The Baptist Union had invited me to teach at a nationwide children’s ministry conference in Kazakhstan at the time when EGM was prayerfully considering starting to work in that country.
The conference would be a great opportunity to share God’s vision for transformational children’s ministry and see how these children’s workers in churches responded.
During the four days I was there, I taught several workshops each day and then spoke at the evening plenary sessions. From the first seminar to the last large-group session, Olga sat in the front row and appeared to be writing down everything I said.
Always seated and ready to go before I began, she seemed very eager and very motivated. On the last day of the conference, I spoke at the final session.
I knew I would have to leave immediately if I were to catch my Air Kazakhstan flight. (Air Kazakhstan is another whole story!) The plan was that I’d have my bag packed with me, and the car would take me to the airport immediately after I finished.
I concluded my talk on Matthew 19:13-15 (the very passage we’re studying now), and right when the meeting adjourned, Viktor, the conference organizer, was there to whisk me off to the car. And that was the very moment when Olga stepped up to speak to me.
Throughout the week, her eagerness had never prompted her to actually talk with me, so my curiosity was piqued, and I set down my bag. She skipped all the normal pleasantries, but I understood her to say in Russian, “I have a thirteen-year-old son, and I have not shared the gospel with him.”
Knowing our time was short, I quickly responded, “It’s never too late to share Christ with someone, whether that person is thirteen or thirty.” I even used my deeper, holy pastor/missionary voice to give her confidence that I knew what I was talking about.
Then she said, “You don’t understand…. He died.”
I descended from the mountain of confidence to the valley of despair in a nanosecond. If you’re a theologically minded person and love children, Olga’s situation raises a very difficult and thorny question. Then Olga asked, “Where is my son?”
Tears ran down her cheeks, and I prayed for the Holy Spirit to give me the words to speak. And He did. I shared those with her, and then I prayed for her. Viktor was clearly losing patience, but after my Amen, we were off to the car.
The conference was taking place in October, and, to my surprise, it was snowing heavily when Viktor and I stepped out of the building.
We could hear several hundred people singing a Russian Christian hymn used for such a leave-taking. Their song was a perfect soundtrack for these next few minutes that were like a scene from a movie, a scene that I will never forget.
I worked my way through the crowd, following Viktor to the car and finally getting settled in the back seat. At exactly that moment, I looked up, and there was Olga holding the car door. She thanked me for talking with her and then, right before she closed the door, she said in Russian, “Now you know why I minister to children.”
The door closed, and the two-hour drive to the airport gave me time to think. Olga did not want any child to live and die—as her own son had—without having the opportunity to hear and respond to the message of salvation.
This was Olga’s dramatic calling to children’s ministry. When you heard her story, you sensed God’s powerful work in her life, and she evinced a sense of destiny.
When God Calls a Leader
The process by which God calls and commissions a leader is often dramatic, creating a sense of destiny for both the followers and those who read the calling narratives centuries later. In addition, the drama created often imputes a sense of destiny with the leaders themselves.
Moses
While there are earlier calling narratives in the Bible, the Moses calling is epic. The burning bush, voice of God, snake/staff, and leprous hand all create a palatable sense of drama (Exodus 3-4).
Moses returned to the site of his calling with the people in tow and received the Ten Commandments in another majestic encounter with God. The initial calling overcame Moses’ doubts and created a sense of destiny despite his having been exiled to the desert.
Subsequent events, including the confrontation with the Pharaoh, crossing the Red Sea, and leading the people through the desert, only served to reinforce the destiny that surrounded his life.
Gideon
Gideon’s calling was so dramatic that it has been referred to over the centuries in the phrase “placing a fleece before God.”
Like Moses, Gideon was filled with doubts and thought his status excluded him from national leadership (Judges 6:15). The fleece incidents served to assure Gideon that God was with him and had a plan for using him to lead all of Israel (Judges 6:36-40).
This was certainly a sense of destiny that was imbued in Gideon through the calling of miracles.
David
When Samuel arrived in Bethlehem at God’s behest, he was looking for a son of Jesse to anoint as Israel’s King (I Samuel 16:1-4). When Jesse’s sons were brought before Samuel, he thought them to look the part of a new King.
However, God impressed on Samuel that He looks not at outward appearance but at the heart. When Samuel inquired, he learned of another son, obviously not fit for such a lofty role, David.
When brought before Samuel, the LORD made it known that David was indeed to be king, and he was anointed by Samuel. This calling narrative set David’s destiny and was followed immediately by David entering Saul’s service, killing Goliath, and gaining fame among the people.
Jesus
The “baptism” narratives are widely considered as the inaugural events of Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 3:16-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22).
When studying in seminary, I was struck by a professor’s comment that all three narratives (the descent of the dove, the voice from heaven, and the pronouncement) are all focused on Jesus, and the phrasing does not make it clear that everyone heard.
Whether or not the focus is clearly aimed at Jesus and God declaring His sonship, God’s love for His Son, and God’s pleasure with His life, this certainly created a sense of destiny with Jesus Himself and those who heard.
From this moment forward, His life evinced a sense of destiny unlike any before or since.
Paul
The road to Damascus experience (Acts 9:1-9) was the dramatic moment that turned Paul from a persecutor of the Way to a missionary among the Gentiles.
It was a watershed moment that caused him to completely reevaluate his understanding of the Old Testament and the purposes of God in Christ Jesus. His destiny in life was redirected to becoming the greatest theologian, church planter, missionary, and Christian leader in history.
