How on earth did I end up here? Part 1

Some of you might be wondering, what is this Dutch girl doing in India? How did she meet Vibin? Even I wonder sometimes, how on earth did I end up here, all I can say is; The Lord Has His ways, this might sound a little cliched or cheesy to you, but that’s how it is! 

I make plans, I love planning and organizing, and making plans for the future, I can still hear my dad say “Sarah you always live in the future.” And he was right. I was a teenager when he told me this and it still applies to me! I love having big plans and big visions, always thinking about tomorrow and next week and the end of the year. Vibin is completely the opposite which really annoys me. When I ask him in the morning, ‘honey what are we doing today?’ He has NO clue! With my hands in my hair and gritting my teeth, I count to ten and I try to be patient with him. My poor husband, sometimes he comes to me with these spontaneous ideas and I freak out! I have yelled at him ‘Honey why did you not say this to me earlier, why can’t you just simply make a plan for at least today?’ Vibin’s friends often call him ‘the wind’ because he comes and he goes, north or south nobody knows.

Yesterday we had a friend over for dinner, he said Vibin disappeared for a while and all of a sudden, he comes back home (Kochi, Kerala) with a wife! Very typical.

Leaving my dear Vibin in peace for now, let’s come back to me, how did I end up here? It is a long story, not sure if I can complete this in one blog post but let me start with the time when I joined high school. In high school I knew I would become a baker, I loved baking and nobody could tell me otherwise. After high school in 2008 I went to a baking school in the Netherlands, where I learned about the art and science of baking bread and pastries. I dreamed of having my own shop one day, specializing in wedding cakes and chocolates. I did very well in school and I was the ‘teacher’s pet’. My teacher was an older man, and he was an expert in all aspects of baking, he taught with discipline and was very strict. After 6 months in school, I continued my classes by working in an actual bakery with experienced bakers. Five days a week I rose early in the morning to go to work and 1 day a week I had school, at school I had theory classes and tests. 

But then all of sudden something changed in my heart, I wondered so much about the future. I thought that going to a baking school and working in bakery would fulfill all my desires, but it did not. I started to wonder, was this all, is there more I am meant to do? I was looking for something but I was not sure what it was and where I could find it.

My family and I lived in a house with three floors, ground floor, first floor and a big attic. The attic was all mine and I spent all my time there. One day I stumbled upon a big carton box full of books, they hadn’t been unpacked since the last time we moved houses, I looked through it and I came across a book with the title, “Second-Mile People”  by Isobel Kuhn who was a missionary. When I read the back cover of the book it got me very curious. Who or what is a missionary? So there is more to life than just the first mile? What does she mean by going the second mile?

I read the book and looking back now this is where the seeds were planted and desires started to grow in my heart. The writer wrote so beautifully and honestly about herself and many others that went the extra mile for God. She challenged me in my daily walk with God, but I also felt that the Lord was leading me in a similar way, my heart started wondering if I could walk the second mile, be a missionary. I started praying for China and then on a Sunday in my church there was a guest speaker who was also an ambassador for Operation Mobilization (OM), he spoke about his own experiences on the mission field, but also how OM has many opportunities for young people to join them in missions. I followed this speaker around and I asked a friend who was a little older than me to drive me the next Sunday to see the same person speak in another city. I was eager to learn more and I really wanted to know more about missions.

During one of my school days, I was doing a test on the computer. On the other side of the classroom my teacher was busy with some naughty classmates, I thought while he was occupied , I would do some research about OM. I went through their website and I was completely lost in it. While I was looking at the ship’s ministries I hear a deep “Ahem” behind me. But instead of being shouted at or getting a disapproving look, with an excited voice my teacher started talking about that day he wanted to join OM with his family, but he couldn’t do it and he regretted it. While my classmates were still doing tests, my teacher kept talking to me and told me I should join, he said, Why study here and become a baker? Why not go out into the world and share the good news? I did not say a word to him, I was stunned, what did my old strict teacher just tell me? Drop out of school and join a mission field? I didn’t even know he was a Christian, he totally surprised me, this in turn got me really excited and it felt it was a confirmation to pursue my desire to join a mission field.

When I got home I laid down on my bed looking at the sky through the window in the roof… is it really true? I asked God. Are you calling me to go to other nations? For several months I was struggling and praying, I was dreaming and doing research and I read more books…

By that time I had worked for almost two years in the same bakery and I was about to do my final exams. I asked God if this was the time for me to quit my job and join a mission field. But quitting my job was way too scary for me, one night in the spring of 2010, I asked God if he could help me make the right decision. The next morning, I went to work, as soon as I walked through the doors of the bakery my boss asked me If I could pass by his office after work, the whole day I was wondering what it could be about. I walked into his office after work and he said, “Sarah I am really sorry, but your contract is ending in two months and I will not be able to renew it for you, I am sorry to say that you can no longer work here”. A big smile appeared on my face and I told my boss how happy I was to hear this, he looked perplexed and he said with a confused expression,’ I did not think you would take it this well’. I thanked him, and with a joyful heart I went home, to tell my parents that I will be without a job soon. They did not understand my joy, but I knew better. The next step was to contact OM and ask for a meeting. 

The meeting finally happened but once I got there and was sitting in the OM office I did not know what to say anymore. They asked me how I came to know about OM and what was on my heart. On the wall in the office was a big world map, my eyes kept wandering and stopped at China on the map and when it did come out of my mouth that I wanted to go to China, the lady I was talking to, looked at me a little concerned and she asked me how old I was, I said 17. To make a long story short I left their office that day feeling very discouraged, because I finished my exams, I did not have a job anymore, I was too young to join missions, what would I do? I did not have a plan, and that got me even more scared.

But God encouraged me, through prophetic words and bible verses. When I turned 18, God gave me these promises that “one day I would sail the seas and make a home in strange lands, in faraway nations, that He would be there to guide me and hold me.” It was powerful. God challenged me to trust Him with my plans.

Now you still don't know how I ended up here...

- Sarah Lisa