Responding to a Missionary Call – Robert's Story

I felt the call to serve the poor at a very young age. When I was in Kindergarten, a guy from East St. Louis came to our school and talked about serving the poor and sharing the gospel message. We went on a trip as a school to serve the poor in East St. Louis, which wasn't far from where we lived. It really touched my heart and affected me. I think it really changed the core of who I was. We ourselves lived in a pretty poor community but my parents were better off than most there. We weren't rich but we did have money. I saw how my parents served our community with both their time and money. As a matter of fact, they were (and still are) the type of people who would give the shirt off their back. My dad once gave away his truck to a guy in our town. The point is, at a young age I had this desire on my heart to help those in need, which was something that my parents instilled in me, but it was also just the way God created me and the desire HE put on my heart.

I can remember riding in the back of the car and my brother and I sharing our dreams. He wanted to be the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys (we were big Cowboys fans) and I wanted to be a missionary. We decided he would fund my missions with his millions. I recently told him I held up my end of the bargain and he told me he'll be applying to be the kicker for the Vikings.

As a young adult, I got involved in doing youth ministry, and during this time I still had a deep desire to be serving the poor, forgotten, and marginalized. For instance, while we were on the east coast I had a day off and on that day the Holy Spirit lead me into Harlem. I sat down and spent the afternoon sharing the gospel with a group of men. It was awesome! I was enriched because of the experience, and I can only believe that because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, they were too.

I lived in a number of men's households with St. Paul's Outreach (SPO), which is a college outreach program. As men, we were committed to a certain way of life in the Lord: communal prayers, meals, and formation. The funny thing is, though, that again, I found myself drawn to the poor and the marginalized. I would from time to time get talks from the house leaders about the type of people that we were called to serve in this ministry, which was college-aged youth, because I kept reaching out to the poor and forgotten within the area. One such time, our household was in a rough neighborhood and I formed a relationship with an older lady whose daughter was a prostitute. We would pray for her together on the front steps of our house, and really I was just someone who would listen to her. She just needed someone to talk to and needed to be loved and God put a deep love for this woman on my heart. When her daughter got out of jail, she came over to the house with her mom and I read to her out of Romans where Paul talks about being children of God, and heirs of God with Christ. We talked about this being where she gets her self-worth and dignity and it being the only thing that's important. The Holy Spirit was present and it was amazing! However, the guys I lived with didn't think it was very amazing when they saw I was sitting there with what appeared to be a homeless woman and a prostitute.

I was in the Marine Corps and got to see plenty of third world countries where I came across extreme poverty to the point of malnourishment, tragic suffering, and real pain. It broke my heart to see these people. My heart went out to them. It was hard to see their dire need when in America there is so much excess that we have clothes sitting in our closets that we never wear or we just throw them away when they're worn out or even just because they're not in style anymore. We have food in our refrigerators that expire and get thrown away, or food that just gets scraped off the plate into the trash. I had wanted to serve in foreign missions my whole life but while I was in the Marine Corps and experiencing the realities around me, something inside me just broke.

While my wife and I were engaged, I told her that my vocation was to foreign missions and kind of razzed her a bit about it but I was serious. She told me my vocation was either her or foreign missions. There was no razzing, she was just plain serious. Then, every year when the gospel readings would be about discipleship, God would put this overwhelming and great desire in my heart to go serve the poor and to share the gospel. So, naturally, I would ask my wife to pray about doing mission work, and her being the good Catholic wife she is, she finally came around 11 years later! (ha ha) You can imagine my surprise and excitement and joy!

It was through reading the daily readings and prayer that God changed her heart. Tami started praying for the desire for foreign missions if it was God's will to serve in that capacity, and He answered that prayer! He spoke to her heart in this very specific call, which I find to be a true testament to the power of prayer, that God would change her heart so dramatically to desire something that she had previously, and for many years, had no desire for. And not only have the desire but she became excited about doing foreign missions!

It has been an amazing two years for Tami and I. It's truly been a joy to get to discern this with her and to watch her grow in excitement and watch our children grow in excitement as well. Just giving our lives over to God in our discernment, there have been so many fruits in our lives. It's an exciting life filled with the Spirit of God and miracles.

"If ten men are carrying a log - nine of them on the little end and one at the heavy end - and you want to help, which end will you lift on?  

- William Borden, as he reflected on the numbers of Christian workers in the U.S. compared to those among the unreached peoples in China.