For those called to live overseas to take the gospel to the nations, God could confirm that calling in an instant. But that’s not always the case. God could gradually lead someone to a missionary life over the course of years.
That’s what happened to Caitlin.
Caitlin’s Introduction to Missions
As a freshman in college, Caitlin was excited about architecture. It was a field she found both enjoyable and challenging. It seemed like a great fit for her detail-oriented mind.
She also quickly got involved in college ministry to fellowship with other believers on campus. There, Caitlin learned about the global need for the gospel and that there were people around the world who didn’t know Jesus. God began stirring a desire in her heart to do something about that.
When the opportunity arose to go on a mission trip to Southeast Asia, Caitlin was nervous to sign up. She had participated in mission trips to other college campuses in the United States, but she had never done ministry overseas. Still, she felt God tugging on her heart to go.
The trip did not go as well as she had hoped. While other people on the team of students saw locals profess faith in Jesus, Caitlin didn’t see anyone accept the gospel when she shared. Caitlin felt disappointed as the team traveled back to the United States, but God reminded her that her presence on the trip made a bigger impact than she realized.
Not long after the overseas mission trip, Caitlin was on a plane again to study abroad in Europe. The small town where she and other other architecture students were staying didn’t have an English-speaking church. So, Caitlin and a couple of students who attended the college ministry decided to start a house church to reach other students in the study abroad program. While she didn’t plan on this program becoming a ministry opportunity, she loved getting to tell other students about Jesus.
By the time spring semester rolled around, architecture was not as appealing as it used to be. Caitlin still enjoyed the subject, but her heart was being drawn toward missions. She spent 30 days journaling and asking God what He had for her. In that time, the Lord opened her eyes to a specific unreached people group in Central Asia. Caitlin felt called to help reach this people group in some way, though she didn’t know yet what that looked like.
Processing a Career Change
Toward the end of her bachelor’s degree program, two opportunities arose—a job at an architecture firm and an internship in the Middle East. Caitlin wanted to pursue both, and her boss at the architecture firm graciously allowed her to delay her start date to partake in the internship.
Caitlin loved the internship. She experienced team dynamics on the mission field, learned how to find persons of peace, and grew in her prayer life. The city where she lived during the internship was an international hub for people from all over the world. As she prayed for people to share the gospel with, she repeatedly ran into people from Central Asia and the people group the Lord had put on her heart. It was like God was giving her little nudges toward a life in missions.
But, she still had the job at the architecture firm after the internship. She worked at the firm for about two years and enjoyed it for some time. But when her job became increasingly stressful, Caitlin went to a coffee shop and talked to God about what He might have for her. A friend had recently told her about East-West, and she prayed to God about what it might look like for her to work there. On a whim, Caitlin looked up what positions were open at East-West. She saw a job in the Short-Term Mission Teams Department that seemed to match all of her interests, and she sensed the Lord opening the door for her to step into missions.
Stepping Into Missions
After a lot of prayer, processing, interviews, and raising support, Caitlin began working at East-West, helping short-term mission teams with logistics and travel arrangements. As part of her job, she was tasked with helping a missionary couple deploy to Central Asia, where they would work among the specific unreached people group Caitlin had been praying over for years. In her heart, Caitlin felt that helping these missionaries get to Central Asia was a completion of what God had put on her heart—getting the gospel to these unreached people. Still, a part of her still wondered whether she could be a missionary in Central Asia someday.
She developed a friendship with the missionary couple and kept in touch with them regularly. The husband often invited her to come join their team, but Caitlin kept saying it wasn’t the right time.
One spring, Caitlin and her friends planned a trip to Europe and the Middle East. As she talked to her boss about the trip, she half-joked about adding Central Asia to her itinerary since it was so close. Her boss responded, “You should do it!”
This terrified her. What if she visited and loved it there? What would she lose at home if she decided to become a missionary there? She took her fears to the Lord, and God confirmed in her heart and head that she should visit the missionary team in Central Asia.
A Calling Confirmed
It turns out what she feared came true—she loved Central Asia and being among the unreached people there. The passion God had put in her heart years ago was now clearly a call to become a missionary to Central Asia.
Suddenly, Caitlin was filled with a mix of joy and loss. She would need to leave friends, family, and familiarity to move across the world. And yet, she felt the joy of being sent by God to do something she had only dreamed about.
Over the course of seven years, God was weaving a story through Caitlin that eventually led her to the nations. She is now in the first few weeks of her deployment to Central Asia. It’s a lot of change and adjustment, but she knows God is constant and will carry her through it.
