When the Lord Calls

At the young age of 15, sitting around a campfire at Camp Jumonville in rural Pennsylvania, I heard a message about taking the gospel to the world. Our camp counselor encouraged us to pray for the Father to use each one of us to share the hope of Christ when we went down from the mountain and returned home. My young heart prayed to the Father and said, “Here I am Lord, send me.” Several years later at a conference a Messianic Jewish man was selling rings. One of the rings had Hebrew writing on it that said two words, “send me.” I bought the ring.He prayed a prayer of blessing on the ring and placed it on my finger. Approximately five years later I attended a prayer walking seminar and learned to pray for my community and was asked to go and pray for China. It wasn’t an easy decision for me to leave my comfort zone to travel to another country, for one purpose, to pray. I wrestled with the thought of just praying for China in the comfort of my home or church but the Father brought to mind the prayer I prayed years before: “Here I am Lord, send me.” Frightened and excited, I traveled for the first time out of the country. As I traveled to China to pray, something was placed on my heart for the people of that nation. Many months after walking, praying, and meeting new friends, I felt a call to return to China. I didn’t know when that would happen or what I would do there but I knew God was calling me. One thing I discovered is that even though I felt called and had confirmation from various people praying with me, it took several years for the purpose of my calling to be made clear. I needed to become prepared to fulfill the calling.Fast forward 10 years, when I began working with children with autism at an Intermediate Unit in Pennsylvania. After a few years of working with children with autism, Pastor Mark Geppert asked, “When are you going to take the ministry of working with children with autism to the world?”This question totally took me by surprise. I was busy taking college courses and working, and there was very little thinking of using the gift of teaching on a global scale. I thought of working with children with autism as a “job” rather than a ministry. That thinking was totally out of line with what God had been preparing me to do. Pastor Mark introduced me to some precious sisters, Sandi Anderson and Andrea Moriarty, both of whom are mothers of children with autism. He gave me a phone number to call and the three of us quickly became friends and prayer partners. We prayed almost every weekend for God to open doors in China so that families with children with autism could receive hope. The ladies and I had never met because I lived in Pennsylvania and they lived in California, but we developed a bond of friendship through intercession. We believed that the Father would be faithful and answer our prayers. We believed in the promise of Matthew 7:7-8 which says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” We asked that a door would be opened in China to minister to children and families of children with autism. A year later I traveled with a small team,including Sandi and her son Joel, and spoke words of hope to the mothers and fathers of children with autism, thereby beginning the first of several trainings. We prayed for the families that we met and the call became stronger to continue. Daniel and Gail, our SEAPC friends from China, purchased a figurine of a Chinese door that could be opened and shut. Daniel said to me that he felt that the Father said, “The door has been openedto you in China”. These words were confirmation that China was the place where I was able to keep the promise that I made to the Father years ago. The promise that I would be obedient and go where he would send me.I discovered that some callings take a great deal of preparation before you can walk into that which the Father has opened to you. After 12 years of training and preparation I was ready to fulfill the call. It may have taken years but it was so worth it. The Lord continues to teach me how to lay hands on children with autism for healing, and how to pray for the families and to believe great things. When prayer is applied to your day-to-day work, God can turn it into something amazing. Praying for the Father to “send me” was one of the most excitinganswers to prayer I have ever received. There are amazing things happening in China. A program for Board Certified Behavior Analyst credentialing is being established through the help of Dr. Walter and Stephanie Chung from Cairn University. Cairn is a Christian University committed to building the kingdom of God. SEAPC is partnering with Cairn University to begin offering online classes at an affordable price that will improve the quality of teaching of children with autism in China. Our prayer is to find Christian teachers interested in receiving the certification to teach in China or to open up schools where children and families can receive treatment.As I write this I am preparing to do training for teachers of children with autism in Beijing. While in China, relationships with the local church body are being established so that the church family can minister to and support the families. Dr. Jia told us of the shame and embarrassment parents feel from having a child with autism in China. She said that it is going to take time for parents to look at their child in a positive light. It is time for all of us to look at individuals with autism as being fearfully and wonderfully made, each with unique and wonderful gifts that they can bring to us. I met a young man with autism at a concert that a small group of individuals with autism put on to bless us in China. The individuals were extremely talented in the area of music. Their parents beamed with pride as their young adult children sang and played their instruments. One of the young men had a great interest in learning to speak English. He sat next to me at lunch after the concert and he had pictures of the sky on his phone. Using fluent English he said, “I love the sky. I take pictures of it.” I didn’t realize how many pictures of the sky I had on my phone until he asked to see them.We had found something in common to share and he said, “I feel happy looking at your sky pictures.” I said, “I feel happy looking at your sky pictures. We are happy together.” With a beaming smile he replied, “Yeah, I like to feel happy!” I said, “So do I. Let’s be happy together.” Full of excitement, he responded, “Great idea!” So we sat side by side looking at our pictures of the sky feeling happy to be together. I felt happiness and peace in my heart knowing that I was where God had sent me and with people he had sent me to minister to. The ironic thing is this young man ministered to me. He caused me to take time to stop and look at the beauty of the sky and to feel joy.I encourage you to take time and look up at the sky. Pray and ask the Father where He can send and use you for His glory. I pray that you will find joy in the calling.~ Kim Bennett