“How did you sense the call to serve as a missionary?”
While some people certainly do receive a direct call from the Holy Spirit and even feel called to a specific country or people group, I did not. My call, just as the one God gave to you, simply came from the Bible, the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15-16.
As more of a pragmatic person, when an 8-month internship was required during my studies to become an administrator, I thought I might as well support the church instead of a big company. That led me to leave my home country of Germany and spend eight months at an Adventist hospital in Rwanda in 1992-1993. The experience changed my life. Not only did I fall in love with Africa, but I also started reflecting on Matthew 28:19-20. I realized that living on an Adventist compound in an Adventist village and working in an Adventist institution, as valuable as the experience was, had very little to do with the Great Commission.
I went back to the university with a plan of returning to Africa as soon as possible. I knew I needed to find a place or organization that understood missions differently, so I prayed for several years that God would lead me to such an organization. I finished my studies and started a job. Meanwhile, I took French classes to improve my language abilities, attended mission conferences and continued praying. At one of these mission conferences, a friend gave me an issue of Adventist Frontiers, and I subscribed. For months, I read the magazine from cover to cover and was impressed by the organization’s approach.
In 1997, a girl who had been my colleague in Rwanda asked me to be in her wedding. As she was living in Berrien Springs, I had the opportunity to visit the AFM office and get more information. (Remember, this was before everybody had the internet, and every organization had a website.) Afterward, I went home with application forms and soon applied for a two-year commitment as a short-term missionary in any French-speaking African country that was not a war zone. As I said, I am a rational person. I figured I could handle two years if it wasn’t a fit. If it worked, I could always stay longer.
I went out as a short-term missionary and I’m still here. During the last 25 years, my job description has changed many times, as have my team members. I now lead the Otammari project and have a great team of five local evangelists thoroughly trained by former AFM missionary Jason Harral and then myself. These five evangelists are now trainers themselves and we continue to expand our radius in Northern Benin.
When I return to Germany, people still ask if I get homesick while living in Benin, Africa. I wonder if they would be offended if I told them I get homesick for Benin when I’m in Germany. Benin is where Toussaint, my husband of 17 years, and I foster four children and care for many more in one way or another. God indeed called me to Benin. My home is here. The work is moving on, and I’m blessed to be a part of it.
