The Calling

This blog is not a tribute to the great band of the 2000's, The Calling, whose classic alt rock hit "Wherever You Will Go" spawned sappy romantic montages in movies for years to come. Although, that is a possible blog topic for the future. But I digress...

Nope, this blog is about the previous week of teaching in my School of Ministry Development [SOMD] here at YWAM Orlando. Dean Sangrey, my school leader and training director here at the base, spoke in my school about our personal calling and how it effects our future ministry. Plenty of people can do ministry without a calling, and still accomplish much for the Kingdom. But the sharper we can make our calling, the more effective our lives will be. If we know what we are aiming for, we are more likely to hit it.

So we spent past week in class discussing why a calling is important and how to discover that calling. Asking yourself questions such as what is your personal history, your talents, your spiritual gifts, your acquired skills, your desires and your values can really help give you a clear picture of where you are called. For me, there's a lot of overlap between my personal childhood and interests I had in childhood to what I am burdened for today to what I value. I saw the common thread. And I knew I was getting close to a calling.

Dean also challenged us to write a mission statement for our lives. A mission statement is a written down reason for living. It's what we want to be remembered by. It's not our job, our role or our to-do list. Here's mine...

My mission is value, defend & restore freedom and truth to those in captivity.

As we moved from mission statement to vision, I was able to dream about what it would look like if my mission statement is lived out. And I began to see more of what I'd be doing here at YWAM Orlando. My most obvious passion and what is driving me into missions is the desire to see an end to human trafficking. Freedom. But freedom isn't merely physical. It's spiritual, emotional, and mental as well. I desire to bring freedom to others in all aspects. Whether they are enslaved in a brothel in Asia or studying as a middle-class college student here in the States. When Jesus preached his first sermon beginning His public ministry, this was His message:

"God's Spirit is on me;
he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, "This is God's year to act!" - Luke 4:18-19

Freedom is the key. It's what is taking me to Nepal this summer. It's what is bringing back to Orlando in the fall. It's my calling.