The Call - Part 2

By now, you’re probably thinking, “Was Brandi was the ONLY ONE in your family called to missions? Are you just going along like a good husband supporting his wife?” I have to admit; I caught “the bug” right along with Brandi. Actually, long before I got saved and became a disciple of Jesus.

Bear with me, this is relevant from my perspective. I played 4 years of basketball at East Ascension High, a public high school. That’s important because before that I spent 9 years at St. Theresa in Gonzales, LA, a private, Catholic school. From Kindergarten to eighth grade, my friends looked a lot like me. In high school, I met some new friends.

On the basketball team at EAHS, my new friends looked different than me. During those 4 years with those guys, we got to know each other on and off the court. We became friends off the court because we worked and fought together on the court.

At that time for me, it wasn’t a new continent or a new country. But, it was a new people and a new culture. I met their brothers, sisters, moms and dads, cousins, aunts and uncles. I went to their homes, shared meals and even mourned with them at a funeral for one of my teammates younger brothers who died too soon. We talked about our similarities, our differences, the tension and the division. I liked learning about these new friends. I enjoyed learning about “others.”

There was another landmark moment for me concerning “others.” Remember that U.S. Navy line in my resume above? Well, sometime in 1993 on one of my very first submarine patrols, we stopped for a port call in Barbados, an Eastern Caribbean Island. We got some time off and walked into town and met some of the locals. They kindly invited us to dinner at their house. We got a brief look at their city, their culture, their customs, their values, their home, their family and their food. It was very different from South Louisiana, but at the same time, VERY SIMILAR! I was interested. I wanted to see more. I wanted to learn more about “others.”

Then, after many mission trips with teams from HPC, I absolutely LOVED seeing "others" and how they did life. I began to embrace and appreciate all the people that were different from me, yet somehow the same as me. I also learned from many missionaries that the way to reach “others” for Christ is by focusing on the similarities to build relationships, then learn about our differences in order to learn how to introduce them to Jesus and The Kingdom of Heaven.

All that to say, I’ve always had a heart for “others” and missions. But, I was caught up in my COMFORTABLE CALLING and didn’t see that God was trying to stir that up again in my heart through my wife! See, if you’re married, God won’t call the husband OR the wife, God calls the husband AND the wife. He calls THE FAMILY!

Next time, we’ll talk about how we answered the call. Thanks for checking in!

Gered, Brandi, Jada & Josiah