colder, these interactions became more and more frequent. This was a need that needed to be addressed.

            At the time, we could only give so much! We feared that we would be unable to truly give according to our promises. Yes, we could place a Bible in their hands. That is such a valuable thing! What about compassion though? Jesus had compassion for the blind men outside of Jericho and healed them. Jesus had compassion on the leper and made him clean. What about Jairus’ daughter who “fell asleep”? Jesus also had compassion for her. Christ met their earthly needs for them to know the heavenly realities. No, we are not miracle workers by any means, but we had to do something to address this rapidly increasing need. 

            Thus, our focus shifted! We started collecting coats, gloves, socks, beanies, blankets, hand-warmers, and anything that we could get our hands on to help keep those in need warm. We stuffed all the linens we could in our bags and began to do what we could to meet immediate needs while sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. Pretty soon, we had people donating old clothes that we could give out too. I remember one person decided that his monthly offering would go towards our ministry so he bought clothes for us to give out. Not a single item was handed out without prayer. God continued to show His favor to us through our efforts. Real gospel conversations were happening. Seeds were being planted. All we had to do was trust that God would continue to grow it! 

            Well, I officially became a missionary in December of 2022. I soon graduated and began raising support to move to the field where I serve today. I needed to look ahead! Nashville Outreach would need new leadership. If I can be honest, I feared that it would slowly fizzle out after I graduated. However, I have been overwhelmingly surprised to see God’s continuous hand of favor on this ministry. God is so incredible! I would never have imagined that Nashville Outreach would continue to grow to this extent after I left. This is what happens when you strive for obedience to Jesus!

            We often find ourselves in this vicious cycle: God’s call leads to conviction, conviction leads to desire, and desire leads to doubt. That doubt is where that initial conviction can get lost! Over time the cycle starts again. If you are reading this, please understand… conviction requires action. Be obedient to what God is calling you to. Take that step of faith and trust Him! He is waiting for you to do so. You will be pleasantly surprised at what God does with that faith.