“You know that America is a mission field, right?” “What about your family? Can’t you minister to them?” “So, are you planning to never get married?” “Can’t you find a good, stable job and support missions with your finances?”

I often hear these questions because, admittedly, I am not living a conventional life. Some people are concerned for my future as a single female committing the prime years of my young life to the mission field. Others cannot seem to comprehend giving up the security, comfort, and convenience of living in America, and they remind me to count the cost of continuing in my chosen path.

Although I have counted the aforementioned things, the steepest costs I have had to count thus far are the loss of my earthly supports of family, friends and church family. As I go through the process of moving toward the mission field, I have felt disappointment and heartbreak as God slowly removes, one-by-one, those whom I have leaned on for understanding, certainty and sympathy. It is a difficult path, but God has proven over and over that, “It is safe to let go every earthly support and take the hand of Him who lifted up and saved the sinking disciple on the stormy sea” (Testimonies for the Church, vol.4, p. 558).

But is there not a price we all pay in the footsteps of our Savior? Our crosses might look different from one another’s, but anyone who is truly following in the way of Christ will have to count the cost. No one blinks an eye when someone decides to commit seven to ten years of their life to medical school to go into medical ministry. I have wondered what a difference it would make if becoming a missionary were as normal a career option as becoming a dentist, lawyer or nurse. Why does our church consider the cross of frontier missions so unconventional? It should be the conventional cross for us, and other crosses should be unconventional. We know plenty of men and women in the church who consider it an honor to serve our country and offer up their lives in the armed forces. As David Livingstone said, “If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?”

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