You may recognize the name Corrie ten Boom. She was a devout Christian who risked her own life, with her family, to save an estimated 800+ Jews during the Holocaust. Sadly, she was imprisoned in a concentration camp and lost her closest family at the hands of the Nazis. I would venture to say that Corrie ten Boom knew all too well the fears and doubts of an unknown future, yet she is quoted as saying, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Okay, are you not just a little bit curious about the faith it takes to make statements like that, even after being held captive in a concentration camp?!
Corrie ten Boom could never have known the future God had in store for her-the thousands of lives she would later touch through her faith. According to the Corrie ten Boom House Foundation, Corrie later went on to begin a world-wide ministry, which took her into more than 60 countries, where her story and faithfulness to Christ changed people’s hearts and lives. Her life had divine purpose. So does yours.
That’s what this whole SEND journey is all about: God’s plan for Your Future. You and I have traveled through this EXPLORE newsletter mini-series to discover how God can use SEND to prepare and equip young adults for this last “stop” in the journey. Your future can’t be summed up in one newsletter, of course; I would love to tell you details about your future after you graduate from SEND, like what kind of a “career” you might have, or where you might be called to live and serve. But, thank God for His creativity and His unwillingness to create a cookie-cutter world! Your future will look different than everyone else’s, that’s the beauty of it, and through your willingness to dedicate that future to Him, God will use you for His divine purpose.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” God’s future for Corrie ten Boom was beyond her wildest dreams—-despite her past, her doubts, her fears—-He used her. No matter the journey you have been on, I encourage you to start a new journey today—-one where God is at the center of your future, wherever that future may lead.
Mackenzie “Kenzie” Ritchie
SEND Coordinator