I basically began to question everything I had ever believed…

Dan’s Story:

My life of faith began at the ripe old age of four.  That was when I told my mom that I didn’t want to go to hell and she led me in a prayer asking God to forgive my sins and to take control of my life.  It was a great start.

I felt that I was living right until I was about 13.  Then I started to see myself live for others.  I was the first-born and as such I was intent on living up to the expectations of others.  So for many years I would try and please my God, my parents, my church, and my friends all at the same time.  I got involved in some things that were not good to be involved in but I kept that part of my life hidden from my parents so that I was still the “good first-born son.”

After high school I went to college and my life changed drastically.  Before I was a big fish in a little pond and was able to impress people and keep up appearances for everyone.  But then in college I was a very small freshman fish in a big pond.  There was always someone bigger, stronger, smarter, and better looking than me.  And to top it all off, no one really cared what I did.  So that began a serious backward slide spiritually for me.  Since I had no expectations to manage I simply didn’t do anything (or very little.)  My life revolved around skydiving and playing pool and other areas that maybe don’t need to be mentioned.  If I had stayed in the U.S., I think that would have been the story of my college career.  But I didn’t.  God had other plans.  He needed to get me out of my security, to break apart my self-centered world.  So I went to Mexico to study abroad for a year.

An interesting thing happened before I went that got me thinking in eternal terms.  I had a huge motorcycle accident.  I hit a Blazer as it pulled out in front of me on the highway.  I was going 55 miles an hour and didn’t even have time to put on the brakes before my body smashed into the side of the blazer.  When I woke up and during three days in the hospital I began thinking that God must have a plan for me because I was still here.

Then I made my run for the border, a study abroad program in Mexico.  And that threw my life into utter chaos.  My life was shaken.  I was thrown into a different culture, not understanding the language, away from all my Christian influences, and away from my family.  For the first month and a half I pretty much went straight downhill.  The people I hung out with did not yet know God; our weekends started on Wednesday at the discos (and I can’t dance so that was even worse!); I broke up with my girlfriend of two and a half years; and I basically began to question everything I had ever believed.  I like to say I was questioning everything from God to girls.

That was when my mom called.  She told me I had to find some Christian friends.  I told her that, “No I didn’t,” that I was just fine, blah blah blah…  But if you know my mom, and you should all meet her, she just doesn’t take no for an answer.  So she told me I had to pray about it.  So to get her off my back I told her I would. Then to not lie to my mom (just not a good idea, even if you are in Mexico and she is in Wisconsin) I prayed when I got home.  “Dear God help me to find some Christian friends.  Amen.”  And that was it.

Or at least I thought that was it.

I was sitting outside of a classroom the next day and a guy came up to me and said, “Hi, my name is Sinue (sin-away.)  What’s yours?”  I told him and he asked me where I was from.  I told him I was from Wisconsin and he said, “I know some people from Wisconsin.  They are the Campus Crusade directors and they live two blocks down the street.”  He invited me to go to the meetings and two weeks later I did.

That was a turning point for me in my life.  I saw that God transcended cultures.   He transcended languages.  He was bigger than my Midwest upbringing.  I experienced unconditionally loving Christian friendships.  I began to see that God wanted more from me than just saying I was a Christian.  He wanted me.  It was there in Mexico that my life began to change.

It is still a process, but instead of managing others expectations, what God wants from me is the most important thing.  I realized that it was worth it to live for Christ instead of living for myself.  I saw how Christ was so evident in the lives of those Christians around me and that was the life I wanted.

This change of attitude affected me greatly.  My whole reason for going to school was different.  Instead of wanting simply to make a lot of money I wanted to impact others for Christ the way I had been impacted.  I began living with an eternal perspective instead of simply focusing on the short time I had on earth.

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