Kayla Hefner felt the call to mission work when she was 16 years old, but she began college at Johnson University Florida with no plans to pursue ministry.
“I came to college to play volleyball and study business,” she says. “My sister majored in business, and although I was interested in intercultural studies, I chose to follow her path for the first two years of college.”
During the pandemic, Kayla says she had time to reconsider her goals and how God was working in her life.
“I was in a discipleship group with Dr. Howells Douglas, and we prayed for missionaries and mission organizations,” she says. “The next step was talking to missionaries, considering a mission trip, and finding answers to my questions about how you raise money and what it’s like to live in another country.”
Kayla switched her major and spent this past summer completing an internship in Jordan.
“I had no expectations about the experience because it all happened so quickly,” she says. “I was supposed to do the internship in Japan and couldn’t go because of COVID. At the last minute I was able to go to Jordan, and there God showed me the beauty of its culture and its people. I especially appreciated the spirit of hospitality and the way the people take time for each other. That is something I brought back with me.”
Kayla graduates in May and hopes to return to Jordan next summer. She is considering a master’s degree in counseling with the goal of eventually becoming a cross-cultural therapist.
“It’s easier to now to say yes to the unknown,” she says. “I know God is faithful.”