You will affect the people closest to you, such as your family and friends, but you may feel called to be one of the ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11: an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher - to go out into the world.
Start where you are right now. I hear people say, "Well, I would witness to my friends, but I really feel called to Russia." God may have called you overseas, but right now He has planted you at your work... school... in your community, and with your friends for a reason. Prove yourself faithful today so God can send you out tomorrow.
Maybe you feel you don't know enough about the Lord. Maybe you feel like you don't really have the edge just yet. Sometimes you walk around acting like you don't have anything between your ears, but that's okay! God can use you if you are willing. He's not looking for someone with great talent or someone who has the Bible memorized. He's looking for someone just like you - willing to change the world by obeying His Word and Spirit.
More and more adults and young people are going on mission trips each year. More and more Christians are saying, "I'm tired of my world revolving around me. I want to prefer others, give myself away, and be selfless for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to see lives drastically changed." Is that what you are thinking also?
Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:28-30).
When I felt the Lord wanted me to be in the ministry, I remember praying, "God, I don't want to be just another preacher. There's lots of preachers! Preachers on the radio, preachers on TV, preachers doing this, preachers doing that - just another preacher?" God spoke to my heart, "Don't be just another preacher."
What makes you different is having the edge. You are radical about the Gospel and radical for Jesus. You want more than anything in the world to see people's hearts turned towards God and changed forever.
You can spend time learning strategies, plans, and programs, but without the edge, you have nothing. Whether you minister in this nation or overseas, if you don't have the edge you'll just have a lot of activity without real ministry. I believe God wants us to have a Holy Ghost determination to go after the edge like Jacob did, "Don't You dare leave until You bless me! I can't let You leave until You bless me!"
Excerpt permission granted by Albury Publishing