In early 2009 I became overwhelmingly aware of a profound calling on my life to serve God and to share God’s love with people on a global level. The platform for this work was not clear to me then, and in fact it is still being framed, but the calling was undeniable and I began preparing for a fundamental shift in my life’s focus and purpose. I soon found myself participating in a short-term mission trip to Indonesia. This life-changing trip in July 2009 revealed the power of God’s love, and although we had gone to bless the people of Indonesia, I believe that we received an even greater blessing from them. Later that year I joined a team traveling to Fiji. The country was in the midst of a government-sponsored campaign for awareness of gender inequality and child abuse and through a series of events it became clear that change in each of these areas of social injustice was both needed and possible. After returning from this trip I enrolled in the School of Nations, an intensive 4-month program that focused on different global regions each week and featured missionaries from around the world, sharing their stories and perspectives on the mission field. The first hand narratives and consistent themes of hardship and perseverance brought new perspective and seemed to make the world a little smaller. Over the next eight months, through mission trips, I visited the Amazon, returned two more times to Indonesia, and left my executive post with a large health care provider. I had heard and accepted a request to live a life worthy of the calling I had received and I placed my faith in God to guide my path forward.
