Overcoming Barriers to Fulfill the Call
Hear from IM missionaries as they share their stories about the variety of ways they have each overcome different barriers to fulfill their call to the mission field. How is God calling you to take the Gospel to the nations or to those around you?
Carol Teague shares the story of her call to missions. Through mission prayer groups, mission classes, and special people God placed in her path, she realized she was called to serve with her husband, Dennis.
Our history began in 1970 when we met at Welch (FWBBC) College. Dennis was a senior and I was a freshman. I already had a job, but went to FWBBC because my older sister, Cathy, was there. She knew I would enjoy it and wanted me to come. I always had a thirst for knowing God and His Word. I really enjoyed the Bible teaching and my music classes.
As far as my future plans, I had nothing precise except to serve the Lord wherever I was. (I must admit that being a missionary was something that did not interest me at all.)
Dennis already felt called to the mission field. When I first met him, he had just spent a summer in France. I attended the mission prayer group that he led as president of the Foreign Missions Fellowship. One statement that he made during a meeting that stuck with me was, “Has God called you to stay here?”
During my sophomore year, he went back to France for a year. Because of my relationship with a missionary candidate, I felt I should take some missions classes. I was privileged and thankful to have Miss Barnard and Mr. Cronk as professors. Their lives of dedication and closeness to our Lord impressed me profoundly.
God put several future missionaries in my path. One of whom was Sandra Ogletree Bishop, who was my prayer captain during my freshman year. She said she was going to pray for me to feel a call to missions to which I replied that she did not need to do that! Then, while Dennis was in France working with Joe and Barb Haas during my sophomore year, the school gave me Trudy Haas, their daughter, as a roommate.
I knew that if I married Dennis, in the future I would have to become a foreign missionary. At some point, I did submit to God that if He really wanted me as a missionary, I would be obedient to the call, however, that might look. So when Dennis asked me to marry him, it would be a yes to two callings—a wife and a missionary. After a little more time and prayer, I said yes to both. His calling to France became “our call” to France as a couple. I thank God for allowing me to be a part of the ministry in France with Dennis. Now, after all these years, I am also privileged to minister in a church plant with our three sons and their families.
