ADVENTURE
Jerry and Maxine Share Eritrean Saga
Jerry
Freshman
Central Bible College
The Call
Developing a consistent devotional life during my first year at Central Bible College (CBC) was an awesome experience. I cultivated the early morning habit of taking 30 minutes to read the Bible and pray. Then at night before crawling into bed, I would pray for about 10 minutes.
One night while kneeling in prayer at my bedside, the Lord gave me a unique vision. A map of Africa loomed up and a red dot appeared near Egypt. The dot moved diagonally across the continent and stopped on the West African coast. Was the Lord trying to tell me something?
I did not recognize the country on which the dot had stopped so the next morning I rushed to the library to look at an atlas. The country was Nigeria. The Lord got my attention, adjusting the focus for future ministry to Africa.
It seemed to me that one needed more than a vision before declaring the Lord had called him to Nigeria. I began reading about the country and its people, and becoming good friends with a missionary’s kid from Nigeria who enthusiastically shared with me his love for Africa.
Registering for my junior year at CBC, I changed my major from Bible to Missions. Signing that registration form sealed a commitment to which I have been true until this day.
The missionary call, processed over a two-year period of time, has weathered the challenges of cross cultural ministry and is still a solid foundation for my life.