Kayla Collins – Short Term Missionary to Central Asia
My name is Kayla Collins.* When I was young, I imagined what it would be like to be a missionary. I remember thinking how great it would be but also telling myself it would never happen.
As I grew, this dream faded more and more until I had forgotten about it entirely. Then, in 2022, God sent representatives from AFM into my life. They taught me about unreached people in a way I never imagined. I had never consciously realized that there are people who have never heard of Jesus, including many who would choose Jesus immediately if they only knew about Him. But they live in darkness. I understood how privileged I have been, growing up in a first-world country with everything I need and, most importantly, having known Jesus my whole life. And yet, that is something I took for granted. Who am I that I got to hear the gospel countless times when there are people who haven’t heard it once?
God was working on my heart, reviving the tiny dream I had so many years ago. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit, though. But God spoke to me through a friend, who introduced me to this quote by Hudson Taylor; “I have but one candle of life to burn and I would rather burn it out where people are dying in darkness than in a land that is flooded with light.”
This quote solidified everything for me. After everything I had learned, I felt a duty to pass on the privilege I had been given.
I am now completing my first term in the field. Despite being difficult, it has been an incredible blessing in so many ways. I don’t know God’s plan going forward, but I have seen the work He is doing here, and I am committed to staying as long as He wants me here. I don’t want to live for the world. I want to live for the Lord.
* Name changed to protect missionaries and the people to whom they minister.
