I said “no.”
I said “I’m busy.”
Those were the stupidest words I could’ve said.
Here’s the story:
Before coming to Awana, I used to work for IBM.
Those were great years. We loved it.
But something was missing.
The Camp Director of a nearby Christian camp asked me to be a counselor for one week during the summer. Because I worked at IBM and had tons of vacation time saved up, I suppose he figured I was an easy “yes.”
He called me and said “Brian, I really need you.” And I said one of the stupidest things I’ve ever said, which was: “Hey come on, you know I don’t have time—you know this summer I’m really getting alone with God and trying to spend time with Him to get alone with Him. And if I go spend time with these boys, it’s going to be a distraction.”
I said “no.”
And I hung up the phone.
I realized in a split second that I just said something really, really stupid. And so I called him right back and I said, “Of course I’ll come work with these boys—maybe that’s where God wants to speak to me.”
I didn’t know it then, but that week at camp was the beginning of my journey into Awana. Months later, I left IBM and became an Awana missionary.
Truthfully, I never saw it coming.
Several years later, Sandee and I decided to make another radical decision: we decided to take our kids to Romania for 5 weeks. At the end of five weeks, our kids had fallen in love with Romania – so much so that they’d given away all their clothes – they literally had the clothes off the back. It was incredible to watch.
And none of them wanted to come home. They wanted us to come home—me and Sandee—pack everything up, and move to Romania. Those 5 weeks had changed their lives. They saw people who pray differently than they had ever seen people pray before. They saw kids who weren’t focused on Nike labels and custom stuff and were more focused on life and just being real.
Those 5 weeks were a life-changer for us. We did come back, but we only spent 2 years back in the US. After two years, we left to go overseas and become part of the international side of Awana. All in all, we spent 3 years in Eastern Europe.
I never saw it coming.
Our family’s journey to serving in a global ministry has been incredible. Along the way, I learned one powerful life-changing idea:
God never shows you everything at once or else you’ll be scared.
If an opportunity surprises you, it could be exactly what God wants for you.
From IBM to camp.
From camp to missionary.
From missionary in the US to missionary in Eastern Europe.
And then from Eastern Europe back to the US.
(And I’m not even sure what’s next!)
…I never saw it coming.
If you’re surprised to learn that Awana has become a global organization, the honest truth is: so are we. In recent years, God has blessed us by surprises. And absolutely we’re loving the ride! Here’s a quick look at where God is leading us:
If you’d like to learn more about I encourage to you learn more about how God is surprising us around the world by clicking here.
If you’re interested in helping us reach more kids around the world, check out our 60 in 60 page where we are sharing our progress of trying to reach 60,000 kids in 60 days.
