To be a Christian means to be an imitator of Christ which we are called to do in Ephesians 5:1 as we are His children. So are we all living a life as imitators of Christ? Are we living our life through Him? Are we doing everything we can to glorify His name? These are the questions that I have to ask myself time and time again as I become closer in my relationship with Christ.
My childhood was one that wasn’t the greatest, as my parents were divorced and we had a split family. So my sister and I lived with my mom and my brother and my other sister with my dad. Soon as my mom began going through a tough time of continuous struggles in her life we all moved with my dad. This strung out a series of great disappointments, as my mom became almost a side note in my life. Time after time I had a feeling of abandonment as I couldn’t begin to understand how she didn’t want me in her life. This became a reoccurring theme throughout elementary school, jr. high, and high school. So here I was carrying all this baggage into an FCA meeting with all of my peers, in which Terry Boshart gave a message about building a relationship with God. He talked about God’s everlasting love and how it cannot be shaken. I realized at this time God could be the solid backing in my life and that He would never fail me as I had been failed so many times before. So as high school continued I started to become more involved in FCA, the Baptist Youth Group, C.O.R.N. and many others.
My salvation story where I realized that I need Christ was at C.O.R.N., Christian Outreach to Rural Nebraska. Scott Peace asked us, have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever lusted? Have you ever lied? Of course all of these answers were “yes” as I believe they would be with all of you. These are 3 of the 10 Commandments I had broken them, therefore I was a sinner. God however is a forgiving god and tells us that if we come to him and confess our sins and repent we shall be cleansed. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I realized that I needed Christ in my life for I wanted eternal life in heaven as I knew his love could not be shaken. Scripture in Matthew 6:19 – 21 states, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” So when we think of the Godly Kingdom, rather than the earthly kingdom we have to have a change from inside to out as the earthly kingdom is a change of outside to in. We have to first have a change in the heart to accept Christ and to live our lives for Him and we switch from the power over to the power under. We are at his mercy and through him we find our purpose.
So as I had made the change from the inside to out, my story of first listening to Christ begins on how I choose to go to a Christian college, to listen to God in the way He told me where to go to school. Christian college was a place that I thought I would never go as I had already committed to going to UNL; however an admissions counselor at Hesston College was very persistent and kept in touch with me asking me to reconsider. As he continued to try to persuade me, he made a few trips to Nebraska, which is a four hour drive. I was a student who was average, my scores on the ACT weren’t spectacular and I certainly didn’t have a 4.0 GPA. I was so confused to why he was so persistent, but in the end realized it wasn’t just him being persistent it was God working through him. As I had already been saved I had been pointed to 1 Corinthians 7:23-24 “You were bought at a price, therefore do not become slaves of men. Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him too.” As this happened I realized this was him speaking to me and to have faith in Him and he would deliver. Hesston became a place where I grew in my faith being surrounded by a caring and nurturing Christian environment. When I went to Hesston it was a big leap in faith for me because I didn’t know anyone and I didn’t know what a Mennonite was. So this is when I heard God speak to me and told me to rely on Him as he would guide me through this journey. As my time concluded at Hesston I saw many of my friends answering the call of God to the mission’s field. This is something that I struggled to understand, as I was someone wanting to finish school and get my career started.
Today I am at UNL and I have reached the same destiny I once had, just took a detour to learn more about God and how important He is in my life. With that detour today I am much stronger in my faith than I believe I ever would have been and I am more open to the work of God. UNL presents many temptations, but as I have taken a path to learn and grow more in my faith these become only minor obstacles. So as I listen to Christ more and He brings people into my life I can see Him working in others to speak to me on my purpose in life. Recently He has spoke to me and called me to the mission field as many of you have become aware.
I will be doing mission work with YWAM, Youth With A Mission. The program I’ll be participating in is a 5 month program called a Discipleship Training School (DTS). It consists of two phases: lectures which are the first three months, and outreach which is the last two months. During the lecture phase there will be a different speaker each week, covering a variety of topics such as Character of God, Hearing God’s Voice, Missions and Calling and Vision. The final two months will be the application phase, or outreach, where I will get a chance to apply what I learned during my time in Newcastle. Outreach locations vary for each school and I won’t know my location until lecture phase begins, but some of the recent locations have been India, Thailand, Mexico, Fiji and South Africa.
The DTS program in Newcastle, Australia is one that intrigued me because they have a program on Saturdays called Youth Street. Youth Street is a dynamic youth ministry that uses skating, surfing, music, dance, art and sports to impact youth 12-17 years old for Jesus. Each Saturday afternoon sees 60 or more youth, many unchurched, participating in current youth subcultures and meeting God in a way that they understand.
The story of me being saved and coming to a life of Christian ideals is probably similar to many of yours. In the respect that I was brought to church regularly as a kid and attended many church functions. In high school I had many opportunities to grow in my faith through FCA, Youth Group, C.O.R.N., and several others. So I became a part of all of these organizations and learned about Christ and how he can be a huge part of my life. I heard these words and believed they were true, but I never really took them in and applied His teaching to my life. I lived a life of impurity and thought that I was a Christian because I went to church and I believe in God. Believing in its Greek meaning as interpreted in the Bible, is a change in ownership from being owned by satin, sin, and death to eternal life with Christ. Today, as I stand before you as a true believer of Christ cleansed in His blood. Are you living your life as imitators of Christ? Are you living your life through him? Are you living your life to glorify his name? So as a disciple of Jesus I pass along his words in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up the cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
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