Written by Michelle J. Goff, Founder and Director of Iron Rose Sister Ministries
“Here am I, send me!” (Is. 6:8)
Stubborn, independent, and strong-willed have described me since early childhood. Facing a challenging character quality in her daughter, my mom remembers hearing a helpful interpretation of “Train up a child in the way he should go…” (Prov. 22:6) during her child-raising years. Instead of the continual frustration of squelching the strong will of four daughters, find out the way each of them should go and point them in a Kingdom direction. Or, “Train up a child in the way SHE should go…” (emphasis added).
If Michelle was going to be stubborn, may she stubbornly cling to God’s Word. If her way was independent, may it be as an independent follower of Christ, especially when those around her were not following Him. If she should continue her strong-willed spirit, may her will align with God’s will and uncompromisingly obey Him.
Stubborn independence can also be used to describe pioneers. Uncharted territory must be discovered by those willing to go where others haven’t or won’t. In missions and in ministry, I have always felt called to go where others were less willing or able to go. When I first felt called into full-time missions, God was leading me to help establish a congregation in north Bogotá.
“Here am I, send me!”
The doors in Colombia were beginning to open as a safer place for North Americans to live, while many still feared the horror stories of kidnappings. North Bogotá was the direction in which the capital city was expanding. Yet there were still many doubts, especially about sending a single woman to serve there.
When I shared with my parents my desire to go and to serve in Colombia, as my Christian brother and sister they affirmed that they honored my desire to answer His call… Who were they to argue with the same God they served? Additionally, my mom said, “As your Christian sister, I support you and am proud of you. But as your mom, Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh! (I’m scared!)”
I appreciated her honesty. And I continued to pray for wisdom in answering that call. God allowed me to hold onto that dream, the seed He had planted. I was able to be a part of the North Bogotá congregation’s first meeting in March 2000, their one-year anniversary in 2001, and continual visits three to four times a year through late 2006.
By early 2000, when I first started visiting Bogotá, I had already been to Venezuela several times, where the political situation was deteriorating (opposite of Colombia where things were growing and strengthening). In 1999, I had also begun work with a new congregation being established in Cozumel, México. Phil and Donna Waldron were the on-the-ground missionaries invested in the work there. I coordinated campaign groups from Harding University and the North Atlanta Church of Christ, where I worked at the time.
There was always a long list of those interested in partnering with the work there in Cozumel. Some of you may remember that it was in Cozumel that I first learned to drive a stick shift because that was the only way to get to a Bible study (story in Ch. 11 of One Single Reason: Conversations with Single Women).
Even though the opportunities in Cozumel grew and I felt qualified to serve there, I felt more called to go where others were less likely to go. Having already achieved a certain mastery level of Spanish, being dark haired with dark eyes, I could blend more easily into the variety of skin colors, even as fair skinned as mine, found in Venezuela and Colombia.
“Here am I, send me!”
The pioneering spirit God gave me as an oldest child, through my innate stubbornness, independence, and strong will, allowed me to answer that call. God used the passion He gave me for languages to develop a very natural Venezuelan accent.
And now, as I strive to learn Portuguese, I wonder how God will equip me, as He did Isaiah, because of a willing spirit to serve. God excels in equipping the called instead of calling the equipped. That way, He gets all the glory.
Iron Rose Sister Ministries began because God revealed a tremendous need, stepping into an area of ministry that no one else was addressing. Women long to be in authentic relationships, but often lack the tools to do so. We exist to equip women to connect to God and to one another more deeply.
I have taught and learned in more diverse contexts that I would’ve ever asked or imagined. But God… I love that phrase! But God, in His infinite wisdom, longs to teach us in places that others may have never chosen to learn. Yet when we meet Him there, when we answer His call, He is waiting to reveal His truths in deeper and broader ways,
Where will you be open to letting God use you to teach or to learn today?
Remember to answer, “Here am I, send me!”