From Teacher to Counselor and Missionary

Jodi Brumbaugh, Volunteer, Uganda
April-June 2016

The 2012-2013 school year started out like any other. I was teaching middle school science in a local school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After a month or two, I thought I could see myself staying there for many years.

A few months later, God began to place on my heart another call. He was calling me to get my master’s degree in mental health counseling. My heart was torn. I had wanted to be a teacher ever since I was in the fifth grade. I loved teaching and working with my students.

But God kept bringing this idea of being a counselor into my heart and mind. I asked God and myself, Why? Deep down, I knew. God had taken me on my own journey of healing my past, and now He was going to use me in others’ journeys. I realized then that God doesn’t waste pain. Finally, in the spring of 2013, I sent my application to Grace College. I was accepted and started on this new journey.

Throughout my time at Grace College, God confirmed that I was right where I was supposed to be. I did not have to give up working with teenagers. My internship was at a residential facility for teenagers, where I was able to work with this population in a different way. My years as a teacher have enhanced what I do as a counselor. But God had even bigger plans than taking me from a teacher to a counselor!

Two weeks before I started at Grace, God used missionaries to lead me to Uganda. For my advanced internship, I spent almost four months counseling in Uganda. Through my time there, God called me into missions. As a teacher, I saw the tip of the iceberg when it comes to heartbreak. As a counselor, I walk through the trenches with others. God is the One doing the redeeming as He did in my life. I’ve seen people go from hopeless to hopeful, their joy fully restored! 

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