Hello,
My name is Jenny.
Last year around this time, I was finishing up my third year of medical school. I was in a small town in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by endless fields of long grasses and open skies in every direction. My future felt just as empty and wide, yet to be filled in.
My days were packed with med student duties for my month-long rural family medicine rotation. My nights were tireless as I faced a steadily approaching residency application season. Soon, I would need to sell my story to residency programs and make big decisions for my future, but whenever I thought about the future, I found myself only with more questions:
What sort of physician will I be when I grow up?
What does God intend to do with this calling he has given me?
Medicine has required of me my youth, my health, and my finances. Would future prestige, wealth, and/or control over my schedule and lifestyle really make this sacrifice feel worth it?
A research year fellowship opportunity afforded me the chance to hit pause, and the pandemic forced upon us a new pace of life and new ways of connecting with people virtually.
I used this precious year to practice solitude and prayer, to seek mentors for candid advice, and to take a course called Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. The course covered a few different takes on Christian missions: what the Bible has to say about global missions, how the modern missions movement began, the way the gospel spreads among different cultures, and the future of the advancement of God’s kingdom.
Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.
Habakkuk 1:5 (ESV)
Did you know that God’s inclusion of all peoples is explicit all the way from Genesis through Revelation? I was struck with how much God was mindful of all peoples. He desires all peoples to worship him and be reconciled to him. Fantastic class. Would definitely recommend.
I loved hearing from missionaries about how they saw God work. What awesome stories! I want to be part of that, I thought.
. . .
This summer, I’ll return to med school for my last year. My future is empty and wide, a blank canvas on which God will create beauty. He has made everything beautiful in its time. God has placed me on this medical school journey with the opportunity to learn some pretty cool universal life-saving skills. For now, I will learn those skills patiently and diligently. In the meantime, I pray that God will humble me, make me bold, and give me faith to make disciples. And should a day come that he calls me to go for a season, I pray that he will have been transforming my heart and will help me to obey. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus.
And in the meantime, making disciples and serving God might look like mentoring the youth at church, chatting with seniors in the community, or feeding the unhoused… but it might also look like being part of the Indigitous Serve Cohort!
I admit I wasn’t sure what I could bring to the table: I’ve never taken a CS course. I’ve never participated in a hackathon. I have no formal training in UX or design. It feels like a miracle if I can file my own taxes correctly, much less think about business strategy or finances for others.
However, I’m grateful for this chance to connect with my fellow siblings-in-Christ from all over the country and each with different skillsets. I’m excited to work together to start conversations in our generation about what missions looks like in our rapidly changing, interconnected world.
The very existence of our team is a testament to how tech has transformed human connection. During the pandemic, we learned to work together across different time zones. I’m pumped to inspire, cultivate, and mobilize the next generation of missionaries through digital means—tools that are more familiar to us digital natives than to the people who came before us. It’s our turn, and we can’t afford to slack off.
Have you taken the Perspectives course?
Have you participated in an Indigitous hackathon? (There’s one coming up on 3/19-3/20!)
Have you considered how God might use you for his mission?
Or have you already taken yourself out of consideration for going?
keep lookin’ up,
jenny.