Faithfully stepping into God’s adventure

On July 1, 2025, a few weeks shy of my 50th birthday, I stepped into a new adventure as a missionary professor, training pastors in hard-to-reach places in East Africa. This new role answered a question I had been asking for a while about where I belonged. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to serve as a pastor and a professor. Sometimes I felt that I was too much of a pastor to be a good professor or too much of a professor to be a good pastor. I have a passion for both the church and the university, but I couldn’t find my place in either until I was invited to train pastors in Africa. But stepping into this new role was hard. These four books helped me choose faith over fear.

Understanding providence

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) is more than a Swiss Family Robinson–style adventure involving a man shipwrecked on an island, learning to survive alone. It is a meditation on how divine providence plays out amid our good and bad choices.

Crusoe first thinks what is happening to him is God’s punishment. His perspective slowly evolves until he views his island life as God’s kindness to him. Crusoe recognizes that God was always at work to lead him to that exact spot. The shipwreck was his salvation and deliverance. This novel reminded me that even the worst circumstances can be turned by divine providence into the conduit of God’s blessing and provision. Like Crusoe, I realize I have stumbled backward into exactly the spot God had for me. God intended for me to be a pastor and professor, but the place for me to live it out was not where I expected.

Understanding the need

My interest in Africa began one afternoon in my church office. I was praying, asking God what He had for me next. Before I said “amen,” the missions pastor walked in and asked if I could take his place on a teaching trip to Uganda. It was my first trip to Africa.

That trip awakened a hunger to learn all I could about the continent. In my studies, I encountered the auto­biography of Rwandan pastor Cedric Kanana, I Once Was Dead (Oasis International 2022). Kanana’s father was the imam of the local mosque. His mother was the local witch doctor. After the Rwandan Genocide, he lived as a homeless street kid, becoming addicted to drugs which led to his death and miraculous resurrection more than 12 hours later. He tells how Jesus appeared to him while he was dead and called him to new life.

Kanana’s book reads like a chapter in the Book of Acts. It is a compelling description of the forces at work in Africa: tribalism and colonialism, Islam and animism, ancient ways and modern technology, as well as the familiar addictions to drugs, alcohol, and sex. Above it all, Jesus still works miracles, still delivers from sin and death, still grows His kingdom. I wanted to be a part of it.

Understanding the stakes

As I began teaching regularly in Africa, I saw the need for accessible theological education. I made more frequent trips, specifically to Kenya, to work with Hamoreh Ministries, whose mission is to equip pastors who live in hard-to-reach places.

After three years, Hamoreh asked me to join them full time as a missionary professor. It seemed like the logical next step in God’s leading. It also felt like a step into the complete unknown. Then I rediscovered John Ortberg’s If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got To Get Out of the Boat (Zondervan 2001). Ortberg uses the account of Jesus walking on water and Peter accepting the invitation to join Him as a paradigm for how God calls us to embrace faith over fear.

The book walks you through discerning God’s call, facing your fear, and deciding to trust God. You can step out in faith and follow the call of God, or shrink back in fear and miss the life that God has for you. I didn’t doubt that God was leading me. However, I, like Peter, saw the waves and was worried.

Understanding God’s provision

One of my biggest worries was that the position with Hamoreh was donor-­supported. Raised in SBC churches, I believe the Cooperative Program might be one of the greatest missions funding initiatives ever conceived. The concept of “raising support” was foreign to me. I was worried about sounding like a huckster. I didn’t want friends to feel I was monetizing relationships. I remembered every uncomfortable conversation with an acquaintance involved in a pyramid scheme. I worried that my future would be a series of uncomfortable calls, bothering people for money.

Peter Greer and David Weekley’s The Giver and the Gift (Bethany House 2015) changed my perspective. It has two parts: “The Gift,” written by Greer from the perspective of a ministry leader fundraising for nonprofit organizations, and “The Giver,” written by Weekley from his experience funding Christian philanthropy from the proceeds of his construction business. This book encouraged me to see fundraising less as asking for money and more as providing a chance to partner in what God is doing. It helped me see the fundraising process from a kingdom perspective.

I am grateful God used these books to allay my fears, guide my decision, and lead me to where I am. Defoe reminded me that God was at work even when I felt lost. Kanana opened my eyes to an area of ministry that excited me. Ortberg encouraged me to realize what was at stake. Greer and Weekley helped change my perspective. Looking back on the last few months in my new role, I am so glad I chose faith over fear.

—Dr. Steve Jones currently serves as Director of Global Theological Education for Hamoreh Ministries