by Kavin Carter, Class of 2018

As Christians, the call to serve the Lord comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes. From volunteering at a local shelter, serving at your local church or even flying halfway across the world to a different country as a missionary. Not all of us are cut out to be international missionaries but those that are have an amazing life, full of struggles and pain, but also joy and happiness.

One student with experience in the mission field at Providence is Rebecca Call (class of 2019). Rebecca is a sophomore pursuing concentrations in English and Education. Rebecca and her family have led an interesting life. Her parents are full-time missionaries, with her father being a church planter as well. In 2014 after her entire family had spent a few years raising support and attending a language school, the family packed up their bags, said goodbye to their friends, and flew to the country of Uruguay to be missionaries.

Uruguay is a small country, located in South American and bordering Brazil and Argentina. It is known for its lush interior and beautiful beach-lined coast. Her father planted a church In Uruguay and the congregation now has two missionary families (soon to be three), a family that just came to Christ and several others.  “Being a missionary isn’t an easy life” she said. “You have a choice to live a comfortable life in the states or at home. In the mission field though, you don’t have a choice, you have to be constantly serving the Lord in hard ways or else you won’t be effective.”

She was sixteen when she and her family moved to Uruguay. Before leaving, she didn’t want to go. She loved living San Diego and she did not want to move again (she had already moved eight times since she was born) and she feared leaving because she would have to start all over again with  making new friends, meeting new people, and she also knew she many not like Uruguay.

Then she saw God shower her with blessings. Her best friend flew from Florida to throw her a surprise party that had taken months to plan. Another friend wrote her a song about how much they would miss her and how much God had planned for her.  She realized that even though it seemed like her life was falling apart God was actually taking care of her. “I realized how much he loved me and how much he was giving me blessings, it softened my heart, and since then I haven’t minded being a missionary kid,” she said.

This experience gave her the courage to come to a college half the world away from her family. Seeing how God took care of her during her move to Uruguay encouraged Rebecca to come to Providence because she knew God would be with her here too.

Now she loves Providence and Rebecca’s favorite class is Dr. Swanson Old Testament class. “He is so passionate about his teaching, and I’ve learned so much, my favorite part of the class is doing the Initial Impressions, which is an assignment where students read the bible and write notes about specific chapters and verses that we want to explore further.” she said. “I love having the chance to read the whole bible and learn about each book and how they relate to our everyday lives”.

After college Rebecca plans on teaching English “somewhere around the world, I’m not sure yet” she said. But no matter where she goes there is no doubt in her mind that whatever happens the Lord will be with her.