After hearing so many stories of God’s leading a person to step into missions, I am finally getting it: God hears the prayers of His people for more mission workers by providentially working in lives in a way that only He can. He uses conversations, testimonies of missionaries, twists and turns on a career path, fostering and adopting children, and a host of other “ordinary” circumstances to send forth laborers into His global harvest. They seem ordinary to us, but if we believe that God works all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11), we quickly see that all these circumstances come because of the extraordinary working of God.

A major emphasis on prayer

As time continues, this powerful work of God becomes plain to us here at BMM. After all, we have been pleading with you, our faithful partners in gospel ministry, to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth more gospel workers. Prayer has remained the major emphasis of BMM’s president, Dr. Patrick Odle, as it was when he started in 2020. BMM representatives have joined in sharing this burden across North America. The BMM Communications Department has reinforced this appeal by creating the PRAY938 30-day prayer guide which many of you have been using. It is not surprising that God has answered as He has, which is evident in the stories you will read in the following pages.

My life for God’s purpose

The Candidate Class of 2022 joins a family of missionaries with very similar testimonies. The examples of those who followed God’s leading to missions mid-career, described on pages 12–17, testify of God’s extraordinary work as well. All these willing servants wrestled with the same questions:

They have taken these questions seriously due to the wonderful moving of the Holy Spirit, who applies God’s Word to their hearts—an answer to our prayers. Praise God!

Determined to walk by faith

The new missionaries joining BMM in 2022 are certainly unique in many ways. Some of them have been persistently following God’s leading toward missions over a sustained period. For many of them, however, God has surprised them with an abrupt redirection and change of focus. It has been a real delight to learn of the ways God has gently taught them and rewarded them for diligently seeking Him. They are a group with significant ministry experience. More importantly, they have determined to walk by faith.

More of the same to come

My hope for you and for me is that we remain steadfast in our faith in God who will continue to do His work. Keep praying. Pay attention to how God works in people’s lives. Keep watching how God leads you through your life’s journey. And keep asking how you can live your life for His purposes in the days He has left for you to live.

He remains the Lord of the Harvest, and His answers to our prayers are anything but ordinary!