I was torn. I was preparing for my senior year in production engineering at UNASP (Adventist University of Sao Paolo) with prospects of getting a great job when I graduated. But for years God had been nagging me to be a pastor.
So after an intense inner battle and a providential encounter with a retired pastor who reminded me of God’s call, I entered my last year of engineering taking a full load of theology courses as well. I also signed up for a short-term mission trip to Jordan. I discovered I loved the people of the Middle East. I felt I could really relate. Perhaps, I reasoned, I could contribute in some way.
So I wrote friends in the region. Nobody answered. Nothing developed. Finally this past December I contacted MEU (Middle East University) where I thought I could at least take English. Within days my application was processed; soon after they cleared me to buy my ticket to Lebanon. When I went to book a flight, I decided to check the credit card I had opened a year earlier at the prospect of getting a well-paying job after graduation.
The cost of my ticket was the exact amount of credit I had accrued over the year. I heard God saying, “Go, Emanuel. Go!” So I’m at MEU now. Not for adventure as some might assume. Not even to learn English as I’d planned; my test scores were high enough. MEU’s English Institute director spoke rather matter-of-factly to me, “You’re here now. Why don’t you just finish your theology degree?” Instantly it all made sense. God sent me here to train in the Middle East so I can serve Him better in the Middle East. Never before in my life have I been more sure that I am in HIS plan!
–Emanuel Ocampo, MEU second year theology major