Brenda Davis

Thirty years ago, God sent someone my way who would redirect my life. One morning in 1977, my friend Stephanie went to work as usual and promptly met her next assignment: me. She did not know how God was working in my life and how strategic our meeting would be.

At the time, admittedly, I was pursuing my own way and not the way of the Lord, but I was desperate to know Him. I had been at a crossroads in my life and career. Living and working in Los Angeles had been good for me professionally, but in nearly every other way I was faltering.

It was time to leave California. I knew it. I just didn't know how I could pull it off. After praying and asking God to help me change my life, I was hired by a theater production company for a national tour. Knowing I'd be on the road for, possibly, more than a year, I gave up my apartment and put everything in storage that I couldn't fit into my luggage.

In 1987, I had the privilege of interviewing author and former missionary Elisabeth Elliot. She is a fabulous writer, whose courageous example I really admire. At the time, she had just released a new book—an autobiography of missionary Amy Carmichael titled A Chance to Die.

Elisabeth had been greatly influenced by Amy's life, and I was drawn to her story. Actually, I considered both Elisabeth and Amy to be powerful models of sacrificial obedience and devotion to God, and I looked up to them.

Soon after I read the biography, I discovered Amy's books and poetry. I was completely captivated from the beginning. Her words were poignantly beautiful, her communication style seemed so pure.

I was fortunate to have grown up in a small, southern, very protective community. Certainly there were opportunities to challenge parental authority, but you just didn't do that sort of thing back then, especially not with everyone in the city watching your every move.

But after high school graduation, I went away to college in Boston. Not only was it the coldest place I'd ever been during the winter, I had difficulty adjusting to the climate in other ways, too. Socially, politically and spiritually, Boston was a shocking new experience.

I met young people from all over the world, most of whom had not grown up with a background anywhere near as conservative as my own. I was far from home and immersed in an environment that offered more temptations than I'd ever known existed.

When Queen S. Mims began Re-Entry Ministry, she struggled with feelings of inadequacy. But she said yes to God anyway.

Although she had been saved only a short while, in December 1978, Queen S. Mims began to sense that the Lord was stirring her to seek Him for a specific purpose. God had a special calling with her name on it—a vision that slowly began materializing as she fasted, prayed and studied the Word.

"I wanted to get close enough to hear His voice clearly," she said. "In the process, I developed a 'yes' in my spirit. I began to get excited about the call I yet had to understand."