A Letter from the
Executive Director by Clint Cook, Executive Director
A
H ow can I kn ow what Go d wants m e to do with my life?
6 | General Baptist Messenger Spring 2020
s a pastor, I am frequently asked how people can know what God wants them to do with their lives. That question comes from teenagers who are at the beginning of their lives who are wondering which careereducation path to take. It is also asked by adults, many who have traveled several different paths, often wrong paths, in an effort to try and determine how to get on and stay on the right path. Both young and old alike want to know: How can I know what God wants me to do with my life? Let’s admit it; this is a big question. I remember facing this question as a teenager in sensing that God was calling me to ministry. For me it was frightening when I thought of the prospect of God calling me to a place that perhaps I didn’t want to go. Would I up and run like Jonah and find myself in a whale of a lot of trouble? Or was God just wanting me to do ministry within my own community? I deciphered God’s call for ministry during that time, but it was on my first international mission trip that I would truly learn the difference between compassion and a call. On my first International Missions trip, I still recall vividly the work our team did and what I saw and felt. That experience continues to have a deep impact on my life all of these years later. I was a member of a medical team visiting Honduras. The year was 1999. Just one year prior to our arrival, Honduras had been decimated by a historic, devastating hurricane called Mitch. Even one year later the nation was still trying to recover and rebuild. Our work there was critically important, not only for medical reasons, but also for sharing the gospel with people who had suffered so much. Soon after we arrived, we took a short bus trip to the property of Faith Home. This field had two missionary families serving General Baptists at that time: Mark & Kim Powell, and David & Martha Kelle. Thanks to Mark Powell, I was given a quick overview of what life and ministry was like on an international field.
