Three minutes.

We're supposed to give a "three-minute talk" tomorrow on when/how we got saved, why we're going into full-time missions, and why we chose Wycliffe.  Can I practice on you??

Hi, I'm Brandy, from Atlanta.  I grew up in church, and accepted Christ at age 7 through the influence of my parents and my church.  Missions was never really a big part of my life until I went to college, so let's fast forward to there.  I went to a Christian university, where my walk with the Lord grew so much.  Once a year, they would host a missions emphasis week, where missionaries and missions agencies would come and present what they do and why they do it.  We had speakers in convocations and in classes.  It was there, in my accounting class, that I learned that you could be a missionary no matter what your profession.  But even then, it was still only an awareness of what missions was- and I was too scared to even think about a commitment in that direction.  It wasn't until the last six years that the Lord placed in my heart a love for missions, which grew to make missions one of my biggest passions in life.  I moved to Atlanta, where I attend a church that is very focused on missions.  For me, it started with attending missions conferences, then going on cross-cultural short-term trips, then finally saying "Lord, if you want to send me somewhere else, I'm open and willing".  Within a year of saying that, I went on a short-term construction trip, with a group of people from my church, to JAARS.  The first day we were given a tour of their facilities, which of course included an explanation of the heart and goal of Wycliffe.  In the lobby of their main building, there is a depiction of the Last Supper, where Jesus is surrounded by men from twelve different tribes all over the world.  We were asked, "What language would Jesus use to speak to each of these men?"  I realized then that my mindset my whole life had been "as long as a person has the Bible in their trade language, they're reached.  They have a Bible that they can understand."  But Jesus would never walk up to them and start speaking in a second or third language.  He would use their heart language, the one they learned from birth, the one that speaks to the core of their being.  That is why my mindset has completely shifted, and that is why I am with Wycliffe.

Thank you! Did you read that in under three minutes? :)