Decision-Making and God's Perspective

• "Oh no… It's been several weeks since Urbana, but I haven't signed up with a mission agency yet. Am I out of God's will?"
• "How will I ever decide?!"
• "I think God and my parents have very different ideas about what's best for my life…"
• "Urbana still doesn't make sense to me."

Part 3: Until everything is about Jesus 

In Part 1 of my testimony "What does obedience look like?", I shared about God’s call, my struggle to say yes, and having a glimpse of what obedience looks like. In Part 2 "Holding onto the things I cannot see", I shared about my struggles with the fear of disappointment, what ifs, and learning to let go of the things I see to hold on to the things unseen.

Part 2: Holding onto the things I cannot see 

In Part 1 of my testimony "What does obedience look like?", I shared about God’s call, my struggle to say yes, and having a glimpse of what obedience looks like.

The journey of obedience is still not easy. I was still fearful, and insecure but not as lonely. In 2021, I started meeting people who are walking the same journey as me, and I felt that I found my tribe. I became more involved in mission mobilization and made good friends. Yet, the fear never left, it was hunting me. I was still so scared about the unknown, and another fear appeared, the fear of disappointment.

Part 1: What does obedience look like? 

"When God calls me, I'll pack up my bags and go."

This is what I used to believe, and I thought I had the faith to do it.

We Made It!

I know us old folk serving as exhibitors and staff at Urbana 2022 were proudly declaring this at the very end of the year and rolling into 2023, the official end of a marathon of a conference. But on our last day in the Connections Hall, I was comforted by the fact that many of the students I was praying for were also pretty exhausted! Let's say it again: We made it!

Diversity AND Unity

The prevailing theme over Urbana today was this idea of unity across diversity, love across division. I was already experiencing stirrings of this on Wednesday, but like any good teacher, the Holy Spirit is patiently using repetition to drive the point home. 

What is your one next step?

Tonight at Urbana, when introducing Bishop Claude Alexander, Anna "ah-yee" Lee-Winans prefaced with this question: What is your one next step? Bishop Alexander then walked us through the story of Stephan in Acts, expounding a little further upon how we can discern the next step. That next step is often "accepting God's call to what is known."

The feeling started to come over me even as I was browsing the bookstore at the back of the Connection Hall. Exhibitors had yesterday and today to get set up, and yesterday SIM finished in four hours. I got the chance to meander among the other exhibitors and the bookstore in the calm before the storm of thousands of students thundering through the conference halls. 

We have made it to Urbana! Boy, what a trip it has been so far. And we're only getting started...

It didn’t take long for me to start feeling my age. I moved to Japan just two years removed from university, and from there most of my learning “to adult” happened abroad. During my first term as an SIM/Asian Access missionary, I spent the summer mentoring short-term missionaries who came to serve through our internship program.

In 2015, I made the transition from English teacher in Japan to missionary in Japan. Coming from a non-Christian background, I had quite a few conversations with family members who were trying to understand my decision. As an English teacher, I was doing good work and getting paid well for it, right? Why couldn’t I just keep doing that?

I recently scoured the internet archives to find the blog I started in 2011 as an English teacher in Japan, about five years before getting connected with SIM and Asian Access missionaries. After over a decade of calling Japan home, I wanted to see with fresh eyes how young Bethany encountered Japan. How did God lead me there? How was I listening and following the voice of my Good Shepherd then?

From Urbana to Japan!

Did you go to Urbana '22? Let's reconnect...

Urbana is a huge student missions conference sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship...