“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)
When I was in my freshman year of college, I was seeking God’s will for my life. The college had a special missions emphasis week, and during that time the Lord made it very clear to me that He wanted me to serve Him as a cross-cultural missionary.
I completed my degree in education, applied to World Gospel Mission, taught two and a half years in Kentucky, and then was sent to the country of Kenya. I was assigned to teach at the Tenwek Secondary School and assumed that would be my long-term place of ministry. The Lord had another plan for me. The school librarian was returning to the US, and I was assigned to be the librarian. I had no training and little background for this job and simply followed the instructions of the one whom I had replaced. The Lord knew this was a job I was suited for, and I am so thankful He led me to it.
During home assignments I did my graduate degree in Library Science and returned to Kenya to first of all become the librarian in a Bible college and later in a theological seminary.
This verse from Romans tells us God knows better than we do what profession we are suited to, and He has a way of working it out for us to find what that is. How thankful I am that He made it very clear to me that I was most suited to the library profession. That was His purpose for me. It was simply for me to obey His clear leading. I could have resisted that first library assignment or at least have returned to teaching when I was assigned to the Bible college. However, He knew much better and had a plan for everything to work together for good. What a blessing to follow the call of the God we love!
Dorothy Bowen
Dorothy has been an ACL member for 32 years. She is retired from Eastern Kentucky University but left her heart in Africa.