I used to want to change the world. In high school; even throughout the majority of my college career, I wanted to do something big for Jesus. I wanted to take the Gospel into places where it had never gone before. I wanted to be known for changing the future of an entire country. I wanted to be written about in history books centuries from now.
In my flesh, I still want those things. Yet, as I study the lives of some of the greatest world-changers for Christ, I have (thankfully) drifted away from that mentality.
William Carey, known as the “Father of Modern Missions”, was a shoemaker with a middle school education. After overcoming endless barriers, he arrived with his wife in Calcutta, India on November 19, 1793. After seven years, the deterioration of his wife’s mind, disease and family deaths, Carey saw his first convert for Christ. His dedication sustained him on the field for 40 years. Among many other achievements, Carey founded Serampore College, the first college in Asia’s history to award a degree. Carey called out to a fellow missionary on his death bed: “Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey. When I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey - speak about Dr. Carey’s God.”
Men like William Carey, Hudson Taylor, and Adoniram Judson are worthy role models for a reason. They didn’t desire fame, fortune, or even to do good things. They simply wanted to serve. More than anything, they wanted to be a tool in the hands of a loving God, passionate for the unreached of the world. They wanted God to be known more than they wanted to be known themselves.
As I enter the next chapter of my life, that is my prayer. That the one desire of my heart would be that God would use an unqualified servant like me for His glory. In time, we will begin to see what that looks like. God has given me an unquenchable passion to use education to take the Gospel to the unreached people of this world. I want to devote my life to giving children the opportunity to succeed in this world through education, and through the Gospel, live eternally in the next. I feel the Lord is calling me to start this project in Southern Sudan. More about that later.
I’d like to think that God will use me in this new chapter of life to influence others to adopt a similar mentality. I’m so guilty of getting caught up my own reputation, that I forget to give sole credit to my Creator. May His name be the only name that resounds in the hearts of men when my days on Earth are no more.
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