Pray. Give. Go... or DIsobey.

I loved when missionaries would visit my church when I was a little girl. I knew I would see slides of foreign lands, hear stories about the people in those countries, and maybe get to hear someone speak in a different language. When the offering plate was passed, I happily gave a dollar from my piggy bank, hoping that it would bless the missionary and their work for the Lord. All this fascinated me, but deep down I felt nervous when missionaries came to visit. Was God calling me to go to a foreign land? Would He one day send me away from my family? Little did I know that the Lord was stirring inside my heart a desire to tell others about Jesus in a country not my own. Those nerves I felt was a tugging from the Holy Spirit.

Fast forward to my junior year in college. I attended a conference over Christmas break with Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). During this conference I knew I had heard from the Lord. He was asking me to step out in obedience and go. Where? I wasn’t quite sure yet, but I knew that the hardest part of surrender was underway so I would wait until the Lord directed my steps. Turns out, He called me to a creative access nation the summer after my junior year. I would spend six weeks with a group of college students in East Asia submersing myself in a foreign culture, taking language classes, and building relationships with students on the local college campus. Ministry in this creative access nation did not look like what I thought “true missions work” would. Weren’t all missionaries called to lead local Vacation Bible Schools, plant churches, and make disciples weekly? Not here. Not in my chosen country. Those actions could have come with serious consequences. Our ministry looked more like making friends in the college cafeteria, going out shopping with girls from my campus, and eventually building trust so I could turn the conversations to the Lord. As we worked in this way, God moved mountains and grew my faith.

Matthew 17:20

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

I developed a relationship with a girl who I will call “V.” She and I hit it off from the start, as she showed me outdoor tea houses, and I taught her English words like “puppy.” She even accompanied me to a downtown jewelry store where I bought my then-fiancé’s wedding band (ask David to see his ring purchased from this store!). One day our conversation turned to Christianity and like a sponge, she soaked up everything I could tell her about this new God. She told me she wanted to give her life to the Lord, and I was blessed to lead her in a prayer of repentance. We began walking through beginners Christianity concepts, like how to pray and how to read the Bible. It was so thrilling to watch this new little rosebud of a believer start to blossom.

After leaving her country, I was concerned about what would happen to V. We had introduced her to some long-term missionaries in her city who could disciple her, but still I worried that her faith would wane over time. Was her conversion real? Was she going to grow in her walk with the Lord? I knew that I had to turn this new sister in Christ over to the Lord and trust that the same faith that saved her would seal and sustain her.

II Corinthians 1:20-22

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

We kept in touch from time to time through email, but as with many friendships, our lives got busy, and we lost touch. I knew that my season of “going” had closed for the time being, but I could still pray for her, the city that she lived in, and the country that had stolen my heart. I could trust that God would supply her needs and keep her safe in a family and a country that did not know Him. One day, twenty years later, and very much to my surprise, she found me on social media. I couldn’t believe it! She told me that she and her husband were moving to America, and she asked me if I knew about a city called Cary. I could not believe that the Lord was going to reunite me and this woman after all this time… and in my home state no less!

One very rainy day in July 2024, twenty-two years after we met across the globe, we sat down at a restaurant in Cary, NC. We couldn’t talk fast enough, catching each other up on our lives over the last two decades. “I’m married now, Dori,” she told me, “and my husband loves Jesus, too.”

He loves Jesus, too.

Those words delighted my heart. She was still in love with Jesus and had found another Christian in her country who loved Jesus like she did. What a full-circle moment that grew my own faith.

God did not need me to GO, but He used me to tell this girl about Him.

God did not need me to PRAY, but He had answered my prayers by keeping her safe and growing her love for Him.

God did not need me to GIVE that dollar as a child, but He was preparing a love for missions in me from a young age.

We have a choice when it comes to sharing the Gospel. As our pastor has told us, we can pray, give, go, or disobey. I am so grateful that this time I obeyed. I would have missed out on the blessing of meeting V and leading her to Christ , and then seeing the Lord radically change her life. He certainly didn’t need to give me any “update” on her. I could have just gotten to Heaven and had the reunion there! But isn’t it like our God to do exceedingly above all we can ask or imagine?

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

I pray that the Lord stirs in your own heart a love for missions. As we participate in Missions Conference at our church this year, will you decide to obey the Lord by praying, giving, or even going? Will you step out in obedience and declare that your heart will beat for what the Lord’s heart beats – that His name is known over all the earth.

Romans 10:15

And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Prayer Points:

~ Father, stir our hearts for missions that we will pray for our missionaries, give to those who You have called and go serve with them in the field.

~ Remind us, Lord, that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. We pray for new laborers to rise up!

~ Thank You for involving us in world missions, God! You allow us to be a part of the one thing that impacts eternity – sharing Your Gospel!

Heavenly Father, I am still amazed at Your goodness over my life. I am grateful that You sowed a seed of love for missions in my young heart, and that You allowed me to be a small part in Your faith story for V. Continue to bless her and her husband as they grow in their walk with You. Teach us that we all have a part to play in sharing the Gospel. May it be an urgent yearning of our hearts to tell others about Jesus. In His precious Name we pray, Amen.

Dori Franklin

Flourish Women’s Ministry

Mid-Way Baptist Church