Have you ever had the thought, “I have a heart for missions, but I don’t have anything to offer except to support missionaries financially”? Many never consider helping in missions, assuming they have nothing to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth. God can use your gifts in unexpected ways!
A Change of Plans
When God called my wife and me to missions, we expected God to send us overseas. We came to the All Nations three-week missionary training, Church Planting Experience (CPx), anticipating God to launch us to the nations. Instead, God asked us to move to Kansas City to use our gifts and talents to serve missionaries.
Prior to joining All Nations, I was working as an accountant and my wife as a pediatric occupational therapist. Now, six years later, I serve as the Director of Finance, and my wife is the Co-Director of Pastoral Care. As the Director of Finance, I get to use my knowledge as an accountant to help our missionaries with their finances. I have a shepherd’s heart and I’m also able to encourage missionaries and care for them throughout the process.
My wife serves as the Co-Director of Pastoral Care. She helps lead a team of 20 volunteers to care for our missionaries and provide the resources that they need to thrive. She is able to use her knowledge and experience as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist to serve the 90+ kid missionaries and their families from All Nations Kansas City. She loves leading the children’s track of CPx, our main training.
We feel honored to be able to use our gifts and talents to serve missionary families in these ways. We love what we do!
Allow God to Surprise You
I want to encourage you that there are endless possibilities of ways to use your unique gifts to reach the nations. If you would have asked us ten years ago if we would ever be serving full time in missions, we both would have said no way! However, we have learned that to complete the Great Commission we need goers as well as those who care for them.
Perhaps you are a lawyer, janitor, doctor, construction worker, or in any of the other thousands of jobs/careers. I am not encouraging you to quit your career to work full time in missions. However, I am saying that you can use your gifts to reach the nations. Perhaps it is time to stop and ask God if he gave you gifts he wants you to use to that end!
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This post was written by Jason, the ANKC Finance Director.
If you’d like to explore how to get involved in All Nations, check out these pages:
They are such an asset to the ANKC hub! So grateful that they listened to God’s call on their lives. 🙂
Awesome!