Often times people have asked me through the years how did you become a missionary? Or better yet – how did you know God’s calling on your life?

To have a little fun my answer would sometimes go like this: How much time do you have? (smile) Do you want the short version of the long version? Seriously! No matter how many times I get asked that question the answer is always the same.

The only way I can describe it is from day one – there seem to be a vertical pull on my life that I could not get away from. Now. The journey to fully surrender took years. My mother’s prayers and others finally worked! On Mother’s Day, May 12, 1985 in response to a Sunday morning altar call that day, I fully surrendered my life to Jesus.

Paul describes it as the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (See Phil 3:14) That he would “lay hold of that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ.” (See Phil 3:12) The words “Follow Me” implies follow and never stop following…

~ Dan Ecker