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The Echo
Taylor University, Upland, IN
Friday, April 26, 2024
The Echo
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When WOW becomes ow

By Chrysa Keenon | Echo

This week, a sea of tables awaited students at the top of the DC. There, hopeful hands of adults you've never met, itched to pass out pamphlets for Christian summer camps and mission abroad trips. You probably didn't know some. And you might have wanted to serve with another one your life. That, ladies and gentlemen, was World Opportunities Week (WOW).

I'll be honest-the booths at the top of the DC intimidated me. Whenever I don't stop to talk to someone with an open attitude and brochures at the ready, I feel a small amount of guilt. What if I was being called by God to stop to talk to that person or that organization, and I completely ignored them because I was late to Advanced Media Writing?

I haven't served on a mission trip. I haven't been proactive with converting people, and I haven't ever had a deep conversation with a person from another faith to try to get them to know God. However, this doesn't make me a bad Christian. My desire for people to know God is still there, and my drive for world change is still present.

My desire for people to know God exists in the simple expression of getting up every day and going to classes. We aren't all called to be part of a life-changing mission. That's okay. Our calling in life might lead us to be students or tutors or piano teachers. Every act we do should be done for whatever calling we feel led to, thus glorifying God in the process.

So if you spoke to a ministry member at a booth this week and felt a sense of peace, don't question it. Follow your instincts, and the Holy Spirit will lead you to where you need to be. If you spoke to someone and it didn't feel right, then maybe that particular mission work isn't for you. God might be wanting you to serve him in another way. If you're like me and avoided eye contact with those people, don't worry.

God likes to surprise us. You might have never thought you would be working as a summer camp counselor and training young people to play paintball during day while learning about Jesus at night, but that might be how God uses you to touch another person's life. Life doesn't give you a syllabus. God tends to catch us by surprise when we least expect it.