(From Kourtnie Watt, MCN Mobilizer and former Asia mission partner)
Am I called to overseas mission work? Is now the right time to go? What does God want me to do with my future? Am I the right person for being a missionary?
Questions – we all have them. I know I did before I went overseas! Overseas mission work was not something I had considered as a full-time position until I was asked to join Mission of Christ Network and serve in Hong Kong. It seemed like a gamble, and I had so many questions.
Why Hong Kong? Why now? How would I fundraise? Where would I live? What would it look like when I came back? What if I don’t like it? Why can’t I go somewhere that speaks Spanish? (I had a Spanish minor.)
However, one question changed things: Why not now?
I certainly felt God tugging my heart to serve Him overseas despite my questions. If I did feel God calling me, why not now? For me, there was not a good answer to that question. There was nothing (other than the plan I had deemed to be what God wanted for me) standing in the way of serving him overseas. So I had to wrestle with Him about that.
After long talks and prayers, I had even less of a reason for why I couldn’t go now. When I said, “Ok, Lord, I will go now,” He started to answer those other questions. Before I even stepped into the mission field, I had to learn to rely on God’s plan and provision for me and all my questions.
Maybe you have been considering overseas mission work and have questions. Our great God works through questioning. Maybe you do have a very good answer to “Why not now?” God gives those, too. I hope my story can be evidence that it is okay to have questions and that God uses those questions to create dependency on Him. One of my favorite parts of my job as an MCN mobilizer is hearing questions about mission work because I get to see God at work in those questions.
The offer is there. If you have questions like mine, reach out! I would love to walk with you in those questions and see where Christ is leading you. – Kourtnie Watt
