Tripping over the Phone [2/5]

Today continues my Testimony. You can read Part 1 if you missed it. (BTW: This is my 1500th post... rather appropriate topic I think for such a milestone)

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At church in high school I went on three mission trips that covered a good part of the western states. From Washington we traveled to Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico. Our primary purpose on most of the trips was to support a Native American Christian Conference by running Vacation Bible Schools for the kids while the parents were busy in the conference. I learned a lot about different kinds of service, patience, and flexibility on those trips. My youth leader at the time, Glen Schaumloeffel, really was an excellent example of a Godly man in my life at that time. From his example I learned a lot about leadership, flexibility, and being a good husband. (Not that I needed to use the last part in high school…)

In my High School I was learning a lot about who I was more and more as a person at the same time I was learning about who I was in serving God at church. I got involved in drama and eventually joined the select drama troupe at the high school. King’s Players had a mission to do drama in the school and to also spread the love of God to people around the world via a 45-minute pantomime set to music that presented the gospel. The years I was on the team we went to Slovakia and Italy. This was first international experience with Christian believers and the thing that still amazes me about God is that you don’t have to speak in any special language for God to understand you. Hymns sung in Slovak are still heard and understood by Him as much as the songs I sing every Sunday. It was at that time that I came to realize that God is much bigger than I think He is.

It was during my second mission trip in high school with church that I came upon an idea as an “ideal” job for myself. My ideal of a dream job would be to do computer support for missionaries all over the globe.

After high school with my national and international missions experience I attended two Urbana missions conferences. It was interesting to see so many missionaries in one place and to have so many Christians worshiping in one place. It was also a kind of strange way to see God’s provision for my life as on the first trip there I hadn’t really planned on going until the very last minute and had no place to stay, food, or plan. God provided however and I learned about His provision and missions at the same time.

The first part of college was a kind of rough time for me because a lot of my friends went off to college and universities and I stayed at home and did Community College. During this time I learned to work through issues of loneliness. I came to understand more about myself when I am alone, and to not fear being alone.

I went through community college and worked at the same time, this really taught me a lot about time management and balancing what I thought was important with what other people were telling me was important. (church and the world) During this time I threw myself into some church activities as well and joined the college worship band. Truly there is something great about leading worship with a group of other people in harmony for the Lord. The previous leader and piano player were to be married and I was asked to step in and lead the group. At this point I needed a piano player and picked a young lady who was looking to get more involved at church as well. That young lady and I ended up dating and she is now my wife.

To be continued...

~B.