Names in this piece have been changed or omitted for security.
“If you feel God is calling you to live and be a certain person but aren’t so sure how to overcome the tremendous obstacles, it is important to know you are not alone,” said Amos, RI worker in North Africa.
Amos faced this distinct issue several years ago. He was in his final year of getting a bachelor’s degree in English when he felt a call to bring the gospel to North Africa, using his education as a way of living and working in a country that does not allow traditional missionaries. But he knew it might be years of working a full-time job in the U.S. before he would have enough money to go overseas debt-free.
With a mission “to fully engage our churches in maturing and multiplying disciples, especially among the least reached,” RI wants to make it possible for every person to follow God’s call for their lives.
For Amos, that meant helping him pay off his student loans through Rosedale Business Group’s Professional Placement Program (PPP). RBG created this program to prepare students for a foreign assignment in their chosen field and pay a percentage of their student debt. The program is designed to be customizable to each applicant, working with their specific skills and needs.
Larry and Dot, RBG Directors, first heard about Amos through Jay, who worked as RI’s Mediterranean Regional Director. Amos had contacted Jay about working with RI in North Africa as a self-supported worker. Aware that RBG was in the process of working on the PPP, Jay asked Larry and Dot if they would consider Amos as their first candidate. Jay wrote, “he has been living it out here on this side of the ocean and I’d love to see his dream realized: to live and work among these people and break down the barriers between them and the gospel.”
“When RBG said that they would partner with me to pay my student loans, that allowed me to move overseas right after graduation,” Amos said. “The process was a very encouraging and exciting time. It meant so much to me that people believed in me and what God was calling me to do.”
Amos met regularly with a teaching mentor, worked with Larry and Dot on financial and assignment logistics, and received training from RI while he finished his degree. “Partnering with them really helped me to be focused. I remember my last semester meeting almost weekly with Larry and Dot. It was so helpful to think through all the details and think carefully and critically about moving to a new country. I felt so loved and cared for.”
Larry and Dot were also blessed in this process: “We valued his willingness and desire to connect with us. It gave all of us a great opportunity to get to know each other and we could pray for him as he prepared to go.”
“The idea is to find more people willing to serve in the hard to reach places of the world using their profession, and not be hampered with debt as a result of their education.”
Amos now lives in North Africa, has a full-time job teaching English, and is helping to lead a group of new believers. He also met Alice while getting involved in another ministry in his city, and they were married in August 2019. “This program has been meaningful because it empowered me to pursue God’s leading,” he said. “It helped me realize I am a part of something so much bigger than myself. I understand now that my obedience to Christ is a part of the body of Christ proclaiming the message of reconciliation and redemption.”
So far, Amos is the only person who has gone through the PPP, but Larry and Dot are eager to work with others like him. “Each candidate will need to have the program designed around their particular case and RBG is willing to walk alongside any interested persons. The idea is to find more people willing to serve in the hard to reach places of the world using their profession, and not be hampered with debt as a result of their education,” they said.
Amos, Larry and Dot, and RI want to see more people enabled to follow God. If you feel like you have been called to bring God’s love to the least reached, but feel like you can’t go yet because of student debt, please consider partnering with RI and RBG. Upon reflecting on how this process worked for him, Amos said, “It is a powerful thing when the body of Christ joins together to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We just might see the gospel being proclaimed and the power of Jesus bringing hope and redemption to the nations.”
Please contact info@rosedaleinternational.org if you or someone you know would be a good fit for the Professional Placement Program. We would love for you to join us in taking Jesus to the ends of the Earth.