His calling was so foundational in Paul’s life that he refers to it in several difficult ministry situations (Acts 22, 26, Galatians 1:11-17). In each case, he is faced with trials, tribulations, and church tensions.
Early Ministry Miracles
In many leaders’ lives, the calling was followed by miraculous ministry events that served to reinforce the sense of destiny and announce that destiny to those around them.
Moses
Moses returned to Egypt after his monumental calling experience, and several incidents reinforced the sense of destiny around his leadership.
In Exodus 4:29-31, Moses returns to Egypt and repeats the signs associated with his calling for the “people” (vs. 30), causing them to believe him.
This is followed in Exodus 7 by the “power” encounters with the Pharaoh and his magicians. The miracles surrounding the plagues cemented the sense of destiny surrounding his leadership.
David
David is anointed by Samuel in I Samuel 16, and the next chapter focuses on David’s memorable victory over Goliath.
This story, repeated over the centuries, solidified David’s calling as the King in waiting in Israel. The lyrics “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” made it clear that David’s time was close at hand and that he was a leader with destiny.
Jesus
After His baptism, Jesus moved into the initial phases of His ministry work, characterized by the miraculous.
These include the dramatic encounter with Satan (Matthew 4:1-11), driving out evil spirits (Mark 1:21-28), and healing the sick (Luke 4:38-41). These miracles were followed by others and became characteristic of His ministry life.
The earliest miracles served to establish His divinity and the unique purpose of His life. The participants of that day and the readers of today stand in awe of the destiny built around His life, culminating in His death and resurrection.
Paul
After a sojourn in Arabia (Galatians 1:17,) Paul moved out into ministry with Barnabas and immediately had his ministry confirmed by the miraculous.
Paul confronts a “child of the devil,” and God causes blindness to overcome the man (Acts 13:9-12). In Iconium, he and Barnabas “perform signs and wonders” (Acts 14:3). This kind of miraculous activity characterized his ministry life and created a sense of destiny around him that was recognized by the other leaders. (Galatians 1:18-19).
God Sets Leaders Apart for His Special Purposes
Miraculous birth stories, calling narratives, and early ministry accounts all serve to create a sense of destiny around leaders. These elements all share the miraculous hand of God setting aside a leader for His special purposes.
Every Generation Ministries had laid the foundation for launching a ministry in Romania to help churches develop life-changing children’s ministries. We met with numerous church leaders, cast vision among hundreds of children’s workers, and then established a Board of Directors to develop and govern the new ministry.
These Romanian leaders knew that the first key step was to find a Director to lead the ministry on a day-to-day basis. They launched a nationwide search and vetted a lengthy list of candidates, narrowing the field to 3-4 great Christian leaders.
They interviewed the candidates, checked references, and came down to a weekend meeting where a final decision would be made. The night before the final decisive meeting, the Chairman of the Board received a last-minute resume submitted electronically.
The Chairman sensed the hand of God on this candidate, and the next day, the Board prayerfully halted the process. They all sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the new, “11th-hour” candidate was brought into the process.
God led them to call Daniel Bruda to serve as the founding Director of EGM-Romania, where he served faithfully to build an enormously effective ministry. His leadership role expanded, and today he serves EGM, overseeing the entire work in Europe.
Daniel has evinced a sense of destiny since the Board first met him and continues to this day. Daniel, like so many effective leaders, evinces a sense of destiny. Evince is a carefully chosen word and a tricky concept. It is something given off by a leader.
It is not manufactured and presented to others it is a quality that exudes from a leader. Leaders have an aura of God-given purpose that is perceived by others, and something that they may hardly be aware of themselves. It is not self-confidence or cockiness.
It is not self-assurance and a self-professed announcement made by leaders. It is the presence of God, setting a leader apart for His purposes and making the leader and others aware of that purpose.
Ironically, as we see with so many of the biblical leaders we examined, it is accompanied by humility, self-doubt, and a keen awareness of shortcomings.
Every year, EGM sends representatives to various Children’s workers conferences around the United States to recruit churches and network like-minded children’s workers to serve with our ministry.
One fall, we sent a small team to such an event in Kansas City. To increase foot traffic to our display booth, we auctioned off a digital camera to anyone who registered at our booth. Afterwards, we took the list of participants and sent them a letter of introduction.
About three weeks after the conference, I received a call from Joe Cox, a Children’s Pastor at a large church in St. Louis. When he called, he told me that God had wanted to get his attention because he received ten letters from me!
Ten of his staff used his business cards to register at our booth. In our administrative incompetence, we sent the same letter to Joe ten times. Instead of dismissing our ministry as idiotic, he called me.
That began a process that brought Joe to California, where he joined our staff as the Vice President of International Ministries. During his years of leadership with EGM, he transformed our ministry around the world.
He was extraordinarily gifted and evinced a sense of destiny. That went hand-in-hand with humility and a frank sense of his own shortcomings. Joe was simply amazing. Joe eventually moved on from our staff to launch Enduring Treasure Ministries, where he works with church leaders across East Africa.
Effective leaders evince a sense of destiny.
Join EGM-US!
If you're serving in a church in the United States, you can be part of the exciting new launch of EGM-US by hosting a vision meeting in your area, attending a training, or just contacting us for more information about how this could benefit your next generation ministries by contacting us contacting our team at (951)587-3825 or USA@egmworld.org.