CALLING (by Jaydie Johnson)

Jaydie Johnson
AIMer to Togo

Calling: defined as summons, a strong impulse or inclination, or an inner urge and literally means "to stand at the door and call.”  Jesus said “Behold, I stand at the door (the door of your heart that is) and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door (or, answer the call), I will come in to him.”  How does one explain such a monumental, life-altering event? 

For me, calling is quasi-Samuel.  It’s that same Voice that wakes you up night after night and wonder why you’re staring into the refrigerator with such an unsettled feeling.  You’ve heard that Voice before but are uncertain how to respond.  Calling is also part Jonah - a perpetual nagging of sorts, the prick of your conscience, the tugging of your heart (always tending to surface at the most inconvenient times: when a telemarketer calls or drinking coffee with friends and you have to abruptly leave for fear of flooding those nearby in unexplainable tears).  A cancer that continually eats away at your desires, your hopes and dreams until you stand, alongside Paul, completely bare in surrender before your Creator, saying “Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.”  The call.

The call for each is immediate and definite: Go, seek the lost, preach, teach.  The process, the journey are a lifetime in development and achievement.  I began my journey 7 years ago when I and about 30 other young people took a Youth On Missions trip to Ghana.  My world was revolutionized by what I saw: abject poverty, yes, but moreover, the desperate hunger for the Word of God as 25 received the gift of the Holy Ghost during our short stay.  From that point forward, I knew that I wanted to live, work, breath Africa. 

I attended Indiana Bible College and during my sophomore year, the Lord called me to preach the Gospel.  Me: tiny, not-even-5-foot, single me.  A call to missions and a call to preach.  But the specific place, other than the vague idea of Africa, was unclear.

Searching out the will of God, I spent the summer of my junior year, 2006, in Ghana with the Poitras family and AIMers Colleen Carter & Vicky Cabel.  We saw many receive the Holy Ghost and many healed in Jesus name but the most unforgettable part was traveling to the predominately Muslim city of Tamale in Northern Ghana.  Outside Tamale, we visited a village called Fuu and their dilapidated UPCI church.  The people had no shoes and ragged clothes, if any; but OH! they were all smiling, laughing.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ had given them life everlasting and they needed nothing else in this life for satisfaction.  He truly had become their All-in-All.  I discovered that it’s not possible to give the world enough food or clothes or money to make a true difference-food is consumed, clothes wear thin, money runs out-but the message we bear and share will change a life forever. 

During a Sub-regional Conference, the many African nations without a witness or work were discussed.  When I returned to IBC, one nation’s name was spoken to my mind over and over in prayer: Mali.  So I set out after graduation, taking small steps in that direction: AIMing in Togo & Benin for a year to learn French under the Adams.  And today, here I am again, living in Togo, for another year or two, attempting to use my French in Sunday School and around town as I grow in the knowledge of African culture and of missionary work. 

To be perfectly honest, the complete picture still is not clear to me and I often question the plan of God for my life.  You see, I’m still that tiny, not-even-5-foot, single me, and Mali is a Muslim country, not especially friendly to Americans or women, a vast desert dotted with 13 million people.  Jesus often answers my objections with I Corinthians 1:25-31, telling me that I was not called for my own merit but so that He would receive the glory through the work of such an unlikely vessel. 

It is the call (that call that wakes me up at night, and eats away at ‘me’ during the day), keeps me pressing on, despite the difficulties, the impossibilities, the insurmountable obstacles.  I hear Jesus saying: “I will work but who will let Me?  The harvest is ripe; where are My laborers?  I need hands and feet to go, to reach those who are lost in sin and utter despair, to share the hope of the Gospel, to shine marvelous Light into the darkness.  I am here standing, knocking, waiting.  Who will go for Me?”  Can you hear it?  Jesus is calling: the Voice whispering, blowing His consuming fire across your heart.  The call.  May your answer and mine ever be: “Here am I, Lord.  Wherever You lead, I will go.  I am willing.  Send me.”