I was privileged to be converted when I was about six or seven years old. At that time, my older brother had just been converted. I hadn’t really understood what conversion actually meant before that. I knew it meant becoming a child of God, but I don’t think I’d applied that to myself. When my brother was converted, I realised that I could do that too. I then simply prayed to God and told him that I wanted to be his child as well, and knew in the very next moment that he had answered my prayer.
For me, the topic of mission work had been on my mind ever since I was a child. I don’t know exactly why that was. But one reason, at any rate, was that my father often went on missions to Russia, Romania and other Eastern European countries. That’s why these countries are, I think, particularly close to my heart. In the summer of 2020, these thoughts took shape and I began by talking about them with my family. At first, I was fairly certain that God was calling me to Romania, as we’d been on a mission there as a youth group and we’d also visited as a family before. Bolivia seemed far too far away to me, and the idea that God might send me there seemed completely far-fetched.
A short time later, I first spoke to our elder about it and, after a while, to Viktor Peters. After the initial meetings, I realised that God had different plans to mine and, after some back and forth, it eventually became clear that I would be going to La Gracia in Bolivia. I was fully on board with it, yet I just couldn’t bring myself to be happy about it. The summer just before I left was particularly difficult for me. I really wanted to look forward to my ministry in Bolivia, but I just couldn’t. I prayed to God, telling Him that I’d very much like to go down this path, but that He would have to take care of the rest. I was able to experience how God can bring peace and give me friends. About two weeks before my flight, I was asked if I’d prefer to go to Sommerfeld after all, and so here I am now.
I’ve been here in Sommerfeld since mid-August and I mainly help out at the school. I’m also allowed to sing in the choir, and about once a month we have a girls’ night. Here, too, I keep experiencing how God provides everything I need at just the right time and is incredibly gracious and patient with me.
