Clara Lind heard about SEPE International’s internship program on a short-term mission with Spring Creek Bible Church in 2019. Her three-month internship in 2021 later shaped her professional trajectory and solidified her desire to serve in long-term missions. Read on to discover how the Lord called her to use her gifts for His glory.
Clara grew up in a church and family where the Bible, God, and the gospel were familiar concepts since she was very young. At the age of seven, she thought she was saved after making the decision to follow Jesus, and didn’t think much more on the subject for some years.
“But then when I was ten,” she says, “we were visiting a different church, and the pastor ended the service with the verse, ‘All who believe will be saved’ [Mark 16:16].”
“And I realized I didn’t actually believe. I believed because my parents believed, but it wasn’t personal, and I also hadn’t repented of my sin. I just kind of thought I was getting into heaven.”
As a pastor’s daughter, her passion for missions also started young.
“I wanted to be a missionary basically my whole life, before I was even saved, because I grew up reading missionary biographies and also just seeing ministry as a part of life,” she says. “I was like, ‘I want to do that. I want to rescue the babies and have people write books about me.’ It sounded cool.”
But the Lord’s saving and sanctifying grace transformed her heart and life.
“Once I was saved and once I started to mature in my faith,” she says, “I realized missions is not about the missionary at all. And it’s not about doing heroic things. It’s just about sharing the gospel in another country. So my desire for it just grew as my understanding grew.”
“But I didn’t know where to start and how to do that.”
The Lord provided an opportunity for her to get her feet wet and explore the possibility of long-term missions through SEPE International’s budding internship program. She spent time praying, saving, seeking guidance from previous interns, her parents, and spiritual leaders, and anticipating.
Two years later, in 2021, she was serving on a three-month internship in Honduras.
During that time, her God-given gifts were not only put to the test in a different culture, as she served coffee at Retro Café, invested in and lived life alongside her coworkers, and studied Spanish, but her horizons were also broadened by unforeseen ministry opportunities.
“When I went down, I was thinking of getting a degree in elementary education for various reasons,” she says, “mainly because I wanted to do missions and…a teacher is easily transferable anywhere in the world.”
Teaching and writing were both occupations that others had also recommended to her, based on her aptitudes and interests.
“I always was drawn towards writing and English,” she says. “I was like, ‘That would be a fun degree, but it wouldn’t be helpful for serving the Lord later. How would that work with missions?’”
“I didn’t think it could, so I wasn’t going to pursue it.”
By the time she was going home, however, her perspective and trajectory completely shifted. Over the course of various conversations, she came to realize:
“There’s a big need for writers on the mission field because there are updates and newsletters and translation work…that a lot of times missionaries don’t have time to do or don’t feel qualified to do, so writing can be useful in the mission field.”
She was amazed. Upon arriving back on campus, she quickly changed her major to English and added a minor in Spanish.
“Nothing drastic other than my degree – nothing very obvious changed,” she says. “[But] people have told me I’m more focused…I have more purpose, or maybe the purpose is clearer to me.”
As she finishes out her education, writes part-time for Clínica Betania, and sees where the Lord leads next, her desire is increasingly confirmed in pursuing long-term missions in a Spanish-speaking context.
“I think [my internship] made all the difference in my trajectory,” she says. “After [college], the plan is to head to the mission field as soon as possible. The Lord used [my internship] to confirm missions and overseas ministry are what my heart burns for. That’s what I want to do, whether or not it’s in Honduras.”
Her life is a testament to the fact that the Lord can use our skills for His glory, even in ways we least expect.
“God is taking my calling and my passion and making them one,” she says. “Words in general are just such a powerful tool the Lord gave us, and I’ve seen their effect on my life.”
“Even my words can have an impact on someone, and whether it’s sharing a story or the blog for the clinic, you’re sharing…, ‘This is how God is moving. This is how God is using your support to help.’ And I think it’s just such a tangible way to be spreading light and truth.”
Perhaps, in the end, the true poignancy of Clara’s story is not its radicality, but rather its illustration of everyday faithfulness.
“The Lord hasn’t used me in any grand ways, or really unexpected. It’s really just one little thing at a time, just one step at a time, just trying to do the next right thing.”
