Kayla’s Journey

 What does it take to answer the call of God to Missions? One word. “Surrender.” I want to share the story of a 13 year old girl who has taken the first step of a life-long dedication to service for her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Kayla Cooper was saved and baptized in June 2002, when she was six years old. Last summer she felt the call of God upon her life to be a Missionary while attending our youth camp. By the end of that week, she surrendered herself to that service by a public confession.
The first thing God instructed her to do was to read her Bible all the way through; so, she started immediately on that task and for the last 8 months she has spent a significant amount of time regularly in the Word of God being prepared to “go ye”. Knowing that God’s call is more powerful than a parent’s plan, her parents Diane and Ronnie supported and encouraged her to obey God in all things. Kayla wanted to attend a mission planning meeting with us as a way of “gathering information.” So, Diane and Kayla came to the meeting and soaked up as much info as they could. At the close of the meeting I asked Kayla to sing and the words were obviously very dear to her heart.
The next day at Church Kayla shared that at the moment she started to sing, she remembered a (daydream) she had previously where she saw herself singing that song, dressed in a team t-shirt, with suitcases in hand, getting ready to board the plane with the rest of the team members to Honduras. She was amazed to say the least. I replied, “Sounds like you had a vision; let’s pray and see what God has in mind.”
The obstacles were – no passport – no foreign vaccinations – no sponsor – no roommate – and the biggie, - no money. Diane could not travel with Kayla this year because of responsibilities with other family members. So, for now Kayla just had a “daydream.” What we sometimes forget is the only thing it takes for God to be ready to use us, is our surrender. He loves to handle the details Himself. He sees no obstacles, just opportunities to use His servants and his resources to distribute where and when he pleases.
Within a week it was obvious that God had a plan. There was two ready willing chaperones to volunteer and God providing the initial deposit! So, in faith her parents agreed, “If God is in it.” Within days, through a string of unrelated events, they were convinced that God was indeed “in this thing.” Donations came quickly to provide the exact amount of support Kayla needed for the entire trip. Diane was talking to a lady one day when the woman reached into her wallet and pulled out some money she had tucked away. She handed it to Diane saying “when I heard Kayla was called to be a missionary I put this back and was saving it for her.” (It was the exact amount needed to pay for the passport!) So here Kayla stands with two chaperones – one like a second mother – and the other who turned out not to be a stranger after all; all expenses paid for and a growing prayer support team.
Kayla’s vision of singing her song and getting on the airplane to Honduras wearing an “It’s a God Thing” team t-shirt” is becoming a reality.