PRAYER OVER PREFERENCE

Prayer over Preference 

Psalm 37:4-5 - Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.

Growing up, I always had the desire to share my faith with others around me. It was instilled in me by my parents when I was little. My father was a pastor, and my mom a godly, praying woman. They taught me about Jesus, and all I wanted was to point others to Him. I remember having bible studies and preaching to my friends during recess and lunch breaks. Often to the point when we would get into heated discussions, and this started while I was in elementary school. It continued through middle school and high school. My desire to share the gospel of Jesus only grew more in-depth and robust the older I got.

Years ago, when serving as an elder at Highline SDA Church, I was asked by my senior pastor to conduct an evangelistic campaign for our church for one month. Through the invitation of my pastor, I was astounded that God had given me this grand opportunity to do what I loved to do the most, and that is to share the Word of God with others. I graciously jumped at the opportunity, not knowing that God was starting me on a new path. This path will forever change the course of my ministry.

After our evangelistic campaign, we praised God for the 13 souls won to Christ. Nevertheless, I was not satisfied. My wife and I prayed to God for more souls, which led to a bold yet audacious move. We wanted to give our lives fully to the ministry of evangelism. We phoned the Conference and booked a meeting with Elder Bill McClendon (the ministerial director at the time). He was curious why we urgently wanted to meet with him. We shared with him our dreams and desires of becoming evangelists. However, his response was not what we expected. He suggested starting with a church plant in a town where the Conference had been intentionally praying as a prelude. It was in an affluent town called Maple Valley. My wife and I looked at each other, and without even realizing what we were getting ourselves into, we responded, "we will do it. We will plant a church in Maple Valley." Challenge accepted!

For nearly six years, my wife Candace, along with our daughter Lala, and I, pastored and served at the Maple Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church. We started as a church plant in March of 2014 and officially became recognized as a church on May 13, 2017. During this point of our ministry we realized how much we had grown in our relationship with God—being willing to sacrifice, and gain new perspectives on what it truly means to serve and love people through the eyes of Jesus. 

In the fall of 2019, after concluding an evangelistic series in my hometown of West Seattle at the Greater Seattle Filipino-American SDA Church, my wife felt a strong impression that the time to move into a new season in ministry had arrived. God was calling us to full-time evangelism. While we loved our Maple Valley church family, we knew that change was God's will for the church and us. We wanted to focus on evangelism/discipleship, but the church was moving in a different direction. So Candace and I began to pray along with my prayer partners, Pastor Randy Maxwell, Pastor Meshach Soli, Pastor Willie Iwankiw, and Pastor Rome Ulia, about God's direction in our lives and Ministry—Candace and I, were willing to go wherever He sent us.

As we continued to pray for God to reveal His will for us moving forward, I was asked by Elder Bing to meet him at the Conference office to discuss my request to join the evangelism department. Elder Bing was very gracious, explaining that the Administration Committee and the Treasury Department explored their options—working with the budget they had to create an additional position in the Evangelism Department. In the end, Elder Bing said that they did all they could to make it work. He said, "unless you can write out a check for $500,000, we just don't have the funds in the budget for another evangelist, sorry." He offered me a couple of alternative options. He was even willing to make a call to ministries such as 'Amazing Facts,' and 'It Is Written' and make a recommendation—should I decide to go that route. He also suggested an interview with a couple of open districts in our Conference that required a pastor. I thanked him and said that I would talk it over with my family, and pray about the available options. I left his office disappointed and discouraged. On the way home, I cried out to God, confused with everything that just happened. I was frustrated because my preference was to serve as an evangelist for the Washington Conference. I was not fond of the idea of relocating my family to another state or even pastoring in another district.  

When I got home, Candace saw the disappointment and dejection on my face. I shared with her the news, and her response was, "Well, honey, let's pray that God will provide that $500,000 so that they can hire you on as an evangelist." Pray—what a simple answer! I will be honest; it was not the answer I wanted to hear because I felt justified in my disappointment, yet it was precisely what I needed it to do. My wife's faith and confidence moved me because mine had plummeted. I then proceeded to call my usos, my prayer warriors, and brothers in ministry. I needed someone to vent and lodge my complaints to. After patiently listening, each one gave words of encouragement, affirmation, and prayed over my family and me. My heart was at peace, and the spirit of Christ came over me. My wife and I decided that we would go wherever God would lead us.  

On January 21, I received an unexpected text from Elder Bing asking, "are you available tomorrow at 9 am?" I was unsure why he was asking, but I agreed to meet him at the office. Before I received this text, Elder Bing, the Administrative Committee, and I were still exploring joining the evangelism team full-time. The following day I walked into Elder Bing's office with confidence, knowing that whatever he would tell me was God's will. Present in the meeting was Elder Bing (the President), Craig Carr (Vice President), and Tyler Long (Director of Evangelism). Elder Bing looked at me and opened with a question: "are you ready to pastor in a new district?" My immediate response was, "yes, we are ready to go." He chuckled and said, "you are not going to a new district. One of our dear church members recently passed away and donated $600,000 specifically for evangelism. So, we would like to hire you on as a Conference Evangelist." I nearly fell off my chair. I had tears welling up inside as those words were being spoken. Trying to maintain my composure, I said, "may I give you guys a hug?" I felt like Chris Gardner, the character that Will Smith played in The Pursuit of Happiness, where his employer in the final scene offered him a salaried position on what was supposed to be his last day at work!

As I left the office, I was shouting praises to God on my way to the car. I was in tears as I drove home to share the good news with my wife and my close circle of prayer warriors. I realized that it is a matter of prayer over preference in these times, and because we were willing to lay our Isaac on the altar as Abraham did, God gave what meant the most to Him and us back to us!

Right now, I am the only Samoan Conference Evangelist/Associate Director of Evangelism in the North American Division, and I represent the two percent on a unique platform that I pray will inspire and motivate my fellow Pacific Islanders to seek God in prayer for His purpose and plan. I am not one of a kind, but one of many among our Pacific Islanders with the gift of evangelism. I give God all the praise and glory for this platform to share the gospel and to be a part of The Two Percent Ministry.

By Nemaia Faletogo