stories from the steppe: Antioch - Finding Myself at Home

The dorms emptied out as students traveled home for the weekend. Silence strung from the halls like pendants forgotten by the wind. It was an average Saturday morning in Kokernot Hall.

Gathering my laundry, a small pan, bread and an egg, I expertly balanced the load on my way to the basement. Laundry sorted and deposited in quarter-fed machines, I popped the bread in the toaster and went about making myself an egg sandwich.

About the time I had placed egg between toast, a familiar face appeared around the corner. Heather, the RA from the third floor, was also on a breakfast mission. When she had prepared her meal she invited me up to her room to hang out.

Being an introvert and a bookworm, I didn’t get out of my dorm much freshman year. The RA on my hall didn’t seem to stick around many weekends, so Heather took me in as one of her hall kids. I often found myself drinking tea and chatting away a Saturday morning with this outgoing junior in her beautiful loft room.

Conversations with Heather ranged from processing the oddities of southern culture (we were both Yankees) to my search for a good church.

"What do you want to be when you 'grow up'?" she asked. To answer her question I shared about my experience two years prior in Russia, and my hopes of serving there in the future.

“You need to meet my friend, Michele Perry,” Heather encouraged me. “She is serving as a missionary in Bangladesh right now, but will be back this spring.”

Heather shared stories of this passionate young woman who loved God and would go anywhere to make Him known, regardless of being born without her left leg. The more I heard about this awe-inspiring woman, the more I wanted to meet her.

Christmas vacation eventually came and passed. A week into my second semester I went upstairs to Heather’s room to catch up. Oh, how disappointed I was to discover that Heather had not returned for the spring semester! I would dearly miss this precious young woman and our Saturday talks. And now how was I to find her friend? The young missionary’s name had slipped from my memory over Christmas vacation.

God is good at working out those kinds of details.

My spring semester schedule included an environmental studies class that met twice a week on the opposite end of campus, a good 20-minute walk from Kokernot Hall. The first day my class gathered at the environmental studies building, I noticed a girl come into the room walking with the aid of crutches, missing her left leg. Could this be the missionary Heather had told me about?

Winters in Waco are not what I would have called ‘cold’, at least not my first year out of the north. They are, however, often wet, with a mist-like rain that cuts through every layer you are wearing. A few weeks into the semester the weather was especially foul.

I had just recently introduced myself to Michele, and she was, in fact, Heather’s friend. Michele drove to class and that day watching my futile attempts to dodge the miniscule raindrops she offered me a ride home. I readily took her up on the offer, both thankful for a warm ride back to campus and for an opportunity to get to hear Michele’s stories from southeast Asia.

“You see, Carrie, God knew He was going to planning to take me to places like India and Bangladesh.” Michele explained as she blasted the heater in an attempt to dry the icy moisture out of our clothing. “That is why He chose for me to be born in Florida.”

Michele’s personality certainly was sunny enough to be from Florida! Her joy warmed both the car and her passenger, defying the gray mist falling outside.

“I’m from Minnesota,” I replied, “so I don’t really mind the cold too much.”

“Well, God must have made you for Siberia!” she declared.

I burst into astonished giggles. This girl didn’t know me from Adam, but she jokingly had declared that God must be planning to send me to the one place on earth I most hoped He would.

Michele offered to take me to another part of campus to get coffee and to share stories. Not having another class until much later that day I eagerly accepted her offer.

Sipping on something warm, Michele shared stories about her time in Bangladesh. In the middle of her tales, she asked if I was doing anything the next weekend, and would I like to join her for a missions conference. Absolutely!

A week later, Michele drove me half an hour north to Latham Springs Campground for World Mandate 1998. I had never been surrounded by so many people my own age who wanted nothing less than to make Jesus famous around the world. There had to be nearly 200 of us! The weekend flew by as missionary after missionary shared stories from around the globe, and as Highland Baptist’s young college minister, Jimmy Seibert, filled us with vision to join these sold-out laborers in unreached corners of our planet.

I felt at home and wished the weekend could stretch into weeks. Soon, I discovered that the college ministry that put on World Mandate also ran a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico every spring. I had not yet made plans for spring break and already knew I liked mission trips so I didn’t need any convincing. I showed up at the first training for the trip a couple weeks later, and soon found myself a part of this beautiful college ministry with a strong heart for the nations. A couple years later Highland Baptist Church birthed Antioch Community Church. This church home has become for me a precious family of like-minded lovers of God who are making Jesus famous as He is worthy of all over the planet.

{I don't seem to have pics of Michele or any of the early Mandates, but here are some Juarez photos for any who want to reminisce. Enjoy!}