ABILENE, Texas (ABP) — God gave Rick DeFoore what he prayed for, even if it wasn't exactly what DeFoore had in mind.
As a longtime hospital employee in Abilene, Texas, DeFoore fervently prayed that his life would change. He said he felt stuck in a dull routine, doing the same thing week after week, and he needed something different or a way out.
Finally, after more than a year passed without any sign of an answer from God, one came. It just wasn't what he expected.
DeFoore was offered a job in Afghanistan.
The offer came from Texas Envoys, a volunteer missions program of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The job was a perfect fit for DeFoore, since it would utilize his knowledge of hospitals and his organizational talents.
“The only problem was it was in Kabul,” he said.
Despite the location of the job, DeFoore couldn't resist the chance to alter his life. He and his wife, Janet, signed a one-year contract to help an Afghan hospital build a day-to-day infrastructure for operations.
“It is my ticket into the country,” DeFoore said about the new job. “You can't go as a missionary. You go as a school teacher, an electrician, an engineer. It's also an indication that your vocation is a calling.”
Besides his work at the hospital, DeFoore and Janet plan to work toward making a spiritual impact in their new country, especially with local staff members and Afghan men who come to DeFoore for leadership-development coaching. The couple also had the chance to let their church in on the opportunity; several people from Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene connected them with people in Kabul. And the whole church has adopted the couple in their prayers.
Now, DeFoore said, he realizes the move to Afghanistan was the best answer to prayer he could have received. Although progress building the hospital's policies and procedures has been slow, he and Janet have already established several relationships that will be crucial to future success. And he's certain the move to Kabul will lend even more surprises to his once-dull life.
“I know it's God's purpose and plan,” he said.
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