After I started Junior High School, God began breaking my heart for the poor and put the idea of becoming a missionary in my head. Years later, I attended a small Christian college, and less than a month after I graduated in 2000, I boarded a plane headed for the African nation of Mozambique.
God allowed me to minister to the poor and to teenage prostitutes there for six months. I fell in love with the people and the land, and it was difficult to leave. I seriously considered living there as a full-time missionary--until the Lord redirected my life and gave me a passion to instill a missionary heart in the people of Orange County, California, where I live.
I found a way to incorporate God's heart for missions with my work at a popular coffee store. Our location became a venue for live music, much of it played by Christian musicians, who have been given the opportunity to minister in a different way to people outside the four walls of the church.
On another occasion, I had an opportunity to collect items for a missions trip to Mexico. Although many of our customers were not Christians, they contributed more supplies toward advancing the kingdom of God than any other group.
I have been blessed with the great privilege of walking in the works the Lord prepared for me right here in Southern California. I've learned that whether it's among the poor in Africa or the wealthy in Orange County, I am called to be a missionary for Jesus wherever I am.
