Wales: Outside my control, and that’s good

On a recent night, I was riding in a car with my co-worker Ryan and a few new friends. One is from Scotland, one is from the Manchester area, and one is from Northern Ireland.

I love accents. I think they’re incredibly intriguing and interesting. It dawned on me as we were all riding together that I was enjoying the company of three friends, all with different accents. To me, that’s just the coolest thing. What kind of God do I serve, that I am where I am, serving the people I’m serving, and meeting the people I’m meeting? Surely, it’s the kind that knows what I love, and not only knows what I love, but loves that I love what I love. I have to ask myself, does the world think of God in this way? God certainly has not called his children to live boring lives.

From the day I found out about this trip to now, the details have been completely outside of my control. That’s just been the nature of the trip so far, and we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that it will continue to be that way. This is God’s trip, not mine, and God will use it for his glory. Combine that with John 10:10, and all of a sudden I have a reason to be pumped. The details of this trip may be so far outside of my control, but if I serve a God that calls his children off the sidelines and into the abundance of life, then I can expect the year to take me so much deeper into the adventure that is following Christ. 

I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but Ryan and I are expecting God to do so much more than we could ever begin to imagine. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

God has called me into a life full of life, and if he is able to do immeasurably more than I could ever ask, all for his glory, then why would I not take risks? Why would I want to stand on the sidelines? I should jump off that bench and yank up my cross because the Lord has said he is capable of doing more than I could ever dream of. 

Ryan and I want to see churches formed organically in pubs, and in cafes, and in homes, and in gyms. And not necessarily the type of church we think of in the United States, with a set service structure and routine. That type of church method doesn’t go very far with the unchurched here, which is all but about 1 percent of the people. Rather, we want to see a collection of people who simply gather around the word of God and enjoy life together where they live life. That’s a crazy, intimidating goal, because it requires us to leave our comfort zones, and gather where the unchurched gather. But God said he can do more than I could think to ask, so why not dream big?

Ryan and I met with the director of the Welsh Student Union the other day and talked to him about joining a Welsh choir. How cool would that be! He also said the Welsh Student Union puts out a journal, and they give international students the opportunity to write a column about their experiences in Wales. 

Another very practical opportunity he gave us was to join them as they take some vans to a pub in north Wales and just hang out and enjoy each other’s company. That’s a little intimidating, because it will be tons of strangers speaking Welsh. But if God has called me to an adventurous and risky but full life, and he is capable of doing more in our lives than we could imagine, then I’m willing to jump head long into situations like that, knowing that this is God’s trip, to do with as he pleases. 

Jacob Allen, a student at Dallas Baptist University, is serving in Wales with Go Now Missions.