Called to Casandra (eBook)

Chapter 1 

The Provision

When I was 17, an opportunity was presented to me: explore the world and go on my very first mission trip. Ending up in Trinidad and Tobago, a tiny country off the coast of South America, I was there for two full weeks of exploration. My new surroundings were very different from what I was used to growing up in California. Upon landing, we took a drive to the home where we would stay – our place of rest and recuperation from our long hours of ministry. The intense belief in witch doctors and voodoo was evident in all directions. Most of the tropical houses had ripped flags at the end of a bamboo shaft. I learned that these were witch doctor blessings. The more flags you had, the more times you had a witch doctor «bless» your home. 

As a Christian, I couldn’t help but know that these “blessings” were actually not blessings at all. Tears rolled down my face as the bus took us through the town. There were hundreds and hundreds of these flags on the homes of this island. The people were looking for hope amongst their despair. My heart started to ache for them to know God and find the One true hope. I put all of my effort in those weeks of ministry to show them God’s love, and our team saw many give their lives to Jesus.

After that mission trip, I returned home and had to gear up for my senior year of high school. That last year of high school was very profound. God sent me some amazing friends that year who loved God as much as I did. As I approached adulthood, an even greater passion stirred in me to do the Lord’s will for my life. The trip to Trinidad and Tobago made me hunger to go on another mission trip. I was hooked! The following year, I signed up to go to New Orleans.

My parents were fine with me going on these trips. They knew me well. As long as I raised the money, their daughter was going to go for it. I had to work hard to pay for every trip. The money from multiple garage sales, candy sales, car washes and support letters usually added up to be enough. During high school I played sports and couldn’t find the time to get a job. Every time He provided mission trip money, even right up to the deadline, God made my faith grow stronger.

Just a few weeks after I had graduated high school and before the mission trip to New Orleans, a Christian music festival came to Monterey, California. This three-day festival had dozens of Christian artists come to perform on several stages. My cousin, Willie, had recently given his life to Jesus and called me to see if I wanted to go with him. Willie was a few years older than I was. We were third cousins. My grandma’s baby brother was his dad. I have childhood memories with him as always being the funny guy who would make all of the cousins laugh.

Willie was really persistent about me going to this Christian music festival. I wasn’t sure I should take the time to go. My New Orleans mission trip money wasn’t there yet. Plus, I had already been to the exact same festival the year before. I decided I’d simply tell him I didn’t have the money to go. Sure, spending time with my fun cousin would have been great, and I was so glad he found Jesus. The only thing holding me back was spending money I didn’t have on festival tickets and a campsite.

Willie was relentless! He called me every day begging me to come with him. On his last attempt, he said he would pay for our campsite, but not my ticket. If I only had to pay for the ticket to get in, then I could make it work. Not wanting to want to let him down, I gave in and told him yes.

Willie lived in southern California. I lived in northern California and the music festival was in central California. He drove up my way to pick me up. As he arrived in my city, his car broke down! I kept thinking that I wasn’t meant to go and this was just another sign it wasn’t meant to be, but again Willie was still adamant about going. With his amazing problem-solving skills, he asked me if we could drive my car.

Let me tell you about my car. For $600, my dad bought me a beat-up, yellow, 1976 Chevy Nova. With its V6 engine, my car was a complete gas hog, with no air conditioner and a broken passenger side window. We had to beat California’s summer heat somehow with no AC. I listed all the reasons why it was unfeasible to take my car, but Willie continued to insist.

Shortly we were off…broken window and all. With only one stop to fill up the tank again, we made it to Monterrey, California. Together we put up our tent and made our way to the festival grounds to see all of the Christian bands playing on the different stages. Honestly, there was still a struggle in my mind justifying spending the money to be there. The struggle slightly lifted when Willie and I started to have a blast!

Looking at the band schedule, we realized that on the last night, both of our favorite bands/singers would be on the same stage. My favorite band at the time was the Supertones, and Willie’s favorite artist was Michael W. Smith. Because they were our favs, we had a plan. “Let’s get as close as we can to the stage,” we decided. As early as we could get there, we took our spots for the day to be up front. We stood behind a wooden board that separated us from the VIP ticket holders. That’s as close as we thought we could get.

As we waited in the hot California sun, we were surprised to see a friend of mine from my town who was working security. It was nice to catch up with him. Before our conversation ended and before he got back to work, he told us that he was going to ask his boss if we could sit in the VIP seats. He had noticed many open seats and thought his boss would let us. My cousin and I were thrilled to find out that the boss man gave us the green light! VIP, here we come!

My cousin boosted me over the wooden panel, and then made his way over after. We found open seats and waited for the Supertones to take the stage! We were up and close and had room to dance to my favorite songs. This is so awesome...

Before Michael W. Smith came on next, there was a guest speaker: the father of Rachel Scott. Rachel was a girl killed in a school shooting in 1999 in Columbine, Colorado. She loved Jesus very much, and her story touched my life from the day I found out she was shot at her school. She was asked if she still believed in Jesus and shot after her response of, “Yes, you know I still do.” I think her story dug deep into my heart because Rachel and I were the same age when she passed away. It had already been over a year since the tragedy had happened.

When her father spoke, I could not help but sob when he told us Rachel’s story. I was obviously moved and couldn’t hold the tears back. Her story was so inspiring and it was a blessing to hear about her life from her father. After he spoke, I tried to gather myself. That was when a sweet lady sitting next to me said softly, “You are so touched by her story.”

“I am. Her story makes me want to do everything I can for Jesus,” I said to her as I still continued to wipe the tears from my face.

The sweet lady proceeded to ask me a few questions about what I do and so forth. I basically shared with her that I had just finished high school and would be taking a mission trip to New Orleans soon. I got the chance to ask her questions and found out she had been volunteering at the music festival for many years.

In the midst of our conversation, she said to me, “I feel like I’m supposed to give you money.”

Caught by surprise by her words, my mouth must have dropped to the ground. What? How could this nice lady who just met me want to give me money for my trip? I gladly accepted her giving heart and gave her my address and phone number when she asked for it. You have to remember that this was back in the year 2000, before everyone had a cell phone in his or her pocket. I thanked her for even the gesture of supporting me financially. Man, was I blown away that God was at work even at a Christian music concert, with a random lady I sat by, in a VIP section I wasn’t supposed to be in, that my cousin begged me to go to. Remember, I didn’t want to be here because of finances, and here was a stranger blessing me…with finances. Puzzle pieces started snapping together in my walk of faith.

Before Michael W. Smith’s set came to a close, I learned this sweet lady’s name was Ruth. Ruth kept her word and supported me financially on my mission trip. I started to understand that God was guiding my steps. He was guiding me when I didn’t even realize it. I would have never met precious Ruth, if my friend had not been working there. I would not have met her if his boss would have said no to upgrading our seats, and I would not have met her if Willie and I had decided it was too hot to wait for as long as we did. I certainly never would have met Ruth if my awesome cousin hadn’t been so persistent. He didn’t let anything get in our way, relentlessly adamant we were going to the music festival no matter what. Yes, he was right, and he played a huge part in this story.

That alone makes me see that God is so good at getting His plans accomplished through you and those around you. Ruth obviously had a relationship with God for Him to speak to her like that. Not many people I know would give a lot of money to a young stranger they just met. Ruth is a beautiful gem in my eyes. I had been praying for God to provide for my trips, and He sent the answer by placing Ruth smack dab next to each other. Just like some of you may have heard, if God calls you, He will provide...