My First Confirmation...

It has been a struggle for me when I think about France. My desire is to go and live among the French, learn the language, build relationships and do one-on-one relational evangelism. It has been hard for me to share this with anyone because France doesn't seem like a "mission field" and my calling didn't seem very "missiony" because I wasn't called to a hospital, or orphanage or the like.

Around that time I was about to sell my house and was looking for a place to rent. A friend of mine wrote to me and told me of someone she knew who would be subletting her condo and that perhaps I would be interested in renting it. I asked her where this person was going and she told me, "She's going to the mission field...she was going to FRANCE". My hair stood up on the back of my neck. Up until that point, I didn't even know there WERE missionaries in France.

I contacted this French missionary and, although I was not interested in her condo, asked if I could meet with her about her upcoming trip. We met for lunch and I launched into telling her what was on my heart. I couldn't even look at her as I spoke, I was so afraid I would see a look of disapproval, a look which would betray what I feared - that this isn't the "sort of thing God calls one to do". But, when I finished speaking and finally looked into her face, she was smiling and said, "I am on my way to France, I'm going to study the language, live among the people and do one-on-one evangelism". This was the first confirmation I had that the Lord was indeed calling me to France. I was so excited...so...now what?