Always on Mission.

On 9th February 2012 I boarded a flight to New York JFK. I planned to be there for a weekend but that turned in to three and a half years. On 10th July 2015 at 11:59pm, my flight took off, I left New York City and my mission was over...or not!

I have always been reluctant to hold Christian titles but I remember being told I was an evangelist and God calling me to Missionary work; My response wasn’t a very Christian one but it was honest; I told Him that I didn’t want to go to build schools in Africa or work with orphans in a distant village. I respected the people who did, but that just wasn’t on my heart to do.

As I committed to follow Jesus in New York City, it soon became clear that my mission field wasn’t in Africa, it was a city that appeared glamourous on the surface but was home to people in desperate need of help. I’d landed in NYC, naïve and completely unaware of the leap I was taking in to my calling as an evangelist on mission, but very quickly it became clear that I had arrived at my mission field.

It’s all relative, but if I had any thoughts of being more comfortable in New York City than in Africa, I would have been mistaken - there’s nothing comfortable about sleeping on air mattresses, trudging suitcases from one place to another with nowhere to call home, and relying on the generosity of other people to meet your basic human needs for food, shelter and clothing, having no money of your own.

I’ve got stories and experiences I could share for weeks and I often describe my time in NYC as the best and worst days of my life. The extreme lows came with extreme highs and like any perfectly balanced life, I was pushed to the limit, but never over the edge. For three and a half years I was all in, I laid down my life to follow Jesus’ lead and I gave everything I had to reach people with the love that had reached me.

It wasn't preaching that shone a light in my darkness, it was someone who committed to shining a light in my life, so I came to understand that my mission was for me to shine my light as brightly as possible and to do that I realised that I needed to be the change I wanted to see - I had to change.

It was uncomfortable, but understanding that I needed to change, kept me on my knees. Instead of praying for people to encounter Jesus, I was praying for God to change me so that I would reflect more of Jesus. Rather than praying for people to treat me better, I was praying for the heart to forgive others and to love those who hated me and wanted to use me. My whole perception shifted, I was no longer a victim but a victor in all situations and even if I didn’t feel it, I prayed bold prayers to become it.

The more I prayed for my own personal growth and the development of my character, the more I realised that I was being shaped and prepared for the next phase of my life. I was serving people, but serving was the blessing that was blessing me. I didn’t know what exactly the next phase would look like, but I believed it was already written and I committed to never stop believing that it would get clearer each day.

My mission didn’t end when I left New York City, the city just became the catalyst for the awakening that would change me forever. The mission will never truly be over because I will continue to grow and evolve until the day I leave this body, but I will always have a heart for NYC and the many people who had a role to play in the story I wrote while I was there. I am not the person I was when I arrived there and I am so thankful.

I often compare this life to a video game like Mario Bros; completing obstacles on one level, defeating the beast at the end, waving your flag in victory for a moment and then appearing out the tube at another level. I used to resent the rollercoaster, but now I stand up and say “Let’s go!”