The work we're called to do

October 2, 2018 Snehal Chavan

Has anyone ever said to you, ‘Maybe acupuncture is your calling?’

Perhaps you’ve you thought to yourself, ‘Medicine is my calling.’

What difference does work take on when we feel it’s something we’ve been called to do?

April Holden explores this theme in her new book They Called Us Love, which publishes 18 October.

When I was a child, about 9 or 10 years old, my class was shown a video about Cliff Richard’s work in Bangladesh. The film introduced us to the reality of suffering children in the world, and it touched my heart very deeply. My father had taught me to pray every day, so when I was praying about what we had seen I sensed strongly God saying to me, ‘You will work with the homeless children of Africa’. When I told my mum about this revelation she only said, ’That is nice, dear’. But she never forgot my words and when I eventually told her I would go into missions she wasn’t surprised. She toold me, ‘I wondered when you would get around to it!’ 

From the moment God spoke to me, working with suffering children was all I wanted to do. Whatever career I chose, whether it was to become a teacher or nurse or doctor, it would be to help children in Africa. When I was 19, I applied to work with a mission in Madagascar, but was told that my health was not strong enough. I should just pray and give, they said, because If I went to Africa I would die. So, being very timid and unsure of myself, I accepted the mission’s advice and continued my education. Eventually I started to teach in England.

One day, whilst on the way to work, I was singing along with the music on my car’s tape deck, ‘Here I am -- send me,’ when God spoke to me again. ‘I asked you to go to Africa’, He reminded me. Convicted, I applied to various missions and eventually I did go. What has kept me going through all the years of ups and downs is the Father’s incontrovertible call, and seeing how so many children suffer in the continent of Africa, for so many reasons. Sometimes I am motivated by obedience to God’s call, and sometimes by love for innocent children. Little ones and youth always suffer because of the action of adults and we must do something about the situation. This includes being the voice of the voiceless and serving as the family to fatherless children, just as our Lord is Father to the fatherless.

In North Africa, whenever I got discouraged with problems of health, finance, administration or political upheaval, I went to spend a day with ‘my’ children just to remind myself of why I was there. Seeing how each one had been transformed from ragged, disturbed refugees to happy, healthy kids was always enough to stir my heart and send me back, refreshed, to the task.

After being forced to leave North Africa in 2013, I took a year of sabbatical leave and study. Then I asked God, 'What next? My heart was still committed to the suffering children of Africa.' He gradually showed me that I would no longer head up programmes myself but enable others to do so. My new task was to train missionaries who would motivate and equip churches to rescue and rehabilitate children and youths who were living on the streets – and to prevent them from going to the streets in the first place. God directed me to fulfil this vision through the work of OM Africa which has a large training base in Zambia. This location became the launch pad for our new ministry.

So many more children can be helped if the Church fulfils its responsibility to vulnerable youth! My team has sometimes been tempted to initiate projects themselves because it is a slow job getting churches to run them in a locally sustainable manner. However, God’s call to equip His Church and show His people how to serve as the family to the fatherless has always been very clear. He has repeatedly stressed that we are not to ‘despise small beginnings.’ The Lord’s assurance that we are on the right track, His encouragement and blessing along the way, makes all the difference.