Open Door

A promise.

My parents converted to Christ when I was a newborn baby. It’s safe to say I’ve been a Christian my whole life. At least that’s what I’m supposed to say. My parents converted to Christ because their lives had changed: they had had an encounter with the Almighty that inspired them to make a change in their lives, to leave the paths of the world and follow The Way, that is Jesus. I, however, had never truly met this God they always spoke of. I grew up in Church learning about Jesus: knowing Bible stories by heart, memorizing and reciting Bible verses, “preaching” for the first time as an 8-year-old at a Children’s Service, singing in the children’s choir, going to Sunday school. You might think that doing all these things I was really connected with God and knew exactly who He was and the meaning behind everything I did, but the truth is I was just doing what I had been taught was right to do. Church was safe and familiar; it was all I knew but I never had an actual relationship with The One I dedicated my life to serve. I began hearing sermons of the Holy Spirit and how it was necessary to seek Him, and desire the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Thus, wanting to know more of who this God was, without truly knowing what I was asking for, I began to pray fervently for the baptism. It was after two months of religiously seeking that at my church’s youth camp under the theme Fearless, that I had my first true encounter with God. Since that day, I entered a whole new realm of experiences with God. As I grew closer to Him, I began to feel a calling toward Missions. Altar call after altar call, I was prayed over and prophesied: I would go out to the nations and preach the word of God. This became my dream, my God-given purpose. I believed God would fulfill His promise. There was only one little problem. How could I travel to other nations and fulfill my purpose when that would mean not being able to come back home?

A closed door.

Ok. So, confused? Right. I forgot to mention: I wasn’t born in America. I am an immigrant. Growing up, I hated even saying that. It’s such an ugly word; it made me feel like an outsider for most of my childhood up to the last few years of high school. I came to America when I was 6 months old. Only 6 months away from being born in America, and never having to be labeled an “alien” in a place I called home. I grew up in a loving family, and had never truly felt rejection until I was old enough to realize America was rejecting me. America was my home, what I considered my country, but America didn’t want me. Growing up this was especially hard for me because all my friends, though from Latin American countries, were born in America. I was the only different one. I began to live in fear. In third grade, I vividly remember a boy in my class taking my lunch money and threatening to tell his cop dad to deport my parents if I didn’t give it to him. Though the classic “bully taking lunch money” scenario may seem amusing now, this scarred me as a little girl. In eighth grade, having assisted a prominently white school, a boy who didn’t even know me mockingly announced to the class that I was an immigrant. It was experiences such as these that made me ashamed of what I was.

I didn’t live in peace but I didn’t realize the graveness of my situation until I was a senior in high school and it was finally time to start applying to colleges and scholarships. I enthusiastically began searching for scholarship applications, blissfully unaware of the closed door right in front of me. While reading the list of requirements for one of the scholarships, I came across: “Must be a U.S. citizen”. I shrugged it off, and thought “Okay, just gotta keep looking.” I kept searching only to realize all I found required U.S. citizenship, and Dreamers cannot receive any government or institutional aid. At the time my parents were in no position to pay for a full college tuition out of pocket. There was no way I could possibly continue my education. At this point, I was ready to call it quits. Not only was my “illegal status” getting in the way of my calling, it was getting in the way of being able to pursue a career. A confused, broken hearted, helpless teenager looked up to God thinking “Where are you? Why aren’t you helping me?”

God opens doors no man can shut.

Revelation 3:7 says “What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.” It was when it felt like there was no hope and there was no way out, that God reminded me that He and only He has the last say in all things. Though discouraged, I continued the college application process and it was during this process that I met a woman who I’ll never forget. I told her my situation and she told me it would be difficult but not impossible. “If one door closes, you find another one and you knock. Not all may open, but you knock. One will open for you.” It was through this woman that God reminded me that if I have Him, I can do all things. When I began to believe this once again, doors began opening left and right. I found a scholarship that payed more than half of the tuition. God opened huge doors in my parents’ work and today I am a sophomore in college and I have never not had enough to pay for college. This goes to show that though our circumstances may be unfavorable, we serve a favorable God that makes sure things always work out for our good. Now, I am not ashamed of being who I am. I know I came to this country just in time for God to use my circumstances to glorify His name. Daniel was an immigrant, a foreigner in Babylon and that didn’t stop God from placing Him in the highest position. “Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men.” (Daniel 2:48) This is because nothing, your circumstances included, will detain God from fulfilling His promise for your life. I witnessed God open this door for my secular career. I just can’t wait to see how He will open the door that’ll lead to the fulfillment of the calling He has given me to serve in His Kingdom. For one day, I will go out to the nations and preach The Gospel; nothing will get in the way of God’s promise being fulfilled.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” Revelation 3:8