The last year of high school is the time when everyone wants to know what your plans are. Often, however, the seniors know as little as the ones asking the question. This was the case for me. I had some ideas about what I wanted to do for a career, but they were about as firm as jell-o. I knew I wanted to go to college, but it just didn’t seem to be the next step. The future was one huge, hazy question mark.
During the summer after my graduation, I had the opportunity to help preach an evangelistic series. The night I preached my last sermon I received an email about a job opportunity in East Timor (a small, developing country in Southeast Asia). An SDA couple wanted to homeschool their son, but both parents worked. Would I be interested in coming to teach him this fall [only a couple of months away]?
After praying about it and receiving godly counsel, I took the plunge, traveling outside of my continent for the first time—ever. It’s been about four months now and I’ve had an incredible and--I'm not going to lie--often difficult experience that includes not only the privilege of educating one of God’s children, but also working with the church’s junior Sabbath school class and Adventurer club.
Although I’m the teacher in all these positions, I think I’m the one who’s learned the most. Through the experience of living on the other side of the world (and the difficulties that entails) and the challenges of teaching a nine-year-old boy, I’ve begun to understand truths I’ve known intellectually but never really believed in my heart. I’ve been able to learn many things that are not taught in college, things like trust in God, contentment, love, and patience (much patience), all of which have invaluably built my character and made me more ready to embrace life.
Being here has also shown me that I really don’t know where it is I need to be. I never would have guessed that this experience would be what I needed or would teach me what it has. Now, though I still don't know what I'm going to do with my life, I have more direction and purpose in my prayers. I simply pray that God will show me where I need to be and make my heart willing to go to that place. After praying about it and receiving godly counsel, I took the plunge, traveling outside of my continent for the first time—ever. It’s been about four months now and I’ve had an incredible and--I'm not going to lie--often difficult experience that includes not only the privilege of educating one of God’s children, but also working with the church’s junior Sabbath school class and Adventurer club.
Although I’m the teacher in all these positions, I think I’m the one who’s learned the most. Through the experience of living on the other side of the world (and the difficulties that entails) and the challenges of teaching a nine-year-old boy, I’ve begun to understand truths I’ve known intellectually but never really believed in my heart. I’ve been able to learn many things that are not taught in college, things like trust in God, contentment, love, and patience (much patience), all of which have invaluably built my character and made me more ready to embrace life.
If you're future is unknown (a nice way of saying you have no idea what you're doing next) or you are in a similar situation as I was (and still am), I want you to know that you can trust God; He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11). It could be that He is keeping you from in the dark so that you will be more ready and willing to go when He opens just the right door. I doubt that I would have been as willing to come to Timor if I had already planned my year out. My advice to you is to pray; pray that God will show you where you need to be and make you willing to go there. He will show you that place.
