If God has called you
...to China or any other place and you are sure in your own heart, let nothing deter you remember it is God who has called you and it is the same as when he called Moses or Samuel. That was said by Gladys Aylward, who in the years before and after World War II lived and worked to take the Great Story into as many remote corners of China as she could, in the process striking a huge blow to the ancient and crippling practice of foot-binding for girls. Her comment that when God calls a woman, it is no different in importance or promise of accompanying power from God than when he spoke to Moses out of the burning bush or called to Samuel when he was a little boy living in the place where the Israelites gathered to worship God.
If God has called you . How do we know the answer to that question? I prayed for a woman recently who as a little girl would gather all the kids in the neighborhood into her family's open garage in the summertime and create a whole Vacation Bible School for them - at age 8 or so! All her childhood she felt like she was called to preach and to lead. But when she got to be an adult, she wandered into a branch of the church where she was told, "No, you aren't allowed to do that." So she channeled all that passion for people into a nursing career. Even so, the yearning to follow that original call of God has still persisted, and she's beginning to think about what pursuing it might mean at this stage in her life. Did she hear an audible voice? No, the recognition of the call came in the joy she experienced when she was doing what she was made for, and the evidence of fruit from her actions.
Do you have a "how I knew God had called me" story? Can you tell it in a short version?
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About 30 years ago I sensed Jesus calling me into ministry as a pastor. I was only 16! After earning three degrees, I finally met the love of my life, a missionary to Japan. We married, went to Bible school, then Japan and I became a "pastor" of sorts with him. I loved it after I learned the language which took me two years to learn...I ended up counseling for people in "high places", teaching the Bible and learning a lot of the culture. After four years The Father brought us back because some brokeness had to take place. That was a four year healing process until we became Vineyard pastors in the states and I was thriving in ministry for Him again. I have been in a counseling ministry in our community for ten years and I have been blessed to be used prophetically also in many people's lives. Praise Him for His faithfulness. God's callings are confirmed throughout our Christian life. They are irrevocable, but never without testing or pain.
I'm a female Vineyard pastor who was sent out from Ann Arbor to CP in China.
Growing up, I always knew I was called to lead and to pastor. I recently found an old Bible from when I was 8 years old, and I'd highlighted parts all through it and made notes. Looking at it, I wondered, "What kind of freak of an 8 year old was I???" I always read the Word ravenously, led high school groups, and saw I had a pastoral gift when counseling friends. But, since being a female pastor wasn't in my framework, I imagined I'd be a pastor's wife. From this vantage point, I wonder what kind of goal that was, esp. considering I'm 31 and still single! It's funny - and a bit ridiculous - to me now, but it was all I knew to even touch what I felt called to do.
At one point in my mid-20s, my senior pastor and his wife (also a staff pastor) had me over to dinner and told me they thought I should consider CP-ing in a few years and that they'd be willing to mentor me to do that. Even at that point, I wasn't sure how I felt about women in leadership. So, I spent a year digging through scripture and reading a number of different academic viewpoints on the subject. I finally let the idea seep past my worldview and change how I see God's plan for women in the kingdom. Now I'm running full-force and championing other women who are called into this line of service. I'm teaching and preaching in China right now, but one day I hope to plant in the States as well.
How I knew God called me into missions work is a bit more direct ... a gut feeling for years and then a powerful two hour plastering to the floor at the Missio Dei Vineyard conference a few years ago. But my call to pastoring a church in the US someday feels confirmed by the fact that everything in my being says: This is what I'm made to do. I love my job, and I can't wait to see what's ahead.
I don't want to use my full name b/c of the nature of what I do and where I'm at ...
Blessings,
E.S.
A friend of mine and I were having this discussion on the way home from class the other night. "How do you know when you are called?" Over the past year I had been asking the same question, but I have recently found myself saying, "I know I have been called!" What changed in this past year that brought me to the place where I could say that? I cannot really point to one specific thing except to say it has been a journey. This year I have felt the breath of God bringing life to many things in my heart that have always been there but in a dormant state. I had dreams, but they were pressed down and suppressed or forgotten. They were minimized and dismissed. They were small and black and white.
But over the past year I could hear God whispering to my dreams. Those whispers came from teachings (I am in VLI where good teaching is abundant, thanks to the shared vision of Steve Robbins and John Wimber). The whispers came from encouraging mentors - people who were willing to give away what they have received from the Lord. The whispers came from recalled memories of events in my life as God said, "It was for this purpose that you experienced this!" The whispers came from some incredible friendships - real community and connection with others. The whispers were gentle yet persistent. Then they kept getting louder. I began to see my dreams take on color, size, and vividness. Soon, I began to believe my dreams, and mental obstacles began to melt away under the power of the Holy Spirit. I began to feel passion and anticipation and faith.
These feelings, as they have been nurtured, begin to burn inside me.
There are days when I feel the intensity of this burning. I feel empowered and powerful. Yet, there are days when I feel nothing - even less than nothing. I struggle to find balance in life - my family, my spouse, my household - and I question how it might be possible to feel this way and also be called. But the history of those persistent whispers, and the surprise/delight of hearing new ones regularly affirms me. I know I have been called.
Julie Zinn
All Nations Christian Fellowship, Columbus, OH