My Future Goals

To those who read my blog,

There has been some confusion in friends who I have not seen for a while about what exactly I will be doing with my life. As there is confusion with them, and as I don’t really talk about this with everyone, I thought it best to address this in how I see it and how it has come to this point. I hope this gives light to what God has been showing me over the past few years.

First off, I got my call to ministry when I was 16 at a youth conference. I went down for an alter call and God spoke to me in that time. I went up the stairs, saw my youth pastor and said to him, “Bobby, I’m supposed to be a pastor”.

He responded, “I know”.

When I came to Alberta and was driving to Calgary with my old mentor, Russ, one thing stuck out in my mind: Vietnamese Gangs. Russ had mentioned them once on the drive over for some reason and it stuck.

I got to Calgary a few years later not knowing exactly what kind of pastor God wanted me to be. I started attending a big white church and found that I did not like it. I had met a girl in Calgary and started attending her Church, which was a Vietnamese Church. I started developing a love for Asian people and culture. I also started to get really passionate about gangs. I remember one time pacing alone in my apartment praying passionately for Asian gangs.

I was realizing more and more that I would have to work bi-vocationally and I was trying to think of a way to do that. Last year it hit me: teaching. Teaching high school would give me summers off AND access to people I could minister to and show love to. I know, I know, I probably should not have watched Freedom Writers but I believe being an English teacher in a poorer neighborhood would give me good access to people to love (students) and time to do ministry. Last year I thought it would be good to do a double major in English and in ministry so that I have something to go into teacher’s college with.

This year I actually took the step of taking an English course to test the waters. It’s going alright and I hope to get my first paper back soon so I can know a bit more if this is something I can do.

Last night was ministry chapel and the district superintendents spoke about being bi-vocational. Not only that but I talked to two of them today and they affirmed that the thing God has been revealing to me was at the very least a good idea. In fact, they were interested in what it was. That gave me hope.

So that’s it. I still have a passion for ministry and I still am pursuing my calling to be a pastor, but the packaging is different. I am not too sure how a suburban white boy is going to speak to Asian gangs, but we shall see. Keep me in your prayers!

- Joshua