Helping Us Get There

By Harper McKay

My husband and I met while serving overseas as singles in Southeast Asia. When we returned home from our two-year terms and talked about getting married, we thought we would slow down, stay in America for a while, and have a “normal” life, whatever that means. We both knew that God had called us to serve overseas long term, but we did not want to move to go to seminary. We thought it would be better to take online classes and work full time near our families.

As we searched for jobs, nothing seemed to open up to either one of us. The wedding date drew nearer and nearer and we still lived with our parents with no idea what to do after we got married. Still we said we just didn’t want to go to seminary.

Finally after my husband (then my fiancé) was turned down from two jobs in the same week, I admitted to something that had been creeping up in my mind.

“I think we have not been open to everything God might want us to do,” I said as we took a walk in the park.

We stopped and prayed that God would make us open to whatever he wanted for us. The answer came immediately to both of us that we should move to North Carolina and go to Southeastern.

In the same moment God made it abundantly clear to us that we did not need to wait around to have a “normal” life for a while before going back overseas. We needed to work hard to get back as soon as possible.

God had already worked in our lives individually to call each of us to a lifetime of missions, and we both felt like that meant overseas. We knew what we were supposed to do, so intentionally prolonging our time in America was actually being disobedient to the call he had placed on us. As we discussed this with our parents, their overwhelming support was even more confirmation that God was speeding up our “normal” timeline.

So we got married, came to Southeastern, and started studying. About two years later, my husband is fishing up an M.A., and I have just completed a certificate with the Biblical Women’s Institute. It is our hope to be back overseas in 2017.

We could not have completed our studies and fulfilled our sending agency’s requirements so efficiently and effectively without the BWI program. Because of the flexibility of the BWI classes, I was able to work full time and take 2-3 classes per semester. Because of this, my husband was able to work part time and devote himself full time to classes. We have been able to have a balanced family, work, and school life in this way.

The BWI program helped us move through our time in seminary in the way we felt God leading us. Obviously everyone’s journey is different. What I do know is that God put a call on our lives to GO, and Southeastern helped us get there.

BWI classes are only $25 each. For more information about BWI, click here.