“Walang um-OO sa Diyos na pinabayaan Niya.”
This has always been my conviction ever since I started serving in the community. My desire to become a full-time pastoral worker started when I was still studying. It is a dream that I believe God has planted in me from the day He called me to serve Him and my fellow youth. Since then, the Lord has shown me His greatness over the works that I do for Him and for others. He has made me see and feel that He is always there for me. He lets me experience the things I did not expect to see and know. He is always with me. The journey I witnessed while serving the Lord allowed me to realize that He is never lacking in generosity and doesn’t forget and forsake His servants. Through this, every day, my relationship with the Lord grows.
However, there came to a point in my life when I thought this dream was not really for me. It was when my father passed away. From that moment, I became conscious of all the earthly needs and things I wanted and how I would get them. My father was the one who provided for our family and after he was gone, the fear to deliver in his place of him made a great impact on the decisions I need to make. Also, the opinions of people about how my schooling and my license as a Criminologist will be put to waste if I choose to become a full-time missionary increased the worry I had on not letting these things go and just picking life’s practicality over fully serving the Lord. I was so confused at that time and so I started to discern. The discernment led me to the realization that my dream to become a full-time missionary for the Lord was never gone. It was just the fear that I allowed to overtake me. The desire, dream, and calling are clear: I want to give more for the Lord; that even though, in following Him, I may not have all the capacity to live like my father and I may not have all the things I wanted, but I will always have the Lord with me and I know that He is enough. I should always trust that I have a Father in heaven who will always be there for me.
With this, I firmly desire to offer myself to the Lord, and this time, with no fear and hesitation. I know and believe that I can still give more through becoming a full-time pastoral worker and that I can contribute the whole of myself to doing the mission God gave us through the community. For me, saying ‘yes’ to whatever God has called me is my way of saying “I love you too” to the Lord for all the love that He is giving me, and this is ‘that way’ where I can greatly express my ‘YES’ to God and how I can keep His calling sacred and justified. To become a missionary for the Lord has always been and will always be my way of life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kuya Karlo Marbida is our fulltime worker from the Area of Cavite. He is the Zone Coordinator of Luzon. He is a licensed criminologist but heard the call of God to be a missionary for the youth when he was discerning the career he would want to pursue in the future. He was a mission volunteer for 3 years. He is on his 4th year as a missionary. The presence of the young people and seeing their lives changing make him happy.
