I’ve spent my summer so far in sunny Ephraim, Utah volunteering as an intern with Trigrace Ministries. This summer is different from all my previous summers- I’ve always gone and found an internship that lined up with my engineering degree to gain some experience and make tuition money. This spring, though, I felt God calling me to something different entirely: full-time ministry work. The question that brought me to this place was- “what will make me come alive?” The answer I choose this spring was ministry rather than engineering- and I wasn’t wrong. I have felt more alive in the ministry here than I have in any of my previous engineering jobs.
That’s not to say that I’m abandoning engineering, or that my technical skills are lying completely fallow. Quite the contrary! As it turns out, those who are really in front-lines mission and ministry work need support. And not just financial support, as the word is often used- but all of the tangible tasks that need to get done in order to make this entire ministry machine work. So far this summer I’ve served the ministry by welding, digging, drywalling, brewing, wiring, cleaning, drilling, splitting, spraying- tons of stuff. Cars need to be serviced, buildings maintained and renovated, and endless little repair and improvement tasks to keep everything going.
But I did say that I am in ministry- it’s not just that my technical skills have been repurposed. Ministry means people. The valley that Trigrace is located in is likely over 90% Mormon and Mormon-thinking. It is a mission field within the US. During my time here I have talked with many people about God and I have seen God use me to reach people. The peak of outreach here is a two-week period every summer when thousands and thousands of people gather in nearby Manti to watch the Mormon Miracle Pageant. This is an immense opportunity for Christians to witness. During those two weeks, all other work is suspended to a minimal state and all our energy goes to pageant outreach. For several hours before the pageant starts, the streets around the event are filled with people, and because of hundred or so Christians that show up annually to witness, many of those people are involved in deep conversations about God.
Really, I have to admit that street witnessing is not my forte. It’s a good thing, then, that it’s not by my strength or skill alone that anything gets done. My favorite memory from pageant outreach is when God brought a man to me and we ended up talking for over an hour and a half. That is great- but several days later, after pageant, I was at a nearby lake with some friends. Who else do I spy relaxing on the dock but the very same man I spoke with on the street? We talked for another two hours that day out on the water. That is what we here call a ‘divine appointment’.
This summer, so far, has been amazing. Sometimes I take a step back and look at my situation from bird’s eye view- I live in a little room in an old house, most of the time I do what other people ask me to do for nothing in return, and drive a rusty old car. From a carnal perspective, that seems like it’s no fun; something you work hard to move yourself out of. There’s only one reason why I, instead, choose to use the word ‘amazing’ to describe my summer- and that is that God is at work.
God has been at work all around me , but he’s also been at work in me. He’s teaching me a lot. This analytical, problem-to-solution thinking engineer is starting to realize that maybe his life isn’t a line of dominoes, starting with birth and ending with death, and with education-work-retirement filling in the middle. I really think that God has something much more adventurous planned for me. If I am to follow that plan, though, maybe it means I need to give up the so-obvious-it-hurts idea of working in engineering with my degree. Maybe so. Something God has begun teaching me (and I may never finish learning) is that his plan is best, and doesn’t always match what I have planned, or what the logical next step is. I can’t say much for sure right now, only that if God is going to lead me somewhere, then I am going to do my darnedest to get there.
- Ned Funnell
Materials Joining Engineering Technology
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