This is Where I’ve Been Trying to Get You To!
Pastor Ann Salyer joined the Church of the Nazarene because she felt called to be a mission president. She had been a Catholic, but when she began seriously reading the Bible, she knew she needed to look for something more. There were many church visits, trying to find the place God wanted her to be. When she finally decided to attend the local Nazarene church – after carefully considering all doctrine and scriptures listed – she felt as though God said, “This is where I’ve been trying to get you to.”
The annual Mission convention was a great challenge, but Ann wanted to know what “teach all nations” really meant. She prayed, “I would teach if I knew how,” and received the answer of “Well, it’s time to learn.” She already had a college degree. Would she need to go back to school? No, she was able to get started with directed studies on the Eastern Michigan District.
Then District Camp Meeting came along, and an NBC representative talked about our online program. Ann took a brochure home but wasn’t quite ready to discuss it with her husband. She was still struggling with her studies while on a trip for work when she flipped to an NBC ad in Holiness Today. “Can you see yourself here?” the ad queried. She could!
Through NBC’s online program, Ann pursued a BA in Christian Education, but God continued to pull her in an unexpected direction. In her final year, she approached her husband about another change, saying, “I think God wants me to be a pastor.”
His response was simple. “I’ve known that for a while. Where have you been?” Again, God was leading her to where she needed to be. She graduated with a dual major in Christian Education and Pastoral Ministries.
Through these years of co-vocational ministry, Pastor Ann has also been a mentor to future ministers, even serving on the district Board of Ministry. She met a young man who was an atheist until he joined her on a mission trip. He eventually took over a church when Ann moved on.
Pastor Ann’s current church recently hosted a graduation celebration for NBC student Michelle Jennett, another called one who needed mentoring through the ordination process.
This is what God means when He calls someone to “teach all nations.” Start by doing what He calls you to do where you are, and continue by training up others to follow Him, too.