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“I felt like God was calling me to international missions since my senior year of high school, but I was too afraid and had plenty of excuses of why God had obviously picked the wrong person,” said Amanda. Amanda was active in her local church and pursuing college when her previous call to cross-cultural missions kept tugging at her heart.

After her church hosted a Global Impact Celebration with The Mission Society, “I knew that I couldn’t run anymore. I finally surrendered and told God that I was willing to go wherever He wanted me to go.”

After going through the application process, Amanda was accepted as a Mission Society intern. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but the mobilization consultants at The Mission Society were wonderful as they walked me through the process. They suggested that I serve as an intern. It definitely put me to ease knowing that I could go somewhere for a couple of months and explore my call to mission.”

Amanda boarded a plane to Kenya and spent the summer serving with Into Abba’s Arms (IAA), an orphanage in Kinangop. “I was so nervous because I was the only American. I lived in the dorms with the kids and worked with the IAA staff. I helped care and play with the children, cleaned the dorms, and helped with some of the office work that needed to be done. My primary role was working with the short-term mission teams who were coming to serve through IAA. I helped the staff and teams communicate and plan, and then got to go out with the teams as they served the community of Kinangop.”

“I had been so afraid to leave my family in Tennessee, but God had already established a family for me in Kenya. God demonstrated His love and grace for me repeatedly in Kenya through so many situations. He assured me that if He was going to send me somewhere, He already had it all taken care of. I just need to be obedient.”

After the internship ended, Amanda returned home. She helped her church plan their next Global Impact Celebration (GIC). “It was important for me to participate in planning the GIC this year because I want my church family to get what God has given me. I was raised in the church and I accepted Christ as my Savior at the age of seven. However, I have never experienced the awesomeness of God like I have in the past year!  It is not until we truly step out in faith that we get to experience the amazing power of God. It is incredible how much you learn about God’s power and love when you can’t rely on your own strength and resources anymore.

“Through helping with the GIC I was able to see what God is doing in my church family. God has also shown me that what He is calling me to does not begin or end based on The Mission Society sending me somewhere. God can use me while I am here at home!” 

Amanda is currently pursuing a degree in social work. She also works at Cornerstone of Recovery, a drug and alcohol treatment center, and Life Way Christian bookstore. “After I graduate, I’d like to do another internship with The Mission Society. Then I want to get a Master’s in Christian counseling with a specialization in grief and trauma. Then I plan to move overseas long-term!”

“If you really feel God is leading you to cross-cultural ministry, do it. Do it despite your fears and concerns. Do it because the One Who is calling you has SO much more in store for you than you could have ever planned for yourself! Do it so that you can experience God the way we are intended to experience Him – completely and totally reliant upon Him!”