Dreaming of a Mission Hut
I can remember in college, standing up to the call of Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Cru, to “go wherever” and “do whatever” the Lord told me to do. I was sure, as I stood that night in Dallas at Explo 72 that I would be living in a mission hut one day in some remote part of the world.
And to be honest, I was ready to go.
But the years passed— and unlike some of my friends— I wasn’t called to the mission hut I thought of that night. I did begin my studies as a SICU nurse, thinking I would be doing bedside nursing as my mission work.
But I never dreamed God’s path would lead me to a Ph.D. and my current role as a professor including being a former department chair and associate dean of research at a large university.
I have a nice office here, where I’ve spent many days and nights working on grants and manuscripts. I love my work. But over the years, this very office has become that mission hut I envisioned earlier—at least as a place I could do whatever the Lord told me to do.
My Office - A Mission Hut
My view of my office has been transformed, thanks to the help of some friends and a community of other Christ-following faculty here at the University of Florida.
Nineteen years ago the Lord sent two Faculty Commons staff members, Howie and Nance Kauffman, to meet with me in my “mission hut” on the university. Since then, they’ve become special friends and co-laborers.
In my “mission hut”:
We have prayed regularly since that first day.
We have prayed for students, faculty, family, and revival in our university.
We pressed through some dry times and trials.
Our Lord has sustained us and sent others to join us in following Christ in our university mission field.
Our university increasingly has a Christ-following administration, growing groups of Christ-following faculty, grad students and students. We also have a committed core group of faculty in our college who meet regularly for Bible study, prayer, and encouragement.
Prayer Walking the Mission Field
One day as I was sitting in this my mission hut office, the Lord impressed upon me that He wanted me to become bolder on my mission field. I had been sharing with students for many years but felt the need to focus on faculty and staff.
I felt like the Lord wanted me to challenge our Christian faculty to prayer walk through our college.
We tried to find a time before or after hours to do this. Then the Lord seemed to speak, “Prayer walk at the start of the business day.” Admittedly, we were concerned that this might be offensive to some. It seemed a bold move.
As we walked, we prayed for the inhabitant of every office we passed.
When someone was there and not engaged, one of us said, “We are praying through the college, is there something we can pray about for you?”
Most were surprised by our actions, and some even cried as they shared their heartfelt requests.
No one complained that we were disruptive, and no one asked us to stop.
Now, as I sit here in my mission hut on campus, I wonder:
What would happen if other Christ-following faculty like you saw your office as a mission hut and your university as a mission field?
Jennifer Elder
University of Florida