One Grand Adventure

For many wondering, how I came to the decision of flying off and living for Israel in three months, I am going to be very honest with you and tell you straight up how I came to this great epiphany and call to Israel.

…I GOOGLED it!!!

WHAT?!? I know right? It’s a bit of a shocker to me too. I had just gotten out of a meeting with one of my greatest mentors and knowing my love of writing and how I use it to process so many things in my life, she challenged me to write out the desires of my heart. Where do I want to go? Where do I want to adventure to? What are my writing goals? My future family? Characteristics of my future husband…kids, family, house, job, etc. She was actively pushing me to evaluate my life and helped me to push myself into my future because she saw the rut I was in and the current path of life that I was walking. In all honesty, she saw what I couldn’t see which was that I was on a path going nowhere fast and I was headed for nothing good.

So, I went for it and took her advice. I drove home, took the large post it notes with me, grabbed a sharpie, and began writing. I began to list what I wanted out of this life. What did I picture my future to be? What goals did I have? What do I want out of the ministry that God had supposedly called me to? Was I meant to be a writer? Was I called to be something different than were I am at now and did I miss a calling because I settled for comfort?

As you can see, once I started writing I actually started spiraling and questioning everything about my current situation and season of life, but that wasn’t a bad thing. As hard as it was and as much as I could easily settle into my current job, working in kids ministry, and working at Wellspring Community Church, writing all of this out made me realize that God has much more in store for my life. What that was, I had no idea! But just like every other good human being I knew I had to start somewhere so…where did I go? I went to google.

With a desire to write and grow my writing, I found Lisa Terkeurst’s Compel writing program and signed up once they were taking new students. With an old desire to study abroad, travel the world, and share the gospel I search young adult mission trips and BOOM! Experience Missions came across my webpage and I began to send interest form after interest form about various trips they had such as 3 months in Cuba, 3 months in the Holy Land (Israel), 6 months in 3 different countries, or 4 countries in a gap year and so on and so forth.

What I loved about this organization after doing my research and even having other people look into their organization is their desire to provide growth and leadership opportunities for young adults who are passionate about living out their faith, concerned with justice and reconciliation, and who desire to understand what it means to “live their mission” in the world. They do this by connecting people of all ages and backgrounds to go and participate in service and learning experiences that provide an opportunity to come alongside and serve those living in often-overlooked communities while building bridges across cultural, racial, and socio-economic divides. Their hearts desire is to utilize the gifts and the story placed in each individual to reach those in the communities around them and simply loving people for who God created them to be. These people become more than just a “mission project,” and their heart is to simply meet people where they are at, help them with the needs that are before them, and share the light and hope of Jesus Christ by building deep and meaningful relationships with them. It isn’t a one time hi and goodbye…it’s setting aside yourself and opening your heart and ears to just listen. Allow others to speak their truth and then help speak life back into them in return. To just plant a seed and allow God to make you a vessel of His outpouring love so that they too may come to know him.

Well, now you see why I picked experience missions, and in all honesty after reading about the different trips, I knew my two choices were for 3 months in either Cuba or Israel. I knew one month would be to short and 6 months to a gap year was to long, even though I know that God would always provide, he would’ve supplied the finances and what it took for me to live overseas for that year, but He kept brining me back to the 3 month trips. Cuba…I know the culture from growing up in Miami and being surrounded by the culture. I would have the opportunity to live with a pastor and his family and serve in their church which would also be their home as Christianity and churches are not acceptable in their country, and to be honest although it would have it’s challenges, I know I would easily be okay. On the other hand, Israel…for being the birthplace of christianity only 2% of their citizens actually profess that they are Christians. There is opportunity to work with Bethlehem College, the refugee camp, a women’s ministry for muslim women who are now empty nesters and looking to re-establish the purpose in their life, kids vacation bible school, local soup kitchen, and being able to study under local Rabbi’s and teachers of different religions to not only expand my perspective of the various culture, but also expand and challenge my personal faith. To camp by the Sea of Galilee, walking and living where Jesus did, and to take a leap of faith and go somewhere where I never thought I would ever go before.

After reading that paragraph you can see the appeal of Israel over Cuba (and yes Cuba had additional opportunities as well), but I was still torn. Cuba or Israel and so I did what any good Florida would do. I went to the beach early one morning this past November and I just swam out into the gulf. I let the waves hit against my body and push me towards the shore. I looked up to the sky and just stayed quiet. I allowed God to speak to me and move my spirit like only He can and the song Oceans by Hillsong was on repeat in my mind.

As I came up out of the water and turned back to look at the waves crashing on the shore, I could see The Sea of Galilee. I saw myself walking where Jesus walked. Working in the refugee camp helping those who had need so much greater than mine. I saw my self taking a step out into the water. A step out into the unknown where my fears are great and I have no more control over the plans I had for my life, but all God was asking for was a leap of faith. To trust that his plans and His thoughts were going to be so much greater and so worth while if I would only come to a place of surrender and allow Him to work in my life like only He can…so I put in my application, went through the interview process, and I got accepted.

The door now opened…and I said…YES!!!!

Fall 2021- Megan Millar adventures to Israel to follow the call God has placed on her life.

I am scared, but I am not fearful. I walk forward with reckless abandon into the unknown with no plans as what will happen between now and the time I leave or what will happen when I return back stateside, but who knows…God could call me out to go somewhere else and that is perfectly fine with me. Why? Because all the plans I have made for my life and all the things that I thought I could control began slipping through my fingers and didn’t measure up to what I thought it was going to be. I only found disappointment after disappointment with the things this world had to offer and so I choose God.

I choose what God has for me. I choose my faith over everything else. I choose God’s plan over my own and every other true desire of my heart will fall into place with God’s timing.

I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what will happen next, or the next chapter that follows this…but I know that I am called to Israel and God is going to take care of the rest.

Philippians 3:12-14

^“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”