Living the Gospel Where I Am

From the Archives: 2010

Written by Steph Schaffner

I grew up on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My parents are Christians and taught me to pray when I was young, but we didn’t go to church together. When I was 11 years old, I started to visit different churches with my friends and their families. By then, I had reached a point where I was praying and interested in the things of God.

Real Relationship With and In Him

But when the things of God started to become real to me were related to being part of a home group. When I was 15, my uncle started doing a home group Bible study. All of a sudden, the words of the Bible seemed alive. I could feel Holy Spirit working in me. And that was when I actually began following the Lord. I began a trusting relationship with and in Him. And I began living my life for Him.

Social Work, Mission Work: All for His Glory

I came to Boone in 2001 to attend ASU and ended up staying. I graduated with a degree in Social Work. I always really wanted to do international social work. I also wanted to do overseas missions. I began to realize that those two things do not have to be different.

That realization came to me as I took social work and Russian simultaneously in college. Therefore, to better prepare myself for what the Lord might have for my life, I minored in Teaching English as a Second Language.

Since college, I’ve really wanted to be involved in Eastern Europe and especially in the former Soviet Union. I truly felt as if God had put that in my heart. I knew I was called to go over there but wasn’t sure when. I waited for a few years. Waited and worked. And then finally, at age 26, it finally felt like it was time to go.

I was fortunate to receive a Fulbright Scholarship, an academic fellowship program focused on mutual cultural understanding. The purpose of the program is something that really resonated with me. It is God’s heart for people to understand and connect with each other. It was also very appealing that the Fulbright scholarship paid all my expenses for the trip.

I found myself in Bulgaria for 11 months. I went as an English teaching assistant at a local English language high school, working with 9th and 11th graders trying to improve their English speaking. I was torn between the awareness that I wasn’t officially on a “missions trip” and the belief that God had called me to be in Bulgaria for a season of my life.

And once again, I realize that those two things are not opposing ideas. I knew if I stuck close to my relationship with the Lord, He would show me why He had me there. And one of the reasons he brought me there was to teach me to be me.

I went to Bulgaria and attempted to be who I wanted, no matter where I was. At the heart of living is to relate to people and follow the Lord. This is true in Bulgaria, America, and everywhere.