Being Called to France

I don't know how many of you know this story, but I thought I'd give everyone a little background regarding going to France this summer.

I got involved with Campus Crusade for Christ a few weeks into the fall semester of my freshman year at the University of Minnesota. This was(and still is!) a total blessing in my life, because before I got involved in my Bible study, I'd met about 3 Christians other than myself on campus.

The semester was fairly uneventful: trying to make friends, studying a lot, getting adjusted to being away from home. It was definitely good but not easy. Thankfully, God and I got a lot closer through that. He was the only thing that stayed constant in my life from high school to college; I had to rely on Him to help me through the transition. Spring semester was similar, as well, though I had some good friends by this time. I was also to able to attend a Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU for those of you who don't know :) ) event called Spring Retreat. There, I met a lot more people. But more importantly, God and I had a very long talk about where my life was going. I felt like He was calling me to be more active in serving Him - not to just sit on the sidelines. It was during the last session, during worship, that I agreed. I told Him to do with me whatever He pleased. Little did I know that that was exactly what He'd do :)

A few weeks later, I was having a devotional time, and suddenly, I was hit with this feeling like I was supposed to go to France with CRU. I'd been considering going on Summer Project with CRU, but only the projects in the States had really drawn me. What on Earth was I doing thinking about France? I had no desire to go there.... It then occurred to me that maybe this was God telling me to go - which terrified me. If God say to go somewhere, you'd better go. Or else you might get swallowed by a big fish, ya know? Well, after about a week of not being happy with the prospect of going to France, I finally agreed. If that's where I was supposed to go, then fine. I'd do it.

Well, after 8 months or so of praying about it, the time to apply for summer project finally came. I applied, got accepted, and started raising support to go. And God has come through in such a big way!! I'm already done raising the funds to go ($4700!). Now I'm preparing my heart for the trip. France is a very spiritually dead place - it'll be rough. But I pray that God will carry me the whole way and that I won't lean on myself at all. I pray that God is already preparing French students for the myself and the team I'm going with to talk to. I pray for safety. I pray for unity within our team.

I'm so excited to see what God has planned in Montpellier this summer!