If you have not done so yet, don't forget to read part 1 first: Why I am a Missionary (Part 1)
"We were in this apartment and all of a sudden, I started praying over you."
She then looked at me like I was going to think she was crazy at the next thing she was about to say.
"And then, all of a sudden, I started praying in tongues over you.
And as I was praying in tongues over you, God had me prophesy over you.
'Colby, God knows you feel abandoned right now.
He says that He knows you think that things aren't going to work out,
but He wants you to know that He is a God of His promises.
He knows that you don't think that this will come to fruition,
but He wants you to continue being obedient.
He says that though things have been very difficult that He's so proud of you,
He's proud that you've been obedient through it all.'"
That's when I completely lost it.
"He's proud of me?" I thought.
She went on for another minute or two simply 'reading my mail.'
I found myself silent in a puddle of my own tears.
Then, out of nowhere, she gave me that look again.
"And as I was prophesying over you, the Lord gave me a vision.
Now I don't know what this means, but the Lord told me to tell you."
I, sobbing like a baby by this point, said to her, "Go ahead."
"The Lord showed me that you aren't going to be planted in one church here in America, you're going to be connecting churches all over America to churches overseas to help create the unified body of Christ."
What?
Utterly stunned.
"Now I don't know what all that means, but God told me to tell you.
I want to encourage you to go up to your apartment and pray about it."
"Yes ma'am," I said as I exited and went straight up to soak it in.
After sitting with the Lord on this for a while, He gave me more details, reminded me of when He told me "Georgia", and told me to contact Seth Barnes at Adventures in Missions – more clarity and direction if you will. "Okay God, now that you have given me more clarity and direction, I'll move."
I sent Seth an e-mail with a simple version of what you read above and received a reply saying,
"You've got a good vision. It's pretty much what we do through our Church to Church program.
You may want to talk to Bruce Dawson who heads it up. It could be that working for Church to Church you could fulfill this vision…"
I later learned from Bruce that Church to Church was birthed out of a vision to connect American churches with Haitian churches to not only bring relief but also bridge the gap and build sustainable, long-term relationships. What is now Church to Church began to be built from the ground up by God Himself directly after the Haiti earthquake on January 12, 2010 and has continued ever since. Now, just over three years later, Church to Church has expanded to 16 available countries and counting.
After much talk and prayer, Bruce encouraged me to at least come and see what Church to Church was all about. Through my reluctancy to give up the possibility of staying in Texas forever, I bought a plane ticket. It was planned that I would stay for five days in Gainesville, get a feel for things, then head back to Texas. No big deal, right?
A few weeks before leaving for Georgia,
I was offered a premier coaching job – one that I had always wanted.
Curve ball.
My Georgia plans immediately turned into a five day vacation (Bruce didn't know).
Mind you, I had an attitude that went a little something like this:
"God, I know what I'm good at, I know what I want to do, and I know what I can do."
During this time of complete selfishness, I felt God say to me what I have recently discovered has been a lingering theme over my life at a few certain pivotal points,
"Colby, I know what you're good at, I know what you want to do, and I know what you can do, but if you'd quit looking at what's right in front of your face and trust me a little bit, I'll show you what I can do."
Ouch!
Humbled yet still torn, I hopped on that plane for Georgia.
As soon as I arrived, I felt like flesh was being ripped from bone.
No matter how hard I fought and told myself "no," things were lining up.
As the days went by, I found that I was telling myself,
Day one: "There's a 20% chance that I'm coming here."
Day two: "There's a 40% chance that I'm coming here."
Day three: "There's a 50% chance that I'm coming here."
Day four: "There's a 60% chance that I'm coming here."
And as bad as I wanted to deny it,
more and more things were lining up and by day five I was convinced,
"There's an 80% chance that I'm coming here."
As Bruce was driving me back to the airport, He looked at me with a hesitant look and said,
"I don't normally say things like this because I don't want to persuade you one way or the other,
but I feel like I'm suppose to tell you this."
Not knowing how to respond I said, "Okay…"
Bruce continued, "We interviewed a number of guys for this position in Church to Church,
all whom had extensive experience, spiritual maturity, and everything it took to be great,
but none of it made any sense and we didn't know why.
Now we know why. This is a complete orchestration of the Father and this program is yours.
If you want to work for Church to Church and become a full-time missionary, it's yours."
Stunned for about the 50th time in the last five days, I hesitantly told Bruce,
"I tell you what, I'm about 80% sure that I'm coming, but I want to go back home and pray through it for two more weeks and ask God for more clarity. At the end of two weeks, I'll let you know whether I'm coming or not."
All along, I still didn't want to move.
I was torn to pieces, reluctant to simply say 'yes'.
About a week and a half into it, I felt God say to me,
"Colby, how much more clarity do you want?
I've enlarged your territory, I've laid your footsteps before you, and I've given this to you.
It's yours.
Go.
Take it."
I called Bruce, told him the news, and prepared for what was about to be the biggest change of my life, dropping all that I knew and becoming a fully support raised Christian missionary.
Now if I were to tell you that that was that and it's been smooth sailing ever since,
I would be lying to you.
I arrived to Georgia a month and a half later with no financial supporters and no place to live,
standing firm on the Provision Himself, though I had nothing directly in front of my face.
It has been just over a year now and I find myself finally beginning to understand the reality and truth behind Peter's response to Jesus when he and the other eleven disciples were asked, "are you going to leave me too?"
"But Jesus, to whom else would we go?"
And so the story goes…
A few more of my favorite pictures from this past year:
If you would like to join in the next year(s) of my journey, I would love to e-mail you, encourage you, pray for you, and serve you in any capacity that I am capable.
Please e-mail me at [email protected]. I would love to stay in contact with you!
If God is moving you to financially support me, please do so here. (Email me with any questions.)
To find out how to go with me as I minister or even connect your church, e-mail me.
For more information on Church to Church, check out our new information booklet here.
Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to this blog to receive email updates every time I post a new blog.
You've blessed me for one full year, now let's go for another!
